Watchdog Report: So heres the notes from the letter to the Norwich Community regarding the Noel Levitz. The President thinks its good news. All I can say is, whatever he puts in his coffee, I want some. To read the report and think My my, everything is in such good order... thats just a bit off. Attached please find the meeting notes of the first of three Town Meetings to discuss the interim report of the Noel-Levitz Employee Satisfaction Survey Task Force. On Tuesday, December 16th, at 3:00 p.m. the second meeting will be held in White Chapel. The third and final meeting for all employees is scheduled for January 14th at 3:00 p.m. in Dole Auditorium. To provide further context to the report, while the findings of the report reflect challenges within the organization, the report itself and the process that it initiated are evidence of great strength within the Norwich community. As an outcome of the Noel-Levitz Employee Satisfaction Survey findings from the spring of 2013, and under Dean Andrea Talentino’s leadership, we have invested the time to engage with one another in an examination of ourselves, in an inclusive and transparent process. Many of you may recall the top five strengths surrounding campus culture and policies were: 1.) Norwich does a good job of providing a physically safe environment; 2.) faculty take pride in their work; 3.) administrators take pride in their work; 4.) staff take pride in their work; 5.) the goals and objectives of Norwich are consistent with its mission and values; and 6.) the reputation for this institution continues to improve. The employee survey findings identified the top five strengths of the work environment to be: 1.) employees are proud to work at Norwich; 2.) the employee benefits available are valuable; 3.) the work employees do is valuable to the institution; 4.) the type of work employees do on most days is personally rewarding; and 5.) supervisors pay attention to what employees have to say. Over the summer and fall, 2014, focus groups were conducted with approximately 70% participation from Norwich staff members. We elected to focus not on our strengths as identified in the survey but on our weaknesses, and then to ask ourselves how to solve our challenges so we become stronger and more effective. Addressing those gaps – “Fear of Retribution”, “Policies – consistency in reinforcement”, and “Communication” – is really the most essential step in organizational learning—uncovering the fundamental problems, the real truths as it were, and then starting the conversation about how to fix them. That conversation should be messy and somewhat painful because we’re confronting changes in perceived truths and expectations, and making sure that different perspectives really get heard. An even greater strength is that we are involving the whole community. The first town hall meeting just over a week ago had staff from every level, from the Facilities Operations team to the Cabinet. Every individual had a chance (perhaps for the first time) to sit in the same place and talk about the problems honestly and openly. So while the findings and information may at times be uncomfortable, in my view this is an example of great organizational strength and vitality, and evidence that Norwich really is committed to its own founding principles and to its future. We are learning from our own inconsistencies, mistakes and deficiencies, and doing so in a thorough way. Moreover, and equally important, we have not jumped to conclusions and quick fixes but are working to foster a truly deliberative and comprehensive process that will help create the very things we aspire to realize (respect, team-building, debate, individual investment). I invite and encourage your participation. Thank you! RADM Richard W. Schneider, USCGR (Ret.) President, Norwich University You can find the Task force report here. https://drive.google/file/d/0B4-jjVRyb_OJYTJBcjJmSWUzbjg/view?usp=sharing N5, N1, and N7 Reporting
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:30:21 +0000
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