Transitions...

Well, I made it through my first three days of work--didn't fall asleep or mumble or stumble too badly, though today I had my moments. In the 12 minutes from my hotel to the college, I managed to gain a big stain on my tie, a great way to start. It got better--I was introduced to the president of the college, and after meeting about 40 other people and having to ask what they did or taught, apparently I thought it appropriate to just ask this next person what she did. In one of those classic moments, my immediate boss answered when I asked her this question and said "ahh, she is the president of the college." Am I smooth or what? Why would I know who the president of the college was? The fact that the zipper of my suit pants failed me half way through the day was only icing on this particular cake. As one my new colleagues would have descrined it, a slight fashion faux pas.

Actually, aside from these little gaffs, I think that the long, three day introduction went pretty well. The first two days were a retreat of sorts, with the deans and the academic vice president. To really understand this, you have to understand a bit about the college. Right now, it is a technical college--transfer degrees and many of the classes which transfer that they offer are really provided by a local community college. In the next year, SCTC will undergo a dramatic change as it becomes a technical and community college and offer its own transfer degrees and courses. Since many of these courses are liberal arts courses, the area I will help guide will change as quickly and dramatically as the rest of the college if not more so. All of the deans will have their plates full, but we seemed to get along and communicate well. As importantly, we laughed well together, a fact that is just as important, at least to me. Today was the opening convocation for all faculty and staff. I thought that this went well, too, and I really enjoyed meeting all the people that I did. I really enjoyed talking to the faculty--I skipped some of the afternoon sessions just so I could talk to them, and I think it was well worth it to do so.

Two things really struck me these past three days. One is the simple fact that while this college will face many changes and challenges, they are ones that most colleges face at different times. SCTC has to deal with and face issues such as block scheduling, class size, amazing numbers of new students, retention issues and internal communication challenges and more-- SCTC is not unique in having to deal with these issues. What may be different is the speed in which the college will have to deal with some of these changes.

The second thing that struck me was how much I have learned from the people I have worked with over the years. I really have been lucky with the people who I have worked with--I probably do not know a lot, but most of what I do know can be attributed to people who I have worked with at many different schools. The fact that I might know something about block scheduling (Jim and Shelby) or enrollment management (Deb and Duffy ) or education and e-portfolios and outcomes (Bruce and Mindy) or leadership (Ron, Dick, and Renay) Dev Ed assessment (all the great ABE/ESL Dev Ed faculty) can only be credited to the many people who have helped. And I could continue this list. This knowledge that others have shared with me will help make this job bearable.

It is interesting that the weather is even the topic of the day for folks here. To be fair, it is the news. Roads, little roads like I-90 and I-94 are closed tonight because of winds and drifting snow. Wind chills are expected to be a mind blowing (and freezing) minus 40-50 below. One might think that at a certain point a few more negative degrees won't matter, but I think they do--it is a bit more than a psychological difference when bits and pieces are freezing and falling off.

But my car starts, and while Minnesota is cold, its people are warm and friendly. I have a lot to do before next month, and even more to do after that, but I do feel, rightly or wrongly, that this will all be doable.