Vol 3, No 6

Town Hall meetings to be scheduled beginning in fall semester 2008

On occasion over the past few years, I have convened Town Hall meetings to present or explain an initiative or an important policy issue for the University. Examples that readily come to mind are the institution’s health care plan and the move to a new compensation system. A related communication is the annual, spring semester presentation of the University’s budget to a joint meeting of the Faculty and Staff senates.

These meetings have served the important purpose of informing you about major topics that affect almost all employees in some way. They have provided information about 1) recommendations that will be presented to the Board of Governors; 2) implementation of new or revised procedures affecting how the affairs of the University are conducted; and 3) updates on the overall goals and priorities for the University, particularly as they affect personnel. The format of these meetings has generally consisted of the presentation of relevant information by one or more administrators followed by questions from those in attendance.

I believe these Town Hall meetings have addressed the important goal of keeping the University community as well informed as possible about our internal processes and procedures, as well as the goals to which these methods are directed. However, I also believe that these meetings have not involved us in serious discussions about matters that should be central to any university – specifically, how do we make sure we are educating our students as well as we can, and are we providing them the learning experiences that will best serve them in their future life and work?

For example, we have not asked or discussed questions such as “How do we expect more diversity in our classrooms to affect student outcomes; will it promote better learning?” or “How can we best prepare our students to be globally literate?” We have not had campus-wide dialogue about the best practices for improving our retention and graduation rates. We have not considered the implications of recent national evidence showing that retention of students improves when they have more full-time faculty teaching lower division courses. As a campus, we would benefit from discussions of the extent to which we should be emphasizing ethics in our curriculum, the degree to which we can make our “public affairs” brand a truly distinctive aspect of an undergraduate education at Missouri State, and how we can more closely link the classroom experience with service-learning.

I would like to begin monthly Town Hall meetings in the fall 2008 semester that are devoted to topics that are central to the academic enterprise and to the success of our students. I write to you to request that you send me your recommendations for what these topics could be. What do you think we should be discussing as a campus in terms of student recruitment and engagement, the nature of our curriculum, the right blend of instructional methods, and our public affairs mission?

After receiving your recommendations, I plan to announce a schedule of fall topics for discussion. The format of the meetings is also a matter on which I would like your suggestions. Should they be centered on a formal presentation? Should they be an “open-mike” question and answer? Should we feature a specialist/expert on the topic who might speak a week or so in advance of our coming together for a discussion of that presentation? Or should we have a variety of formats, depending upon the topic?

I believe in the value and vitality of the Town Hall meeting format, especially when those meetings deal with the most urgent topics facing us. I hope we can combine important substance and the right format into a good set of discussions beginning in September.

As usual, there is a convenient response button for you to use. Thank you in advance for your ideas and suggestions.