Friday, December 21, 2012

Celebrating Years of Leadership

Today I attended two retirement parties, both for long-time leaders at the UMD campus.  I am reflecting on the many years of leadership provided by these fine people.  

Steve Patterson has been an IT leader at UMD for forty years.  I have had the great pleasure of working with Steve for the past twenty years.  Steve has been a manager in ITSS for longer than I have been director.  Part of his leadership has been in mentoring me to be the best director I can be.  At his party, I offered this quote from Amy Rees Anderson:  "Success Will Come and Go, But Integrity is Forever." 

Judith Karon has been the UMD Director of Human Resources for the past twenty-four years.  She has been a tireless leader as well as a good friend.  Judith has also been a great mentor to me as I have worked through a number of personnel issues.  Most administrators, when asked what is the most difficult part of their job, will respond, "personnel issues."  Having Judith on my side has made this part of my job very much easier.

Please join me in celebrating the legacy of these two fine leaders.  And Happy Holidays to you all. 

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Value of Diplomacy

Do you remember the old adage, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?"  As an administrator, I get lots of vinegar.  So I loved this article by Allison M. Vaillancourt, "Nastiness Does Not Inspire Me to Action."  I have found that some people use rants instead of requests for assistance because they are naive or just don't know that diplomacy works better.  It's only a relative few who are just downright nasty people.

When I receive a rant, I usually wait a day or two to respond, so that I can be sure I am past my initial response of raised hackles.  Usually I respond calmly, and with an apology when it's called for.  With students in particular, I put on my educator's hat and try to teach them something about being more constructive in their attempts to get what they want.  One time I used the word "cyberspace" in a communication to students, and I got back a long rant telling what an old fogy I must be to use such an outdated word.  I responded in a way that tried to make clear that he was addressing a real person and not just a faceless administrator.  But I don't use "cyberspace" anymore.

The value of diplomacy goes the other way, too.  I have to keep my own impatience and certitude in check in order to get what I want from others.  I also love this article from Robert I. Sutton, "12 Things Good Bosses Believe."  Although I like all twelve of Sutton's points, here is my favorite, "Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk — and not realizing it."  So, if you work for me, practice your own diplomacy and find a way to tell me diplomatically if I have acted like an insensitive jerk.  I will thank you for it.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

More from the EDUCAUSE Conference

This is my second post about my experiences at the recent national EDUCAUSE Conference.

I attended two sessions about diversity in IT.  The first, Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics about Diversity in Higher Education, was a presentation from three diverse leaders in the IT community.  I have been particularly impressed by Keith McIntosh, whom I first met at an EDUCAUSE Midwest conference.  He is proving to be a great role model for all of us.  Melissa Woo was named the EDUCAUSE Rising Star this year, and she presented at the last EDUCAUSE Midwest about career development.  I have served on a couple of EDUCAUSE committees with Pablo Moreno.  All are great examples of how strong leaders rise from diversity of experience and background.

I also enjoyed the session Women in Technology:  Strategies and Best Practices to Attract Young Women into IT Programs and Careers.   When I was a faculty member in Computer Science, I developed a mentoring program for women in science and engineering, and I worked hard to encourage women students to complete their work in computer science.  This presentation made me realize how I had left this effort behind when I moved into administration.  These administrators were inspiring when they talked about programs at their institutions to encourage young women to move into IT careers.  I'm thinking about how we might do something like this here.

I was very proud of Peter Angelos and Jason Davis, who joined UMTC OIT colleagues Brittany Lloyd and Brad Cohen in presenting Shared Leadership:  From IT Silos to IT Alliance.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this presentation because it conflicted with my participation on the EDUCAUSE Professional Development Advisory Committee.  However, their presentation got rave reviews, including one from UM CIO Scott Studham.

Finally, I was exceptionally proud of three UMD CLA faculty members, who presented Mobile Language Learning.   Dana Lindaman teaches French, Mike Mullins teaches German, and Dan Nolin teaches German and Russian.  They did a great job of explaining how they have incorporated iPads into their instruction.  Even more impressive is their work with students and faculty in other disciplines to develop iPad apps that support teaching and learning.  The most complete app so far is a German language grammar guide.  Their work is inspiring.