It is pretty easy to collaborate with close colleagues, it gets much trickier when we need to collaborate across boundaries. It can even get downright painful!
Today, I am excited to share an example of collaboration across boundaries to ensure future success. The Minnesota State system of colleges and universities announced at today’s Board of Trustee meeting that we will guarantee admission to students who students who complete the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum and earn a minimum 2.0 GPA* in an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from any Minnesota State college to every one of our seven Minnesota State universities with junior year status.
This required collaboration across multiple boundaries, including; community and technical colleges, state universities, administrators, faculty, labor organizations, local admissions offices, system office leaders and just a whole bunch of individuals with strong opinions.
As Dan Sanker highlights in his book, Collaborate! The Art of We, collaboration like this is required for success in the complex and competitive world we face in higher education (and all fields.)
I was not a part of the work to develop the admissions guarantee collaboration but I imagine it contained most of the elements that Sanker describes as essential for successful collaboration:
- Ongoing communication – even when it gets tough
- Willing participation – not up front agreement but a willingness to explore
- Brainstorming – open to alternative ideas
- Teamwork – all must participate
- A common purpose – the crucial starting point that requires clarification and alignment
- Trust – requires both time and demonstrated behavior
- A plan – turn ideas to action
- A diverse group – provides the unique perspectives to develop innovative ideas and action
- Mutual respect – foundation for work
- A written agreement – creates a shared understanding
- Effective leadership – not just a single title but actions to keep the group focused and help when the process goes off-track
Each of us are responsible for creating the conditions that will support collaborative efforts on our teams and across work groups on our campuses. Sanker’s list can help our teams avoid getting stuck on the barbed wire fences that pop up at work.
Todd Thorsgaard
Higher EDge 