Last week, I asked that you respond to a survey regarding communications from my office, and by the time the survey closed, 166 of you had submitted your detailed responses. Thank you!
I’ve been working my way through the results and wanted to share some clear messages that you’re sending me:
--99% of you report reading the Wednesday Message, and the majority of you shared comments indicating you feel the contents of the message are useful. So, this is definitely something I’ll continue.
--About half of the respondents attended one of the Message to the College Community sessions, but now that there’s a better feel for what these forums are designed to do, 99% of respondents would attend in the future. So, again, this is definitely something I’ll continue.
--Just 30% of the respondents had attended an Ask Anne Anything session, and though those who attended liked the format, I’m not sure this outreach is working as well as it could.
This last data point started me thinking about how to reach out more effectively across the college. I was struck by some comments on the survey about the need to get more people at MCC talking across employee classifications and offices; there is concern that most communication begins and stops within offices and that discussions don’t always engage a broad-based group. Several responses also suggested the need or desire to build a more connected MCC, especially as the college grows.
Reading those comments triggered a thought. When I first got here last June, I continued Dr. Tyree’s tradition of calling employees on their birthdays, which struck me as a great gesture toward creating community within MCC. Yet, because everyone is so busy, I rarely got a person on the other end of the phone. So, I was increasingly leaving birthday messages, which seemed to lessen the effect. Then, someone stopped me in the hall to ask why neither Dr. Tyree nor I ever called part-time employees to wish them birthday greetings. She reported feeling left-out and unappreciated as a contributing member of MCC. As a former adjunct faculty member, I completely understood her frustration, and when I shared her comment with a few others, they echoed her concerns. Clearly, the law of unintended consequences had come into play: rather than creating community, the calls were creating two unequal communities.
Then, after reading the survey responses, I hit upon an thought: would there be a way to combine the conversational aspect of the Ask Anne Anythings with a more inclusive community celebration? After all, one thing I’ve learned in the past few weeks is that MCC puts on amazing celebrations, and certainly, we always have much to celebrate!
So, thanks to your feedback, beginning this June, we will start a new event: Monthly Celebration and Conversation (MC&C, get it?). Each month, *all* employees whose birthdays fall within that month will be invited to a late afternoon cookies and punch reception on the Brighton Campus. The first 30 minutes will be pure socializing and celebration, and the second 30 minutes will provide an opportunity for conversation with me on any topic. I’m hoping that these monthly gatherings will accomplish several goals: celebrate your importance to MCC; bring you together with folks from across the college for conversation and community building; and offer you the opportunity for an open dialogue with me about the college. And, I’m hoping that supervisors will encourage their faculty and staff, full- and part-time, to participate.
If you have a June birthday, please look for an invitation to the first MC&C soon, and in the coming weeks, look for more responses on my part to your thoughts and ideas (to answer one repeated question: yes, I really do sleep . . . occasionally). If you missed the survey window and have comments you’d like to share, please post them to the blog ( <<
https://www.monroecc.edu/blogs>> ) or send them via e-mail or campus mail.