Opening Day Address 2002-03

President Jean Floten

Members of the Board of Trustees (Dell Jackson, Chair; Ruthann Kurose, Jim Dagnon), Foundation Board of Directors (Toni Richmond, President) , other friends of the College, and faculty, staff, and administrators of Bellevue Community College:

Good morning and welcome to the 36th academic year at BCC. We all know the sense of promise and possibility that charges a college community this time of year. It is the occasion of renewed energy, new students, colleagues, and initiatives. It is an opportunity to take a fresh look at our work, and this morning I invite you to join me in taking on these exciting challenges.

As I was sitting in my office on Labor Day thinking about these opening comments, I looked out the window and saw a summer storm take shape with flowing silhouettes of trees bending in the warm breeze, beds of lovely flowers animated with dancing shadows from our flags fluttering overhead; the clang of halyards hitting the metal flagpoles in the wind. This scene of stunning beauty created a moment of reflection and I realized how much Bellevue Community College means to me. You know, there aren’t many places in human society where people can gather to learn, engage in meaningful discourse, agree, disagree, all focused on developing human knowledge and potential. Academic communities are special places and we are privileged to be here.

We are reminded that the heart of our collective enterprise is to reach students by using human intellect and spirit to inform, involve and inspire. We are confirmed in that purpose, every day, as we see the flash of learning in the eye of a student or the zeal of a faculty member talking about a concept or the satisfaction of a staff member who has helped a student get a class or made our campus more hospitable. Ours is important work. I am grateful to be at Bellevue Community College and as I welcome you this morning, I trust you are too.

Every year it is my honor to introduce the new people who have joined the college. This year there are about 90 such individuals. The list of talents and resources they bring is very impressive. Would the new full-time employees who have been hired since last September, please stand? Rather than read all of their names today, I urge everyone to greet these folks personally at the new employee reception tomorrow at 3:30. Let’s give them a warm welcome! We wish you a fulfilling and enjoyable career at BCC.

We are also joined today by the college’s first scholar- in- residence Nawang Dorjee from India. We are so honored to have him work with us this year. I will save his introduction until later, so he can say a few words to us.

I am saddened to report that this summer saw the loss of several former BCC employees. I would like for us all to take a moment to remember Dr. Louis Khan, Kay Norris, Evelyn O’Leary, Dr. Paul Thompson, for what they meant to us and BCC.

This summer, our campus grew even lovelier, thanks to the efforts of plant operations – and bigger, thanks to student services staff that have registered 22,000 students; our largest fall quarter yet. We have already exceeded our enrollment target — which is a good thing.

We have made some major facilities improvements over the summer: We completed the major renovation of Student Services and added a beautiful new entrance and landscaped Courtyard outside the building. You will find the renovations colorful, spacious, and signed especially well to help students find their way.

We finally got a permit from the City and installed the new Coffee Bar in the R Building. That ought to make some of your early morning classes a little more tolerable!

We started some major roofing work on the gym, theater and L building, which we plan to complete by the end of October. And finally, we hope to soon have the art work installed in the Courtyard of the R Building soon. As I am learning, art takes time. . . .

Later this year we will change our courtyard lighting so that it will provide more energy efficient and brighter lighting. We will also renovate the A Building, start parking garage construction, and revise the main entrance and adjacent parking lots.

I am pleased to announce that the faculty and administration negotiating teams reached agreement on the contract re-openers for 2002-2003. They actually had a quiet summer since they performed most of the bargaining work before classes ended last spring. I think this is a fabulous precedent.

Let’s express our appreciation to all of those who helped us get ready this summer.

OPENING ADDRESS

This year it seems especially important to gather and reflect together. Last year at this time we confronted immense tragedy, shocked with disbelief at the terrorism against the United States, angry with its perpetrators, and stunned by the events that continued to unfold.

