champlain college summit
DESCRIPTION
A graphic and narrative description of the work accomplished at the Champlain College Summit, Aug. 10-11, 2011TRANSCRIPT
In August, 400 people gathered in Argosy
Gym at Champlain College for a two-day Summit
to envision the future. As members of all Champlain’s
extended community – employers, trustees, government
officials, community members, students, parents, alumni,
faculty and staff found their seats, there was an air of
excitement in the room.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Dave Finney, President, Champlain College, welcomed everyone and outlined our
mission: to develop ways of…
Building partnerships for a thriving workforce and fostering economic development
in the state of Vermont
Honorary Chair of the Summit, Bob Stiller, Chairman of the Board of Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters, (GMCR) offered his experience using the Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
approach and how it helped GMCR identify growth opportunities. He credits it with
being a key component of GMCR’s success and one that could be transferred to higher
education and Champlain’s goals to be a part of the Vermont workforce’s growth and
success.
The task ahead – use the collective experience of 400 people to “Imagine Vermont in
2020 – a place still stunning with its green mountains, blue lakes and commitment to
social values. A place alive with vibrant, creative new industries. A Vermont where the
workforce is a dynamic, living system offering easily accessible employee development; a
pool of top-level talent and a place innovative companies want to be.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
A little background on the process was offered. For three months in advance, a planning
team prepared for Champlain’s first Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Summit.
At the Summit, Lindsey Godwin, a faculty member in our Business of Division,
explained that Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach to a strengths-based and whole
system change model.
She explained that AI seeks to build a constructive union between people and the
entirety of what people talk about as past and present capacities: achievements, assets,
unexplored potentials, innovations, strengths, opportunities, high point moments – and
visions of valued and possible futures.
AppreciAtive inquirY deliberately links the energy of strength-based thinking
to any change agenda resulting in changes never thought possible that are then suddenly
and democratically mobilized. With the facilitation of leader Judy Rogers, the group set
off on its journey to conceive of a new future and realize the Summit’s objectives to:
Positively impact the future economic vitality and sustainability of Vermont
Envision a new learning and career opportunities model for Champlain College students,
alumni and employer partners to ensure that they all thrive in mutual support over the life of
their careers and businesses
Plan the steps to initiate and successfully launch this model
Invoke the energy and commitment to build and sustain this innovative model
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
There are four cycles of inquiry in an Appreciative Inquiry approach to change.
The phases are called: Discovery, Dream, Design and Deliver.
For the “Discover” phase the large group became four smaller groups.
The yellow group was asked to consider the following question:
“We are all part of the Champlain stakeholder community, and we have come
together to consider how we may drive the economic vitality of the state of Vermont.
We want to enable employers to get the top talent and ideas and to offer the
highest level of support to Champlain College students and alumni in leveraging
their education career success.”
Describe an experience you have had with Champlain College that was a highpoint
experience for you. What does the experience tell you about the values of the College?
What values and characteristics are unique to Vermont and so significant that they
should be a part of whatever we create together?
The red group was asked to:
Share high point experiences from being a part of innovative and adaptive culture at
Champlain College. The stories we heard from the report-outs helped us identify key
elements of innovative and adaptive cultures.
The “blue group” was asked to:
Share high point experiences from being part of a successful partnership in which
people were able to learn and adapt by collaborating. We learned about many effective
partnerships that exist throughout Vermont and the reasons why these partnerships were
so successful.
What quality partnerships will best support our efforts as we begin to design and
implement a revolutionary career-opportunities model for Champlain College and
employer partners that will benefit our workforce and ensure future employment
opportunities?
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
The orange group, which was also the largest, was first asked to:
“Imagine Vermont in 2020. It is still stunning with its green mountains, blue
lakes and commitment to social values, but also alive with vibrant, creative new
industries. The workforce is a dynamic, living system where employee development
is easily accessible, top level talent is easy to find, and innovative companies are
eager to establish themselves in Vermont.”
With that in mind, imagine a partnership model that supports this thriving workforce:
it was originally envisioned by a group of Champlain College stakeholders convened in
2011 and has grown way beyond the original “sketch” created by the group.
Describe this model and how it might offer something truly new to Champlain students
and alumni, the workforce and employers in Vermont and beyond.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
After a brief break, we gathered with others from similar “stakeholder groups” –
employers, alumni and parents, Board of Trustees, students, friends of the College,
government and community groups, faculty and staff.
Each group worked together to develop “big picture” ideas that would benefit their
particular group and others.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Employers, government officials, representatives from the non-profit community, friends
of the College, members of the Board of Trustees, and Trustee Emeriti “discovered”
additional resources and shared their innovative ideas including:
Longer term/fulltime internships
Utilizing Appreciative Inquiry Summits as a regular method of bringing stakeholders from all
over the state together to design solutions for statewide challenges
Creating an entrepreneurial institute
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
At the end of the first day, we embarked on the “Dream” phase of the Summit. Groups
were asked to imagine and define the future they envisioned and wanted to work toward:
“A highly innovative career model that involves a network of the extended
stakeholder community of faculty, staff, students, employers, students, alumni, and
the state of Vermont.”
Each group presented its ideas to everyone in the room and the enthusiastic sharing
brought a buzz of energy to the end of the day.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Among the shared ideas:
Phone apps that provided instant access to learning solutions
Creative ways students could apply their learning (including learned social/communication
skills) in workplaces all over the world and throughout their four-year experience
How Champlain might introduce a college education as a viable option to school children
who do not consider higher education an option
Ways Champlain might further assist alumni with their life and career transitions
Strategies to work with Vermont employers that would help them maintain a competitive
advantage by means of flexible workforce hiring and development solutions
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
And one forward-looking group was challenged with designing a plan to help Champlain
College and its many partners move the good work from the Summit forward.
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Day Two
The second day began with the Design phase of the Appreciative Inquiry Champlain
Summit. The task ahead – develop prototypes for the ideas that had surfaced on Day
One. The key elements of rapid prototyping were explained and the groups began work.
The task? Take the most promising ideas from the brain-storming and build and design
a “prototype” of it that could be facilitated by the College to help realize these new
visions. The prototypes needed to support at least one of the six key “opportunity areas”
that surfaced on Day One:
Embedded Learning
Champlain as a Strategic Resource to Business
Toppling the Ivory Tower: Rethinking Curriculum & Delivery
Lifelong Engagement
People Opportunity Matching
Sustaining the Summit
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
The ideas formed and included topics such as:
Thought leadership think tanks
Identifying the needs of small businesses, specifically around businesses having easy access to a
strong pool of employees and ongoing employee development options
A new process for statewide networking
Intentional embedded learning in and out of the classroom
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
More ideas flowed:
Flexible schedules and curriculum for students
Developing students as global citizens
Engaging in learning for a lifetime (K-60), and
Using data as a tool for meaningful relationships
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
Champlain College SummitBuilding PartnershiPs for a thriving workforce!
We developed initial action plans in order to move the ideas from the Champlain
Summit forward – looking for immediate, intermediate and long-term priorities to help
shape the steps ahead.
The latest update can be found at http://www.summit.champlain.edu
Sincere thanks to the many people who devoted their time and energy to making our
summit a success. Special thanks to Bob Stiller who had the vision to see how impactful
an AI Summit could be for Champlain College and Vermont.