News writing: Live news
Please write a 600—1000-word story and a 1-munite radio spot using the following
information. You do not need to use ALL the information, and you do NOT have to
use the same words as in the summary below. In fact you should NOT use the same
words.
Strategic planning at ASU:
What: About 300 ASU faculty and staff, and maybe 10 students, attended strategic
planning workshops. Organizers expect to issue a full strategic planning report in
January.
What is strategic planning? A report to guide ASU’s future. Usually planners come up
with 3-5 major initiatives and priorities for the institution.
Who: sponsored by the Academic affairs office and supervised by Lynita Cooksey,
association vice chancellor for academic affairs. Organized by David cox, professor
of educational leadership, who called in Harrison Owen, creator of “Open Source
Technology,” used in the planning process. “Open source” is an inclusive democratic
plan that allows participoants to talk about anything hat’s on their minds. Owen, 75,
is an ordained Anglican priest, and undersecretary of Health, Educaiton and Welfare,
under President Jimmy Carter. After Carter left office in 1980, Owen became a
health care management consultant. He coined the term “ organizational
transformation.” He lives in washington D.C. and Camden , Maine, and does seminars
throught the country. “Open source always works,” he said Saturday.
When and where: Cox cand Cooksey have been planning the retreat for a year. It
took place in the ballroom of the student union all day thrusday and Friday, oct. 14
and 15, and it was finished up at 11 am Saturday. “It ends when it’s over,” Owen
said.
Why: ASU is undergoing re-accreditation this year from the Higher Learning
Commission, an accreidtastion agency that ensures ASU is doing a good job.
Accrediation assures students, faculty and staff that ASU is doing a good job. The
HLC requires strategic planning. In 2003-2005 ASU also took on strategic planning
and the recommendations of that plan, which included making ASU more visible and
distinctive, was not followed, according to Jack Zibluk, professor of journalism, who
was co-chair of the 2003-2005 effort.
This time, Glen Jones, ASU provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, said “This
will not just sit on the shelf, We will definitely use it.”
How:
Abnout 300 faculty and staff and about 10 students gathered each day to discuss
topics of their own choosing.
“the people who come are the right people. The things they talk about are the right
topics, no matter who comes what they discuss,” Owen said.
Any participant could come up with a suggested topic. When they did, they took a
poster board and taped it to the wall and assigned a room and a time in the student
union. Topics included :
Making a green campus
Balancing scholarship and teaching
Putting students first
Fund-raising
Making Jonesboro a good college town
Improving hiring and retention
Developing ASU’s identity
Reports of these are available at:
If you would like to review the reports from today's sessions,
please go to the Blackboard course: z2010 Strategic Planning. If
you are not familiar with Blackboard, it is available at
http://blackboard.astate.edu. Login using your full email address
and regular password.
Anybody could come to any session, and they lasted two days.
The chairs of the sessions wrote reports for each one.
On Saturday, about 200 participants gathered to suggest final
topics as the results of the discussions.
Ones that made the cut include:
Promoting asu and finding its image
Make Jonesboro a better university town
Making a greener campus
Improving general education
Supporting scholarship
Putting students first
Supporting technology
Supporting diversity
Supporting international programs
Completing the humanities building
Next steps:
Dr. Cooksey will appoint a “writing committee” to go through the 200 pages of
reports to sort out what are issues that can be sorted out immediately, and what are
issues that need to be addressed in the plan.
They expect to issue a report in January, whuch will be distributed to the campus.
Relevant to this class:
Chancellor Dan Howard issed the following report, based on an informal survey of
students from Dr. Jack Zibluk:
Colleagues:
As part of my preparation for strategic planning, I asked students in all my classes
about THEIR concerns in order to bring them forward to this process. I did this in
FYE class, newswriting, photography and advanced photojournalism classes. The
unscientific sample included students from many majors and classifications, from
freshmen to seniors with many non-traditional students. About 100 students
participated in the last three days.
I was impressed with their seriousness and maturity. Here are the primary
concerns my students asked me to put on the table (and you might be surprised. I
was.)
First by a wide margin: Accessibility of information. Almost unanimously,
students expressed discomfort about navigating various websites, protocols and
portals. They have trouble finding information for classes, for financial aid, for
student services and other areas. All the technology seems very disorganized and
spread out to them. They ask for some sort of simplification or central portal with
directions, advice or other areas. Maybe we need general student ombudspeople.
Second, and related: Students complained about inaccessibility of student
services. Calls and e-mails to service areas go unanswered, and sometimes busy,
overworked staff can appear inattentive, dismissive or rude. I KNOW the service
areas are working hard on this, but the perception, and anecdotal stories, persist.
Third, and related: My students complain about the accessibility and instability
of on-line and computer-assisted teaching. Sometimes the acceass to blackboard is
unavailable, they say. I got a lot of complaints about the on-line algebra class.
Tied for third: Institutional reputation. Students feel a sense of inferiority, and
they feel the institution has an undeserved lack of respect among their peers back
home, their high school teachers and counselors, and even family members. ASU
is often considered a school of default rather than a school of choice in many
quarters.
Tied for third: Admission standards. Stronger students complain that students
who have greater academic needs distract teachers from focusing on academic
work.
And you can't escape parking complaints.
Positive things: First and foremost: They like that many faculty and staff
seem dedicated to supporting them. They like the fact that many of us seem to
care. I think this has been an institutional distinction we have traditionally had,
and one we should encourage and preserve. They want to preserve a strong focus
on teaching, and I think their parents, alumni and most community members to
whom I speak (including legislators, business people and politicians) REALLY
agree.
A close second: They like and respect our attention to diversity. Students from
various backgrounds appreciate the exposure to peers from different backgrounds,
ethnicities ..and even religions. I was pleased to hear that.
Also....
They like that the school is growing and moving forward in general.
the growing international population.
They like
Things that didn't resonate one way or the other: When asked, most students in
my classes were ambivalent at best about our athletic programs. Many are avowed
Razorback fans.
When asked, most students could not articulate any interest in research or
scholarship, either in their own endeavors, or in dealing with faculty research
activities.
just some thoughts?
Illustrative quotes:
David Cox, professor of educational leadership, and cahir of strategic planning at
ASU:
“What I liked is that people came from all corners. Everything was on the table.”
“It worked better than I anticipated. There was real eneger in the workshops.”
Lynita Cooksey, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.
“We need to establish priorities now and put things in categories.
“I admit I had my doubts, but it went well. We accomplished what we set out to
do.”
Glen Jones, provost and vice president for academic affiairs:
“This was fantastic, and different.”
“I want to harness the energy in this room.”
“I assure you your voices will be heard. This will not sit on the shelf for five years.
We will work on this right away.
Farhad Moeeni, professor of business:
“This is the first time I can remember that the administration did not take control
of something like this. I am impressed.”
Carol Delaney, office manager in admissions, who last year moved here from St.
Louis.
“If nothing else, I got to meet people from all over campus. We really got to work
together. Sometimes I feel a little isolated since I moved here and I didn’t know
anyone. I have met so many people, and so many of us feel the same ways and
face the same issues.”