Those of us who teach or administer in community colleges are rarely called upon to comment on the large events of the day. Yet, in the aftermath of 9/11, we were tested against our claim that we offer students as Thucydides (1) has said, "a possession for all time," an education that enables them to make a life.

Students turned to us to make sense of the terrifying and incomprehensible acts of aggression, and we discovered an extraordinary teaching opportunity. We could demonstrate that the books, authors, and questions that we rely on could offer students support and direction, as they were overwhelmed by information. They could, for example, draw greater meaning about current events from reading the Durants’ The Lessons of History than they would ever get from CNN, FOX, and “The O’Reilly Factor" and, by such reading, become more intelligent consumers of the information these outlets provide.”

Large, catastrophic events cause us to examine what values are truly important to us. I have reflected on more than one occasion on the responsibility of our chosen profession to prepare students to find their way through a complex and confusing, and increasingly harsher world.

While I have always thought a liberal education was important to help people find personal meaning, the events of September 11 reinforce another crucial dimension of liberal education. As we watched our leaders struggle to make judgments drawn from complex situations where there are no scripts and for which nothing less than human lives are at stake, we saw concepts like global interdependence, freedom, “just war,” security, and civil liberties take on new significance as they were enacted on the world stage. It is critical that higher education prepare people to arrive at informed opinion to implement and preserve the values we cherish as a nation.

How do we frame such issues in such a way that people aren’t swept away on a national bandwagon, but think for themselves? How do we achieve the balance between often competing concepts like national security interests and civil liberties? Is it right to strike if we believe our homeland is in danger? These are big questions that require intelligent understanding of complex issues and reasoned conclusions. For me, these events underscored that our students need to become informed, responsible, non-parochial, global citizens, equipped to deal with the complicated issues of the day.

Some would argue that critical thinking is the cornerstone of a liberal education. Graham Haslam was quoted in the Seattle Times this summer that our primary role is to help students think for themselves. Mike Hanson, speaking in last May’s Margin of Excellence video, observed that we are here ultimately to help students learn to think critically. Through critical inquiry and thinking students are equipped to sort through complicated problems and arrive at reasoned conclusions. Skills of vital importance that an education must provide.

The late British playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that a school is much like a prison, indeed worse, since in a prison at least the inmates aren't forced to read books written by the warden and the guards. None of us has ever felt this way in the years we've spent in school, right? The point is that a liberal arts education should be exactly opposite of a prison. "Liberal” comes the Latin, liber, meaning “free.”(2) Liberal arts free a person, as Aristotle thought, from the repression of unexamined opinions, prejudices, and ignorance. As Jon Wulff likes to remind us, philosophy is the mother of the liberal arts, and helps hone our critical thinking abilities.

Many like Donald Kagan have found the whole attempt to define liberal arts disappointing: He says:

From Cicero’s artes liberals …to the chaotic cafeteria that passes for a curriculum in most American universities today, the concept [of liberal arts] has suffered from vagueness, confusion and contradiction. (3)

In fact, some attribute the inching forward in importance of trades or practical education in the last forty years, with students pursuing medicine, law, business, engineering, finance – real things as opposed to theoretical – to be a backlash to the perceived value of a liberal education.

We have all seen the T-shirt quip that reads, "Liberal Arts Major: Will Think for Food." Those with a liberal arts education may well have cultivated intellects but experience extreme difficulty paying the bills (4). At least, this is the urban legend.

However, a few years ago, The Wall Street Journal featured a story about the academic backgrounds of some people at the top of their fields. It pointed out that more executives had degrees in liberal arts than any other field, followed by business and science. The article went on to explain that while business and science have important functions in society, when it comes to innovation, creativity, communication, analytical thought, and cross-cultural interaction, Liberal Arts provides the basic foundation. (5)

In addition to having a considered life, can a student prepare for the workplace through a liberal arts education? Here are two charts that show what employers say they want from their employees and what a liberal arts education provides.

