Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest : 2005 Seminar
Project Report
{excerpt}
I. Issue and Context
• Describe the issue you addressed and how it related to teaching and learning concerns in your school. Why was this issue significant?
The goal of the project arose, in part, out of the unexpected circumstances of the ETSS Dean, then ending his third academic year in office, suddenly resigning as the first group of faculty members headed to Maine for the initial consultation in June 2005. Finding ourselves suddenly short of a Dean, we reconsidered the narrative that we brought to Maine as a symptom of our need for a program of faculty development. Our goal then became to “enhance the quality of faculty life through corporate reflection on our history, our theological diversity, and our educational visions.” We would meet this goal by using the Lexington grant to establish a context and practice for considering our vocation as a theological faculty. We were to seek such conversation as would establish trust and improve mutual understanding and collaboration.
II. Project Design
• Describe and assess (e.g., what worked, what didn’t) activities or strategies that you used to implement the project.
As our project’s aim was to build relationships among ourselves as the faculty body, we set aside time to meet for discussion. Victor Klimoski visited in fall 2005, meeting with us as a group and interviewing faculty members individually. He sought to identify common concerns, questions, and anxieties, as well as hopes and passions. Victor’s report enabled us to specify the main topics for future conversation and alerted us to the challenges involved. Looking back over the past two and half years, it is striking how accurately Victor mapped the discursive terrain through which we would be travelling. In order to pursue the project, we arranged a series of off-campus meetings, generally of three hours, that were professionally facilitated. Our consultants helped us set agendas before meeting, identify priorities, negotiate conflict, structure discussions, manage our time, and evaluate what we were learning. ...
(Download the full report through the link below.)
Document Downloads:
{excerpt}
I. Issue and Context
• Describe the issue you addressed and how it related to teaching and learning concerns in your school. Why was this issue significant?
The goal of the project arose, in part, out of the unexpected circumstances of the ETSS Dean, then ending his third academic year in office, suddenly resigning as the first group of faculty members headed to Maine for the initial consultation in June 2005. Finding ourselves suddenly short of a Dean, we reconsidered the narrative that we brought to Maine as a symptom of our need for a program of faculty development. Our goal then became to “enhance the quality of faculty life through corporate reflection on our history, our theological diversity, and our educational visions.” We would meet this goal by using the Lexington grant to establish a context and practice for considering our vocation as a theological faculty. We were to seek such conversation as would establish trust and improve mutual understanding and collaboration.
II. Project Design
• Describe and assess (e.g., what worked, what didn’t) activities or strategies that you used to implement the project.
As our project’s aim was to build relationships among ourselves as the faculty body, we set aside time to meet for discussion. Victor Klimoski visited in fall 2005, meeting with us as a group and interviewing faculty members individually. He sought to identify common concerns, questions, and anxieties, as well as hopes and passions. Victor’s report enabled us to specify the main topics for future conversation and alerted us to the challenges involved. Looking back over the past two and half years, it is striking how accurately Victor mapped the discursive terrain through which we would be travelling. In order to pursue the project, we arranged a series of off-campus meetings, generally of three hours, that were professionally facilitated. Our consultants helped us set agendas before meeting, identify priorities, negotiate conflict, structure discussions, manage our time, and evaluate what we were learning. ...
(Download the full report through the link below.)
Document Downloads: