Time for Innovative Thinking!

I can hardly believe it is May already; however, I am excited about this month’s guiding principle: Innovation.

Over the past few years, I have heard things like, “it is hard to be innovative in challenging times” and “how can we be innovative when resources are scarce”, so I want to flip this kind of thinking on innovation. Instead of letting these challenges limit our innovation, why not use those challenges to our advantage – these challenges of budget, scarce resources, and time are simply a test of our innovative abilities.

Within FAS there are many great minds, creating an enormous potential for innovative thinking. One of the greatest ways in which we can show our value of supporting student success is by finding creative solutions and innovative ideas to address not only the problems that exist but to also streamline and enhance our processes and make us more efficient. We must overcome the obstacles in front of us and push the envelope of progress toward a more innovative university.

I look to you for your creativity and expertise because you are the ones who utilize the processes – ask yourself:

• how we may improve what we’re already doing;
• how we may cut unnecessary or repetitive steps out of our daily work;
• how we may better serve our campus community

You are our greatest experts to identify these opportunities. I ask you to take time today, this week, or this month, and use your imagination to find ways to enhance our services, streamline our processes, or leverage our resources to maximize our incredible capabilities. In the words of Tony Robbins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten”, so let’s start thinking about things differently and find creative ways to get better results!

Communication via Social Media

In honor of this month’s FAS guiding principle, Communication, I wanted to share the following photo with you, which provides a brief example of each of the different forms of social media. It’s a good visual way to demonstrate all of the different ways that students, prospective students, and the campus community may be communicating about our campus, services, programs and processes. It also breaks down the social media to make it more understandable so that we can see why there are so many different forms – I don’t know about you, but trying to getting a handle on all of the different forms of social media can be a job in itself. These days everything is being tweeted, posted, photographed, and tagged, so I show you this to remind you all of the different ways in which communication is happening every second and to remind us all how important it is for us to ensure we are communicating the right messages, providing exceptional customer-service, and developing value-added processes. 

What are your favorite methods for communication and how do you prefer to receive information? 

On the Horizon . . .

Thank you all for joining us at the FAS Division Meeting last week! We hope you enjoyed Sarita Maybin’s keynote and were able to take away some useful tips for Adapting, Succeeding, and Thriving in the Workplace. As I mentioned during the meeting, we have been busy working on our initiatives and improvements in order to respond to the feedback we received on the Values Survey.

Our initiatives for improving the workplace are targeted at the four main themes from this year’s survey:

• Accountability
• Coaching/Feedback
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution

Accountability:
Each year, accountability shows up as an opportunity for improvement. This year, we have a creative solution for improving accountability in the workplace. I’ve asked the Bridgeworks Company to present to our division on “Bridging the Generational Gap” and help us work across generations. With different generations working together, it is important to have an understanding of the different opinions around us, so that we can effectively bridge the gaps related to accountability, communication, and conflict. This FAS Training event is scheduled for April 11th, so mark your calendars and be on the lookout for more information!


Coaching/Feedback:
To help FAS Managers & UARSC Directors improve their coaching and feedback skills, I will be transforming the FAS management meetings. This year, the quarterly meetings will focus on training and developing our leaders. Recently, Susan Gerke presented on coaching employees and providing effective feedback for successful outcomes. The training provided useful tools and resources to help us be more effective in providing feedback to employees.


Communication:
Communication is an important component of the FAS Culture – so important, in fact, that it is our March Guiding Principle. Communication will always be at the forefront to ensure we utilize the latest technology and find ways to capture your feedback for a successful two-way communication approach.

• I will continue the VP’s Coffee Hour meetings on a monthly basis.
• The FAS Connect has been updated to expand the scope beyond FAS Quality Improvement to share updates regarding the division, campus, and system, as appropriate.
• I will blog more frequently. As part of my commitment to FAS, I will be sending a monthly blog.

Conflict Resolution:
Conflict Resolution will be addressed in a variety of formats. Sarita’s keynote to the division on “Adapting, Succeeding, and Thriving in the Workplace” was the first piece of this process. We understand the challenging environment we are operating in and reminding ourselves of the three P’s may make a big impact on how we handle situations and resolve conflict.

• Am I taking it personally?
• Is the situation really permanent?
• How important is this in the big picture?

Bridgeworks will be presenting on the “Working Across Generations” and will be providing additional tools for conflict resolution, communicating and working together.
We’ve got a lot on the horizon and I look forward to another exciting and productive year.

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Laugh. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Choose with no regret. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” - Maryanne Radmacher

Ready, Set, Go . . . 2012 is Here!

Just as I was getting used to writing 2011 on documents, 2012 arrives.
If this year moves as quickly as the last couple of years, we’ll be looking at a new year in no time, so let’s buckle up for another busy year. Over the past few years, our campus has seen a lot of change and growth, as we have matured into a strong campus, full of student life, opportunity and development. Our division, in particular, has been increasingly busy over the years, as we not only serve over 10,000 students, but over 1,500 faculty and staff members as well. In the upcoming year, we have some exciting projects on the horizon, so I know we’re all eager to launch into the New Year full speed ahead, but before we do, I ask you to take a few moments and consider your goals for 2012.

Here are a few of my thoughts for making 2012 the best year yet:

• Remember our purpose.  We support student success by delivering valuable services to the campus community.
• Maintain integrity.  “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently” – Warren Buffett
• Focus on Accountability. Overcome obstacles and achieve results through a few simple accountability principles: “see it, own it, solve it, and do it”.
• Always strive for excellence, but do not fear failure.  “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
• Change the Conversation.  Keep things positive. Avoid gossip and negativity. Focus on turning conflict into collaboration.
• Strive for the impossible. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination” - Tommy Lasorda

Whether it is January 1st or June 1st, it is never too late to make a resolution. One of my resolutions this year is to blog more frequently, so be watching your inbox for my blog updates.