Top Ten Qualities Employers Seek In Employees
Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (6)

1. Communication Skills

2. Motivation/Initiative

3. Teamwork

4. Leadership

5. Academic Achievement/GPA

6. Interpersonal Skills

7. Flexibility/Adaptability

8. Technical Skills

9. Honest and Integrity

10. Analytical/Problem Solving Skills
    

Transferable Skills Gained from Liberal Arts Education
Source: Indiana University CDC (7)

1. Interpersonal Skills

2. Written & Oral Communication

3. Adaptability to Change

4. Critical and Analytical Thinking

5. Problem-Solving
   

They look pretty similar, don’t they? A liberal arts education appears to be good preparation for employment. However, a recent study of college students showed that enrollment in the liberal arts has dropped by over a third in the last decade because students don’t believe that it is a viable pathway to employment. If liberal arts education offers a good preparation for the workplace, why are students not seeing the value?

This summer I asked faculty and business leaders to tell me what they thought was the overriding value of a liberal arts education? Here is what a few of them had to say:

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There is certainly a strong belief among all of our respondents that liberal arts are vital for human development and for employment. They equip people to be able to learn and continue to learn; to be flexible and adaptable; to have active minds and the skill to think creatively and critically with a higher level of understanding. Who would argue that these attributes are not required for today’s world?

Where is all of this going, you may ask? Well, as we examine our responsibility to students, look at the skills that employers seek in their employees, and contemplate responses to the world events such as September 11, 2001, we see that these ideas are united at a broader and more fundamental layer. People need a liberal education to be well-equipped in the workplace and even for the politics of the 21st Century, but moreover it is crucial to allow people to be complete beings and have the wherewithal to cope effectively with both the routine and the unforeseen in the future, in the workplace, and in the general culture.

This is not really a new role for education. Thomas Jefferson’s writings, especially the Notes on the State of Virginia (8), delineate his views on the essential importance of an educated citizenry for the success of the United States’ great experiment in democracy. He contended that public education must provide an informed electorate, capable of understanding subtle issues and continually shaping an improved future for society.

In other words, education allows us the capacity to manage our lives, indeed our selves, to ensure that we encounter each others’ best selves in social interaction and in political debate and decision-making. Thus, education is critical to maintaining the health of our society. And Jefferson draws these notions from his own classical education.

We went back to our panel and asked them what should be the role of liberal arts in colleges and universities. Here is what they said:

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Our panelists had very thoughtful answers to this question — depth and breadth of knowledge, exposure to different ways of thinking, ability top continue to learn were some of the points they raised.

While we all agree on the importance of what Liberal Arts should do, how is this manifest in institutions of higher education? To answer this question, I visited about 100 college and university websites to see their thinking about liberal arts education.

Most never address any thing more about liberal arts than as the mechanism for meeting depth and breadth degree requirements. This seems like such a lost opportunity for faculties and institutions to articulate the fundamental purposes of what they are striving to accomplish in their collective endeavors and this is perhaps one of the reasons that students don’t readily connect liberal arts and employment skills.

Moreover, I think it is not enough today to infer that judgment, skills, ways of knowing, and social responsibility will automatically emerge from course offerings. As a society, we have watched the unraveling of our most revered institutions – churches, the financial community, large corporations – and must address what is missing in our world view. We must rethink the attributes and values of a Liberal Arts education and, most importantly, how they are passed on to students. We must also find ways to take up with students the enduring questions of values, ethics, character and significance beyond oneself. Our world requires it.

There is a small group of colleges and universities who are addressing liberal arts education from such a principled point of view. The faculty at Boston University have commented on the value they see for liberals arts in this thoughtful statement.

