“Engage with the issues seriously and with an open mind – not only to the 'voices without power' but also the 'voices with power' as all have their stories, feelings and process to honor. Strive to be, and inspire others to become an amazing community member, communicate well and with integrity, and build networks thoughtfully and instead of tearing it apart."
To facilitate holistic communication within SIT and World Learning for the benefit of the entire network
Vision: We want to be a part of an educational environment that fosters collaboratively created processes and structures for sustainable, multi-directional communication that will benefit the institution, and its members and networks with an established transparent system of accountability for the communication process, including monitoring and evaluation.
Examine and understand the current state of communication at SIT on the levels of Board, Administration, Faculty, Staff and Students.
Support an environment that facilitates information exchange and inspires decisions that benefit all stakeholders
Continually monitor and enhance physical and technological delivery methods for communication.
Generate implementation plans for communicating our learnings to the next year's students.
Improve and sustain effective, lateral and vertical communication pathways.
The Communication Committee was born out of a contentious "Town Hall Meeting" regarding an unfavorable choice to bring about uncommunicated changes to the degree areas, and also the choice of food service provider. Members had identified that a large part of the communication committee was based in a need to have better governance through understanding. The organization was a tragedy, full of silos of communication, and rampant misuse of information power. The interactions with the board portrayed the Graduate Institute as the 'unwanted stepchild.' Administration was set to an adversarial positioning because of the overall attacks and unformed communication channels. The students had their learning and internal process and either the deep personal process or the ever present drama sapped their energy. The faculty was demoralized, and the staff was caught in the middle.
After examining the history of the institution, and talking to everyone who would talk about the people, design and processes of the institution, it seemed like a good idea to begin to address some of the core issues that caused a series of repetitive themes that have cyclically plagued the institution for 15 years. In addition, there were threats and rumors about closing under the guise of financial exigency, and the committee formed to begin to build trust, inspire organization, and thoughtful, strategic action.
As practitioners of justice, it was time to break the cycle of violence, disaffection, disengagement, and find ways to build bridges instead of tearing it apart. It was not going to be easy. Justice never is.
While the committee was attended by many individuals on a floating basis from all degree areas and interests, the individuals listed below were part of the core effort.
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Andrew Batcher is studying Social Justice in Intercultural Relations, with a concentration in Training and Education. He became inspired to pursue social justice education after working as a trainer, field manager, and fundraiser, affiliated with the ACLU. He came to SIT with his wife Danna, as a Master's International candidate.
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Heidi Bruce, an SLM candidate originally from Alaska, she came to SIT Graduate Institute to explore the intersection of Conflict Transformation and Sustainable Development. She is trilingual ( German, Spanish, English) and is pleased to have the opportunity to experience fall in Vermont was a dream of hers.
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Sarah Davitt came to SIT Graduate Institute after she was inspired by International Business Communication class at Harvard, and came here at the urging of her Professor who wished she'd been able to attend SIT. She comes here with a background in fine art, art preservation, community building, nonprofit and volunteer management. She is currently working on projects for the alumni network, and designing an assessment tool that visualizes democratic opinions.
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Sarah Fike is studying Conflict Transformation, with a concentration in Arts and Theater for Social Change. Her background includes a BA in Music and Anthropology from the University of Michigan, and she hopes to pursue a career focused on the use of music and the arts in intercultural communication, community empowerment, and conflict transformation. She will be serving the next two years in the Peace Corps as part of her practicum work for SIT.
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Jessica Julius
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Danna Pope is studying Intercultural Service Leadership and Management, primarily focusing on Conflict Transformation at SIT Graduate Institute. Previously she worked for five years at Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation helping others to figure out their aptitudes to move their career paths in a more satisfying direction. She is still working on operationalizing her own career path that tries to make the world a noticeably better place. She attended Antioch College in Ohio for her undergraduate studies. The near future hopefully involves going on the Peace Corps with her fellow PIM husband.
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Lauren Thrift is a Masters’ Candidate at SIT Graduate Institute where she is pursuing an MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management. Her career goals include designing and managing peacebuilding community programs for grades K-12th that bridge cultural gaps within US communities through a combination of dialogue and teambuilding activities in music and the arts. Lauren is currently interning as Outreach Coordinator with the CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures) Peacebuilding Program at SIT Graduate Institute through June 2011 and will begin an AmeriCorps position with Safe and Sound in Milwaukee, WI as a Restorative Justice Coordinator. Lauren loved her time on SIT's campus and looks forward to a career using her SIT skills and knowledge.