What is the most important change you would like to see happen in CASL?
“Opening a Starbucks!”
As we head into 2015 and our strategic planning conversations, I’m thinking about the kinds of ideas we come up with and what they mean – and this comment from a student is a great example.
Just by letting my own imagination roam, this sounds both like a need for more communal spaces, for more energy to get our work and learning done, and for convenient and satisfying resources to be close at hand.
I can also imagine the discussions that might ensue: from the merits of corporate versus local businesses to coffee versus tea versus chai versus… And what we might learn from each other as we share who we are and what we know.
Meanwhile, this response evokes the importance of “small wins” – finding tangible changes we can make soon and easily to help fuel our confidence in the bigger changes.
This first strategic planning survey is closed, but the conversations are just beginning. Stay tuned for news about how strategic planning is coming to a conversation near you!
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Giving Back
“I am an alumnus, and a current staff member. Being on the campus for over 30 years means that I grew up there. It is home to me, and I want to do all that I can to make it better for those that follow me.”
This voice captures one of the uniquely defining characteristics of a CASL education: many CASL graduates return to the Dearborn community, making it their home, and a number of us continue making a difference through careers in CASL itself. For CASL grads, giving back is not just about sending a check to their alma mater – it's a tangible investment in the people and activities that make CASL what it is. Because of this, we have an extensive network of community and industry partners, as well as faculty and staff who have been in the shoes of our students, who know intimately how to support them in their educational goals.
In our globally connected and transient world, this is a rare quality, creating an unusual capacity for community and connection. This is the CASL community.
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
This voice captures one of the uniquely defining characteristics of a CASL education: many CASL graduates return to the Dearborn community, making it their home, and a number of us continue making a difference through careers in CASL itself. For CASL grads, giving back is not just about sending a check to their alma mater – it's a tangible investment in the people and activities that make CASL what it is. Because of this, we have an extensive network of community and industry partners, as well as faculty and staff who have been in the shoes of our students, who know intimately how to support them in their educational goals.
In our globally connected and transient world, this is a rare quality, creating an unusual capacity for community and connection. This is the CASL community.
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Tending to the Details that Matter
“Flowers/Plants. Without Susan's gardening, CASL would be a tin can with windows!”
I have been inspired by the passions and visions that you have been expressing in response to the CASL strategic planning survey – and I am inspired as well by responses like this one, offered as an answer to the question: What aspect of CASL would you most like to see preserved?
Even as we reach for new understandings of who we are and what we can do, it is also important that we tend to the details that matter, and that we recognize the individuals who make our lives better. CASL’s commitment to strategic planning is meant to incorporate comments just like this one, the appreciations and awareness that make us stronger, and that make it worth making CASL our home.
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
I have been inspired by the passions and visions that you have been expressing in response to the CASL strategic planning survey – and I am inspired as well by responses like this one, offered as an answer to the question: What aspect of CASL would you most like to see preserved?
Even as we reach for new understandings of who we are and what we can do, it is also important that we tend to the details that matter, and that we recognize the individuals who make our lives better. CASL’s commitment to strategic planning is meant to incorporate comments just like this one, the appreciations and awareness that make us stronger, and that make it worth making CASL our home.
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
Monday, December 1, 2014
Your Vision for CASL
“Continue with panels, discussions, & opportunities to learn about race, culture, gender, world issues, etc... The more learning we do inside & outside of the classroom, the better! The atmosphere is also important in CASL. Building community is key. Continue to host events to get to know others & new things.” CASL Student
“Grow interdisciplinary learning opportunities - our world is complex and we need to help educate students to think beyond a single discipline to succeed in today's world and address our largest social, economic, and environmental issues, help students craft messages about why their liberal arts degree is meaningful and helpful in today's job market.” CASL Faculty
“As hard as it is to imagine, I see CASL only getting better. With how engaged the faculty are with students, the demand for certain classes will continue to grow. I find it exciting if all of the majors can be further involved with one another so that social sciences, science, math, etc. majors can meet other CASL students with different majors. This helps provide a collaborative and well-rounded atmosphere. My vision for CASL is to continue to graduate well-rounded, diverse, and informed students through the use of more collaborative community efforts so that students are taking more seminars and classes where the information they learn is applied to the community at large.” 2014 CASL Alum
“We have a small college feel, coupled with the excellence of a solid curriculum. The faculty is focused more on teaching than research. CASL has a diversity of skill sets to offer its students. We need to enlarge our curriculum to keep pace with the kinds of skills appreciated not just in the work place, but classes that would spark more creativity. CASL is a perfect environment for students who would benefit from the attention and guidance from support staff and faculty. Larger institutions would perhaps make them feel like a number.” CASL Staff
“I think that we can better showcase the interface between the humanities/social sciences/sciences and the "real world" by engaging with alumni and other stakeholders to create more of a cohesive story about what the college does and its impact beyond the degree. We could also work better across disciplines and departments to tell this story and aside from the one that is being told by *just* administrators. We can tell real stories about what a metropolitan university is and has been with some better opportunities to do so. We can also do a better job telling the story of what we have to offer via our proximity to the Metro area (internships/hands-on learning) and how our teacher/scholar model, coupled with small classes, provides the kind of instruction not available at bigger campuses. Rather than riding on the coat tails of Ann Arbor's branding, we can be more explicit about what we can do better, because of the very nature of our infrastructure (so far) being smaller and also serving many students who are local and who also plan to stay in the region.” CASL Faculty
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
“Grow interdisciplinary learning opportunities - our world is complex and we need to help educate students to think beyond a single discipline to succeed in today's world and address our largest social, economic, and environmental issues, help students craft messages about why their liberal arts degree is meaningful and helpful in today's job market.” CASL Faculty
“As hard as it is to imagine, I see CASL only getting better. With how engaged the faculty are with students, the demand for certain classes will continue to grow. I find it exciting if all of the majors can be further involved with one another so that social sciences, science, math, etc. majors can meet other CASL students with different majors. This helps provide a collaborative and well-rounded atmosphere. My vision for CASL is to continue to graduate well-rounded, diverse, and informed students through the use of more collaborative community efforts so that students are taking more seminars and classes where the information they learn is applied to the community at large.” 2014 CASL Alum
“We have a small college feel, coupled with the excellence of a solid curriculum. The faculty is focused more on teaching than research. CASL has a diversity of skill sets to offer its students. We need to enlarge our curriculum to keep pace with the kinds of skills appreciated not just in the work place, but classes that would spark more creativity. CASL is a perfect environment for students who would benefit from the attention and guidance from support staff and faculty. Larger institutions would perhaps make them feel like a number.” CASL Staff
“I think that we can better showcase the interface between the humanities/social sciences/sciences and the "real world" by engaging with alumni and other stakeholders to create more of a cohesive story about what the college does and its impact beyond the degree. We could also work better across disciplines and departments to tell this story and aside from the one that is being told by *just* administrators. We can tell real stories about what a metropolitan university is and has been with some better opportunities to do so. We can also do a better job telling the story of what we have to offer via our proximity to the Metro area (internships/hands-on learning) and how our teacher/scholar model, coupled with small classes, provides the kind of instruction not available at bigger campuses. Rather than riding on the coat tails of Ann Arbor's branding, we can be more explicit about what we can do better, because of the very nature of our infrastructure (so far) being smaller and also serving many students who are local and who also plan to stay in the region.” CASL Faculty
Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB
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