“There is no better foundation for an education than a solid grasp of the history of the debate--from Homer and the Hebrew Bible to our own century--about the perennial topics that have preoccupied men and women: the origin and destiny of our lives, human nature, the just society, the constitution of the physical world, how we understand our history. But learning the wisdom of the past is not enough. An education for a constantly changing world has to be training in a special way of thinking: one that leads you to see connections across disciplines, to notice what the tradition has valued and what it has neglected, to challenge your own conclusions and commitments, and to prize what can be learned from people different from you. But even this style of thinking will remain incomplete, unless you use it to develop a vision of a worthwhile life for you and your neighbors and to imagine plausible ways of achieving it. This is the real goal of a liberal education. . . . “ (9)

This is a powerful statement that emphasizes knowledge, judgment, ways of knowing and social responsibility.

The colleges and universities that I consider to be the real vanguard in addressing liberal arts for the 21st Century have articulated a new vision that not only provides purpose, substance and coherency to their programs but also links the traditional culture and values of liberal arts with current information about pedagogy and learning. Moreover, they do not presume the enduring lessons they want students to have will emerge from the discipline-based courses the institution offers alone; instead, they have developed a program of trans-disciplinary instruction and activities centered on what the faculty has deemed to be most essential; and they require students to demonstrate competence in these areas. I would like to highlight the current work of two such institutions, Bowling Green State University and Grinnell University.

The purpose of liberal arts at Bowling Green is to educate principled citizens. A Value Initiative underpins all that is taught and guides both the in class and out-of class experiences at the university. It’s an ambitious goal that is creating a form of liberal education that is analytical and practical, and a program that is coherent and integrated, designed for learning that endures.

U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges has placed Grinnell College in the top 20 among national liberal arts colleges for being an outstanding example of academic programs that lead to student success. At Grinnell the faculty has a well-articulated, coherent mission statement on Liberal Arts that is carried through each academic and support program of the college. What impressed me is that every department had defined and understood precisely what their contribution is to the liberal arts mission of the college.

There are certainly others who are doing interesting work – Wabash College has used critical inquiry as the trans-disciplinary purpose for liberal studies. Others have organized around civic engagement and/or service learning.

In each case, these colleges and universities have developed coherent, well-defined programs of liberal arts that go beyond work in disciplines and that have most of these features in common:

1. A well-articulated mission statement for liberal arts or a liberal education that was derived from full faculty involvement and discussion.

2. The selection of an inter- or transdisciplinary “subject” or cognitive skill, such as values, critical inquiry, civic engagement

3. The requirement to take a course in the transdisciplinary topic.

4. A Freshman Experience designed to further connect students with the college. These include enrolling in a common course, engaging in an intensive orientation, participating in a service learning project, joining and participating in a student organization, affiliating with a learning community, obtaining a faculty advisor, and getting acquainted with an individual who is different from her or him.

5. Formation of learning communities, designed to build strong relationships among faculty, staff, and students.

6. A Cross-college Theme. During a designated time period, the entire campus focuses on an important issue through lectures, discussions in living groups and student organizations, and classes.

7. A capstone experience in which the student would demonstrate his/her cross-curriculum command of the subject matter.

8. A student portfolio and/or learning contract that documents student learning.

9. Coordination to ensure cooperation of academic units and student services.

10. Development grants to faculty to move the agenda.

What does this mean for BCC? We have talked for a number of years about having a focal point for liberal arts at BCC. We have recently taken some actions to move forward by establishing the Center for Liberal Arts, adding programs like the scholar in residence and BCC Reads initiative, and convening a group of faculty members to define liberal arts. I think this is work of crucial importance to BCC. We have made a positive start and we have the foundation to have an exemplary program through some of the work we have already undertaken in general education; experiential learning, course outcomes, assessment and interdisciplinary programs, and through student groups like the Philosophy Club, PTK, and participation in service learning.

What remains to be done that we haven’t done as a college is to articulate our beliefs and values about what an enduring liberal arts education is and determine how it may be melded into a reasoned, coherent program with reinforcing activities and events throughout BCC -- in classes, across the curriculum and outside of class --in ways that ensure we are offering, and students are learning, what we believe is essential and necessary in this 21st Century. As Thucycides observed, an education is a possession for all time. It should equip students “to make a life” in all of its most critical dimensions – work, personal fulfillment, citizenship and parenting.

