This week, both Steven and Felix spoke about leadership on campus.
Steven focused his blog on governance, commenting on the most recent PLA class where President Rodney Erickson spoke about governance at the University. He felt that this was the most "enlightening" class, as it gave him an idea of what governance should look like. Most of the time, student leaders are learning by doing. The class focused on the Board of Trustees: who are they, what do they do, and what is their purpose? The conclusions? A good board of trustees should work well with the administration toward a common goal. They should be transparent and loyal and should work to benefit their investors (teachers, students, alumni). One phrase that Steven used in his blog that I really liked was "Nose In, Fingers Out" This allows the BoT to oversee what the administration is doing without making decisions on their own and going over the head of school leaders. Steven made another good point, that an effective Board of Trustees needs to know their role within the university. If this group of people wants to be making all of the decisions, they will not work well with the administration. Also, if they let the administration do everything, there is no body to monitor the actions of school leadership. Balance is very important to governance at a large University.
Felix spent this week's blog post commenting on the role of the University Office for Global Programs at Penn State. After describing their role on campus, he described many factors that are making it challenging for this office to function effectively on the behalf of international students. This office is supposed to help international students transition to American culture and Penn State University. Their office is underfunded and they cannot do a lot of the programming necessary to accommodate the needs of international students. They have a high turnover of staff which makes challenging to make changes. This office does do a good job of making and maintaining relationships with other countries and schools, Felix concludes that the purpose of this office should be "to internationalize the campus and ensure mutual understanding among US Students and any and all groups of international students." We both need to learn about each other. It is not enough that the international students find a home and friends at this campus; American students need to understand the culture and customs of these foreign students and help create a globally aware campus.
Steven focused his blog on governance, commenting on the most recent PLA class where President Rodney Erickson spoke about governance at the University. He felt that this was the most "enlightening" class, as it gave him an idea of what governance should look like. Most of the time, student leaders are learning by doing. The class focused on the Board of Trustees: who are they, what do they do, and what is their purpose? The conclusions? A good board of trustees should work well with the administration toward a common goal. They should be transparent and loyal and should work to benefit their investors (teachers, students, alumni). One phrase that Steven used in his blog that I really liked was "Nose In, Fingers Out" This allows the BoT to oversee what the administration is doing without making decisions on their own and going over the head of school leaders. Steven made another good point, that an effective Board of Trustees needs to know their role within the university. If this group of people wants to be making all of the decisions, they will not work well with the administration. Also, if they let the administration do everything, there is no body to monitor the actions of school leadership. Balance is very important to governance at a large University.
Felix spent this week's blog post commenting on the role of the University Office for Global Programs at Penn State. After describing their role on campus, he described many factors that are making it challenging for this office to function effectively on the behalf of international students. This office is supposed to help international students transition to American culture and Penn State University. Their office is underfunded and they cannot do a lot of the programming necessary to accommodate the needs of international students. They have a high turnover of staff which makes challenging to make changes. This office does do a good job of making and maintaining relationships with other countries and schools, Felix concludes that the purpose of this office should be "to internationalize the campus and ensure mutual understanding among US Students and any and all groups of international students." We both need to learn about each other. It is not enough that the international students find a home and friends at this campus; American students need to understand the culture and customs of these foreign students and help create a globally aware campus.
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