Faculty, staff come together for corporate brainstorming during Conversation Day
November 19, 2007
Dr. Glenn H. Bernet, vice president for academic affairs, gives instructions on Conversation Day.
Ocki Haas, payroll/employee benefits supervisor, listens as colleagues share ideas.
Article by Ashley Brown, News Editor, The Lance | Photos by Paul K. Logsdon
Republished with permission from The Lance, Evangel University's student-produced newspaper. Article originally published Nov. 16, 2007, Vol. 53, Issue 11.
Many students rejoiced as others breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that classes were cancelled on Nov. 14, 2007, thanks to an event many students had never heard of: Conversation Day. While classes were dismissed for students, Evangel staff, faculty and administrators gathered to brainstorm university goals for the year 2015.
Vision Documents
More than a decade ago, Evangel personnel compiled a list of goals that for the university to work toward in subsequent years. That document was called “Vision,” and its success led to the authorship of subsequent compilations that included Vision 2000, Vision 2005 and the current Vision 2010 document. At this Conversation Day, those present began to formulate ideas for a Vision 2015 document, according to Dr. Glenn H. Bernet, vice president for academic affairs.
Corporate Brainstorming
“The purpose of the day was to review the Vision 2010 plan and then engage in a grassroots effort to identify things that we’d like to do in the future,” Dr. Bernet said.
All 327 full-time faculty and staff were required to be at Central Assembly of God to take part in the discussion. Part-time faculty and staff were also invited, but they were not required to attend.
“Only a skeleton crew was at Evangel to perform the essential functions to the campus,” Dr. Linda Wellborn, member of the steering committee, said. In order for faculty to be available for the event, classes were cancelled.
“The great value I see of this day is the opportunity it provides for all members of the Evangel family to contribute their thoughts and ideas, and participate equally,” President Robert H. Spence said. “It adds strength to what we do by helping affirm to every member of our staff and faculty that they are all significant.”
Steering Committee
Planning Conversation Day was the responsibility of a steering committee with Dr. Bernet as the chairperson. Members include: Dr. Mike McCorcle, chair of the department of science and technology; Andy Denton, vice president for enrollment management; Jim Williams, vice president for institutional advancement; Dr. David Bundrick, vice president for student development; George Crawford, vice president for business and finance; Dr. Joan Cargnel, associate professor of education; Danny Chastain, director of information technologies; and Alan Jones, maintenance technician.
“As a committee, we felt that we needed to expand Evangel’s vision,” Dr. Bernet said.
The steering committee decided that Conversation Day would be a good way to accomplish this due to the success of the last Conversation Day, which took place in October 2004. “That event proved to be very successful and created a camaraderie among the faculty and staff that we really couldn’t achieve any other way,” Dr. Bernet said.
Five Conversations
At 40 tables of eight people each, five directed conversations took place, each with a different purpose. The conversations centered around the present and future vision documents, which outline eight strategic directions. The eight categories are academic excellence, student development, spiritual vitality, enrollment development, financial strength, campus development, technology and internal and external relations.
The first conversation celebrated Evangel’s accomplishments as a result of the Vision 2010 document. Attendees discussed which accomplishments had made an impact.
Summarizing his input to Conversation One, Dr. McCorcle said, “When I arrived in 1995, I was housed in Lewis Hall, where there was maybe one computer to be shared. To think where we’ve come in 12 years, now being the envy of the academic community in Springfield, is just amazing.”
Additional accomplishments made since the Vision 2000 document was written in 1993 include: attaining university status, adding graduate and degree-completion programs, installing network access in residence halls, implementing an integrated marketing strategy, adding the career development center and completing the campus master plan.
“The university has accomplished quite a bit of what is in the document,” Dr. Bernet said. He said if something is to be removed from the document, the reasoning could simply be that the goal no longer has the urgency it once did.
In Conversation Three, table members brainstormed to create goals and objectives that will lead Evangel through the next 10 years.
Once the ideas were organized into a presentation, Conversation Four refined the goals to identify those considered most urgent and beneficial to university development. Conversation Five centered around ways of bringing those goals into action.
All 327 full-time faculty and staff discuss strategic vision at Central Assembly of God.
Lisa Tyson, academic adviser for professional studies, was one of several staff members who assisted in compiling data and responses for afternoon discussions. This teams was coordinated by Dr. Linda Wellborn, director of the degree completion program and member of the Conversation Day steering committee.
Eight Strategic Directions
During the afternoon, groups convened to further brainstorm suggested goals and actions for each of the eight strategic directions. A sampling of these ideas follows.
- Academic Excellence: Develop distance/hybrid learning, improve graduate programs, revise general education requirements and Bible credit requirements and develop the library.
- Student Development: Offer life-skills training, improve career preparation, offer faculty and staff mentoring and promote a more student-friendly environment.
- Spiritual Vitality: Changes to the chapel program, such as credit for attending non-Evangel services and small groups and added variety in music and speakers.
- Enrollment Development: Develop comprehensive marketing plan and retention plan, increase scholarships and increase marketing to specific groups of people, such as youth groups, home-school students and minority groups.
- Financial Strength: Increase revenue and enrollment, improve financial communication and wiser spending.
- Campus Development: Build housing for non-traditional students, a new library, new and/or improved residence halls and athletic facilities, a parking garage, a swimming pool and expand campus.
- Technology: Incorporate campus-wide Wi-Fi, enhance the Evangel University Web site, continue development of online education, incorporate digital signage, develop an alumni portal and improve campus security.
- Internal and External Relationships: Provide orientation and training for faculty and staff, add to the public relations staff, do more local advertising and improve Web design.
None of the ideas generated are guaranteed to become an identified goal in the Vision 2015 document, but the topics will each be taken into consideration.
Vision 2015
“After we finish the conversations, the data will go to the Campus Planning Council, a standing committee comprised of department heads and individuals in directorship positions,” Dr. Bernet said. “The goal would be for them to have it finished by April of next year in time to present it to the Board of Directors.”
The Vision 2010 document is available online. Ideas generated during Conversation Day will be lead to the Vision 2015 document, which should be available in the spring.