I didn’t see community colleges in the list of higher education institutions that are addressing the Liberal Arts in a programmatic, value-driven fashion. This is an area where, once again, Bellevue Community College can lead by creating a distinctive program for our students and for our college that speaks to what education should offer today’s students. This is our real work and a topic that invites research, inquiry, and engagement – the hallmarks of any great academic institution.

In my opening I promised you a challenge. I invite discussion and dialogue among all of us this year on these questions: what does the faculty of BCC believe is the value of a liberal arts education in today’s world; how is it manifest at BCC; and how do we transmit its importance to students? In addition to challenging us as an academic community, it provides the opportunity to engage members of our larger community. As we have seen, they have a big stake in what we do at BCC, both as employers and as members of our democratic society. And, if you are in a professional/technical program or continuing education, this inquiry applies to your programs too. It must underscore all of our work at the college.

Alvin Toffler has said that “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” I think that statement is true of institutions as well as individuals. To be our best selves, we need to constantly evaluate and improve what we do. Our students deserve and need the best preparation that we may provide them. I hope that you will join me in this work of fundamental importance over the months ahead.

And now I want to talk to you about a major undertaking of another kind. We are scheduled for our 10-year accreditation visit in Fall 2005. Who was here for the last accreditation self-study? You may remember the process. BCC is accredited by the Northwest Association of Colleges, which holds standards against which all higher education institutions in our region who seek accreditation are evaluated. It begins with a year-long institutional self-study in which every unit of the college assesses itself against the Association’s standards.

An accreditation team visits the college to confirm what’s written and learns more about the college. The team prepares a report of their findings and makes an accreditation recommendation to the Association. The Association Board of Governors makes a final judgment on candidates for accreditation.

What we have learned is the best institutional self-studies start from a common point of reference about the college and its directions. The institutional self-study process is infinitely more relevant if it is informed by a strategic plan for the institution. The plan examines the college’s mission and goals and affords a forward-looking framework upon which to respond to the Associations’ standards. The self-study then becomes a legitimate planning tool for the College, rather than another pro forma task.

We will undertake a strategic planning process this year, starting with the College Issues day in October and ending next May. I would imagine that the Liberal Arts will be one focus of the process as will student services – two major areas that are currently being evaluated. I urge you to participate fully in the process which will culminate in a statement about the preferred future for BCC and that will serve as the blueprint for our activities over the next five to seven years.

We also begin year two in Board initiatives. That work involves must of you and we look forward to making more progress this year. The initiatives are: Addressing Under-prepared students; Effective Teaching, Successful Learning; and Recruiting, Retaining and Developing Staff. We are also launching a new diversity initiative and will prepare the first Pluralism Compact for BCC that will outline the work plan for the year. That will be presented to you in October.

We still have some unfinished business with last year’s budget and organizational review. We will continue to explore issues related to academic division structure and the structure of student services this year. Due the economic downturn of the last 18 months, we have experienced a decline in our continuing education revenues and enrollments that is causing us to resize and retool the program. These programs have had such a positive and significant impact on our community and we are already seeing signs that their enrollments are improving.

The State’s budget woes have not gone away. We are hearing disturbing news from Olympia that we may expect a deficit $1.3 to $1.7 billion for the 2003-2005 biennium. We will soon ask our Planning Committee to put together budget reduction and cost containment strategies in anticipation of reductions this year and into the next biennium. This is work that none of us wants to undertake, but we must. I believe that the best strategy for dealing with downturns is to actively pursue all funding that is available to us. It means being even more aggressive about grants, workforce development funds, excess enrollment, yes, even distance education-- these programs serve our students, are vital to the health of our college, and they also secure jobs for people at BCC.