Welcome back and I wish you all a happy and successful New Year!

Reflections of 2011

First, I want to say thank you for welcoming me into your departments during my annual holiday walk-around. It was fun to drop in and visit for a bit – I hope you all enjoyed the cookies!

As 2011 comes to an end, I want to thank all of you for the hard work and continued efforts you have demonstrated throughout the year. I am proud to lead this division and thankful for each of you and your commitment to our university. FAS is, without a doubt, the finest division within the CSU, and this greatness is attributed to the fine work you all do each day.

This past year, we had some outstanding achievements, and I would like to take a moment to recognize a few of our accomplishments:

• CSUSM ranked #1 in California for safety
• Commencement returned to campus

• First on-campus flash mob - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUmdTUmmVtg 

• The baseball team played their first home-game on our new field

• Recognized as RecycleMania Grand Champions for 7 years running

• Converted PeopleSoft Legacy to the Common Financial System (CFS)

• Re-launched the Leadership Academy and included staff in this year's cohort

• Partnered with Follett to manage our bookstore and provide enhanced services to the campus community

• Opened the Public Safety Building and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building

• “The Quad” Ground Breaking

• Received the California Challenge Award

• And we had another successful year-end close

I could probably spend half of the day writing about the achievements of FAS, but I’ll keep it short because I know many of you are ready to start your holiday break :)

Thank you again for your good work and for helping us accomplish our many goals. I hope you all enjoy the holiday break and have a chance to spend quality time with your families.

See you in 2012!



Thank You for Bringing Commencement Home!

I’d like to personally thank all of you who volunteered your time to make this year’s Commencement a success! 1,545 graduates from the Class of 2011 attended our three ceremonies over a two-day period, with more than 18,000 of their family members and friends. This event could not have been pulled off without your time, support, and dedication.

Many of the guests experienced our beautiful campus for the first time, and you left a great impression. As you know, our Commencement ceremonies were held off campus in Del Mar for the past ten years, so this was no small feat to bring Commencement back home.

Thank you for the countless hours of planning and work you did in order to make this a success. I received regular updates over the past few months from Lt. Doug Miller and Robert Williams on all of the details and plans leading up to the events. Even with the best laid plans, we expected glitches and lessons learned. I was pleasantly amazed to see how beautifully the days went.

I’ve heard positive comments from the President, members of the Executive Council, faculty, staff, students, and families who were all pleased with the work you did. I have a list of all of those who helped with Commencement and I will be bringing by a token of my appreciation to thank you for your time and hopefully provide you with a memory of the event.

I am proud of the fine members of this division, and I thank you for successfully returning Commencement to campus and for leaving a positive impression on all who experienced the festivities.

Pictures from the event may be found on the Campus Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/csusm.

Guest Blog: The FDM Transformation

A guest blog by Gary Cinnamon.

As I look back over the past year, I am amazed at what FDM was able to accomplish: the completion of Social and Behavioral Sciences building, Public Safety Building, CSUSM Temecula Campus, our new Baseball Field, and many smaller projects that are too numerous to name.

But as great as these accomplishments are, and the entire Department should be proud of themselves for contributing to building the campus, these projects are just physical things. Over time as projects transform and move from the “design and construction” phase to the “operation and maintenance” phase they will fall from people's memories as great accomplishments and simply become the “day to day job”. Mind you, that is not bad, just a reality. The emotions tied to accomplishments just do not last forever. With that said, there is one small accomplishment within FDM that will continue to transform us, the FDM REORGANIZATION.

The FDM reorganization was originally conceived to address various initiatives on energy and sustainability. At the time, I thought this reorganization would be a fairly simple endeavor, move a few people around and create the department of Sustainability and Utility Services within FDM. However, what was simple in concept has in fact been a difficult and continuous effort on the part of all within FDM. What started, long before I was in the picture, as two nearly autonomous groups of people, one group constructing buildings, and the other operating and maintaining them, with hardly a word spoken between them, has been transformed into four aligned and collaborating departments with four areas of expertise:

• Facilities Services—Experts in facility operation and maintenance
• Planning Design and Construction—Experts in development of capital projects
• Sustainability and Utilities Services—Experts in energy management and sustainable practices
• FDM Administration—Experts in policy, procedures, budgets, and money

Unlike our “accomplishments” of designing, building, and operating facilities, which eventually fade from memory, our four departments, simply conceived, will continue to evolve and improve on a daily basis. We will strive for excellence and focus on the solutions that will make all of Facilities Development and Management an “accomplishment” within itself for years to come.

Six months ago at our FAS Division meeting I promised three things to FDM:

• I will make myself more visible to all FDM employees.
• I will clarify and standardize all FDM Operating Procedures.
• I will listen to what employees say, and collaborate to create strategic solutions that meet the needs of our employees as well as the Campus.

Since I’ve said those words I’ve worked at trying to inject them into my daily life on campus, maybe not always successful but always with enthusiasm. As we all work toward making FDM a better organization it is clear to me that the words above are no longer “I” statements, but rather they are “We” statements.

• We make ourselves more visible to our fellow employees-we are a team and work for the betterment of our fellow team members.
• We help each other to understand and clarify our jobs within all of FDM.
• We communicate; we listen to each other; we collaborate; and we all create strategic solutions that meet the needs of each of us, FDM and our Campus.

I congratulate each and every one of the employees of FDM for their accomplishments for the year and years to come. You have all performed a JOB WELL DONE.