Goals of overall communication
To get the message expressed and understood (and feedback!)
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Student to Student
Observations: Welcome to the process. An engaged student would be well advised to ask these questions first when beginning group work (and some related concepts).
"What is your preferred mode of communication (class, access)?"
What are your expectations for the final product (task-oriented)?
What timeframe do you want to work with (LTO) ?
Are you here to make friends (IDV)?
Are there any cultural idioms that you have been frustrated with in the past? (self awareness)
How did you handle it?
If there is an issue, how will you communicate it to me? (indirect vs direct)
Ideal communication issues to navigate:
Know that very few students in 2011 checked their email. They often forwarded their mail and everything from Moodle messages to important messages from professors and students got delivered to the spam folder (which did not forward).
Some students were only able to get or receive phone calls when standing in the parking lot.
Some students operate on different walking patterns.
Off campus students sometimes are only on campus for pre-arranged times.
Face to Face communication can get gossipy and demoralizing (especially if you have a poor group experience!)
Ideal communication issues to navigate:
Make these arrangements in advance and confirm appointments on the day-of )or the day before!)
Setting up a regular meeting time is usually more effective than times that meet at varying times.
Meeting after class is effective also
The IC during mealtime is a good place to catch most on campus students.
Aspire to be trustworthy and respectful.
Add your own here!
Faculty to Student
Observations: Discrepancy in digital tool competency and use (email, Moodle, collaborative tools), multiple places to leave messages, lack of feng shui (communication exists in places that aren't student centered) leads to redundancy and missing pieces. Tends toward value of conversation, supportive designs and voice over digital, written or other tools.
Ideal communication suggestions: Send an email if something is in the physical mailbox, use the technology available or not. Express preferences, be available/found through SIT email, know that Moodle/existing communication tools delivers email to spam or formats it into an unreadable text block. Be redundant, and clear.
Student to Faculty
Varies wildly.
Ideal communication suggestions: Ask. Understand that they are subjected to the same systems that limit the student body. Be redundant, check Moodle to make sure your question isn't already answered.
Student to Administration
Observations: This manner of communication is based in a great deal of confusion. Administration is pretty accessible however the current structure of the Graduate Institute is confusing and disjointed, not only in its structure, but also in its communication paths. This manifests as skipping over people in the chain to find support or resolution. Some prefer to be skipped, some function better when skipped, some of the pathways are fully updated and serve as old signposts to non-existing systems. It is rare and slow to find the right person to answer a query easily, and satisfactorily. Emails are not received, or delivered (sent to spam) technological structures that the systems cling to are organic, and lack internal support or resources to manifest them.
Guidelines for communication: Ask questions, use appreciative inquiry, connect to the stated goals and direction, look to the future, express feelings, follow the chain of command when possible, know what the organizational realities are. If you hear a story, inquire, before acting.
Faculty to Administration
Observations: Ok to not-good, depending on who you are speaking to and who was listening. Some of them have an understanding about the politics, some have personal thing, some are mired in organizational suffering, some manifest the privilege of justice. Each faculty member and administrator is individual. Currently overall relationships are viewed as tense.
Ideal communication suggestions: Meet on each other's turf. Say hello, and smile. Talk to, not at. Acknowledge that this is hard and that y'all are in deep. Discuss values and fears. Hope. Use the tools and skills for good instead of evil. Develop channels for accountable communication. Avoid the use of information as power through gossip.
Administration to Faculty
Observations: Whew. This is a can of worms. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g ) See above. I really hope they can work it out.
Desired communication qualities (from student perspective): Respect, don't use students to hurt each other.
UPDATE Aug 16, 2011: This still has some rough patches, but it seems to have smoothed out a little bit.
Administration to Student
Observations: This is a core dimension that the Communication committee was working on. Not only for the benefit of the administration but to provide a better picture of what it means to be an SIT Graduate Student, and the value that can be conveyed, and the potential for utilizing our strengths for the benefits of the whole.
Desired communication qualities: Recommended communication goals:
Formal: quarterly+, when change or overarching decisions is considered or will happen, honest, humble, and by email.
Informal: casual focus groups, coffee, tea, lunch, wandering, attend student events and socials, building trust, gathering understanding, varied communities/ touchstones, online records through public tools to express support... Operating faster than gossip, to minimize panic.
Student to Board
Observations: Transactions of this nature aren't really designed to happen, but are possible beyond the preset meetings and casual interaction. To arrange a meeting, contact the president's assistant and send an invitation to the event/thought that you would like a board member to attend.
Guidelines for communication: formal, culture appropriate, gracious, spellchecked, structured.
Board to Student
Observations: The board does not have an obligation to communicate directly to the students, and quite realistically it is not really part of their purview. They are responsible for millions of dollars, hiring the President, and while they are comprised of caring individuals, who believe in the Graduate Institute and its students, they are structured to not micro-manage small aspects of student life. If you feel an urge to speak to the board, examine deeply the reasons why you feel the need to do so, and what the goals of the conversation would be.
The May 2011 meeting with incoming chair, Roz Delori, was based in beginning to give a context to the greater SIT Graduate Student, and to reaffirm the ideological common ground, and practical functions.
Note about Student Trustees: These individuals are not viewed or set up to be part of student governance. Student Trustees should be viewed as a sort of board-level internship. They are generally not part of the agenda, and serve as a voice of alternative experience to inform the board beyond their boundaries.
In the past, there have been breakfasts, and occasional appearances at meetings on campus. Also the board holds its October meeting in Brattleboro. Watch for email announcements from Student Life in October.
Desired communication qualities: While nothing is required, a mini memo when large changes are introduced would be helpful (delivered in combination with Administration to maintain responsibility over the designated purview)
Student to Staff
Observations: Varies, largely, we do not understand who works how and who can help. Sometimes the person who can best help isn't the one you think/find. Jobs, responsibilities, solutions change quickly... this gets confusing.
Guidelines for communication: Don't mess with the gatekeepers. Understand their organizational constraints (lack of staffing, resources, internally held information, etc) Respect them and their work.
Staff to Student, Faculty
Observations: Generally a big confusing, mis-channeled, for many of the reasons mentioned previously (systems, resources, etc) Faculty and staff seem to communicate more, but there are always many last minute changes -- and this poses a challenge when the information is needed, as well as context and neither are offered.
Desired communication qualities: Timely, multi-channeled, low error, and clarity of formatting. Confirm receipt or action.