Senior Leadership Feedback
During the Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 planning sessions, participants engaged in table-top exercises prompted by the theme "Help Define Success" in three focus areas—senior leadership, communication and collaboration. Below is a summation of responses under senior leadership.
Theme 1: Visibility
- Attend events on campus and in the Kalamazoo community
- Attend department/college/division meetings impromptu
- Be accessible to faculty, staff and students
- More frequent town hall style meetings
- Engage on campus and in the greater community
- Make 51¸ŁŔűÉç visible
- Cabinet should be identifiable by campus
Theme 2: Clarity
- Clear vision for the University
- Decision-making process should be transparent
- Share President’s expectations of Vice Presidents
- Evidence of cohesion among cabinet
- Shared vision by all
- Decisive/address issues head on
Theme 3: Trust
- Be willing to use employees' ideas—empower thoughts and actions
- Authenticity
- Demonstrate ethical behavior
- Commitment to 51¸ŁŔűÉç—students and institution before divisions/departments
- Cabinet must trust each other, faculty and staff
- Create atmosphere of appreciation
- Honesty
- Reliable
- Dependable
- Feeling of safety and security—bullying
Theme 4: Communication
- Frequent
- Consistent
- Honest
- Active listening
- Open
- Share positive and negative
Theme 5: Fiscal Responsibility
- Strategic budget cuts
- Create new revenue streams
- Limit budget cuts
- Responsible management of resources
- Reduce deficits/debt
- Merit based raises
- Stabilize/increase enrollments
Theme 6: Inclusivity
- Leverage expertise of staff and faculty
- Diversity within in leadership
- Staff participate in system changes and processes
- Partner with faculty on major initiatives
- Engage more of campus in planning
- Shared governance bi-directional
- Eliminate “The Western Way”—remove silos
- Promote collaboration
Theme 7: Stability
- Less turnover in leadership
- Follow through on ideas
- Less reactive responses
Theme 8: Strategic
- Use data to make decisions
- Smart goals
- Use survey results to determine next steps
- Prioritize initiatives
- Connect decisions with goals—communicate progress towards achieving goals
- Students First
Theme 9: Accountability
- Remove or remediate poor performance
- Promotion based on skill and achievement not legacy
- 360-degree feedback
- Acknowledgement of staff/faculty achievement across the board
- Cabinet/Senior leaders role models actions—“Walk the Talk”
- Job opportunities