Message from the Chancellor - improving communication and collaboration

Dear Colleagues,
Faculty leaders and I have had considerable discussion about ways to enhance communication and collaboration between the faculty, staff and administration of MCC. Having considered ways to accomplish this, I have established a pilot faculty liaison position for the 2010-2011 academic year. A primary focus of the position will be to facilitate communication, collaboration, and problem solving between faculty members at all our campuses, staff leadership, and the administration of MCC. Additionally, the faculty liaison will work closely with the vice chancellor of educational services on special academic projects based on the needs of the institution like developmental education, assessment, and on-line education.

I am pleased to announce that following a competitive application process facilitated by the Faculty Senate and Human Resources, I have chosen Craig Bartholomaus to serve in this position. While Craig will be under the direction of Vice Chancellor of Educational Services Paul Long, he will have direct access to me. Craig brings a wealth of expertise and experience to this position. He is a passionate advocate for faculty and student needs and is committed to working in a spirit of productive collaboration with the staff and administration. Craig holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has been a member of MCC’s faculty for thirteen years and is currently the English Department coordinator at MCC-Penn Valley. He currently serves as MCC-Penn Valley’s Faculty Association president, is a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and is a graduate of the Chair Academy’s Leadership and Development program. Craig will assume these responsibilities in addition to his classroom assignment upon his return from summer break and will soon be reaching out to establish the lines of communication.

We are an academic institution whose mission is to prepare our students, serve our communities, and create opportunities. I believe sometimes inadequate communication, lack of personal relationships, and posturing has created misperceptions distracting us from our mission. This position is but one step towards creating cooperative and constructive relationships between the faculty, staff, and administration of MCC. I will continue meeting regularly with all the governance group leaders, will work with the Officer Group to bring our Officer meetings to the campuses, and will work with Dr. Tom Vansaghi and his team to bring 21st Century communication tools such as the new MCC Insider to the forefront of our internal communication efforts to improve transparency. There are a lot of people doing great things in MCC and I want to make sure you know about it. I’ll shout it from the rooftops if that’s what it takes!

Thank you for all you do – we are One MCC, here to prepare students, serve communities, and create opportunities!

Mark