Earlier this morning I reflected on the role of education in contemporary society. I believe that education must provide tools for becoming more thoughtful, more insightful citizens about the problems facing society and for determining the paths to living more fulfilling lives. I believe that a strong grounding in the liberal arts for our programs – be they transfer or professional/ technical or continuing education -- is vital to that goal. I look forward to your involvement in the opportunities we have this year to continue to strengthen our college.

Although BCC today is a stronger institution than it ever has been, if we are to remain relevant in the years ahead, we must seriously rethink our approaches to teaching and learning – even in light of diminished resources. We must determine how we can build on our current successes to position ourselves to be even stronger in the future. Our strategic planning process will help us to think deliberately and forge new pathways that will move our college with a renewed responsiveness to the economic development needs of the state, and with a commitment to enhancing the educational experience of all of our students.

With the start of the academic year, let us use our renewed energy to reaffirm our commitment to improve and enrich lives through the highest quality education we are able to provide. I look forward to meeting the hopes and aspirations of our students and continuing our mission to transform lives and transfer knowledge. These are timeless dynamics that keep us inspired.

Speaking of inspiration, it is now both my privilege and honor now to introduce BCC’s first scholar in residence, NAWANG DORJEE, whom you will find to be very inspirational.

In 1959, 4-year old Nawang Dorjee and his parents fled Tibet as the Chinese government’s incursions into their country threatened their culture, freedom and personal safety. Dorjee’s parents died crossing the border from Tibet into India in their journey to find refuge alongside their countrymen and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Dorjee was raised in an orphanage set up by the exiled Tibetan community in Dharamsala for the many destitute children who shared his fate. He was educated in schools established for these refugees by the Indian government.

For the past 25 years, Dorjee has worked as an educator and advocate on behalf of children. He now serves as Director of Education for the Tibetan Children’s Village, the very agency that helped him in early childhood. Headquartered in Dharamsala with several branches throughout India, TCV is now the largest supporter and educator of exiled Tibetan children and new refugees serving over 14,000 children from infancy through grade 12.

Not only has Dorjee’s life centered around TCV through his childhood experience and professional life, it is also thanks to TCV that Dorjee met his wife of 17 years, Yeshi Dolkar. She is a senior instructor, teaching economics and English to TCV students. Together they have two beautiful daughters, Desel, aged 10, and Dechen, (emphasis on 2nd syllable) aged 14.

Dorjee’s recent arrival in Bellevue marks his second extended visit to the United States. In 1990-91, he was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University where he completed a master’s degree in educational policy and planning. He now serves on the Tibetan Fulbright Alumni Association of India.

We are thrilled to welcome Dorjee as BCC’s first scholar-in-residence. During his year with us, he will focus on presenting Tibetan culture, history, identity and education from an insider’s perspective. With his guidance, all of us have a unique opportunity to learn about the history and culture of Tibet, the teachings of the Dalai Lama and Buddhism, and the struggles of the Tibetan people to maintain their identity and culture in a world torn by conflicts of ideas and values. These themes will be explored in classes for our students, learning community study for our faculty and staff, new curriculum development, and public presentations.

I hope you will find a way to participate in this wonderful experience. I invite you to join the project’s faculty/staff learning community or to invite Dorjee to give a guest lecture in your class. You can find out about these initiatives and others planned for the residency through the project web site: www.bcc.ctc.edu/liberalarts.

Here is a small inkling of the cultural richness that awaits us:

In opening conversations with Dorjee, we discovered that in Tibetan culture it is traditional for teachers (gurus) rather than parents to select names for newborn children. Often, a guru will even give a baby the gift of his own name to use. Thus, rather than family surnames being passed down through time, it is the names of great teachers that are passed through successive generations. By looking at the Tibetan community and particular individuals, you can trace the lineage of schools of thought and the teachers who influenced them. You can truly see that his culture reveres education and educators!

Please extend a warm welcome to Dorjee. Dorjee, would you please come up and say a few words to BCC.