Wright State administrators have organized and held several forums that are open to the public. Two of the most prominent open dialogues are the Let’s Talk series, which was initiated by President Cheryl Schrader and the Strategic Planning forums. The community response poses mixed feelings on these efforts.
Rebekah Bower, program director for the Athletic Training Program, has attended both a Strategic Planning and Let’s Talk forums.
“I believe the Let’s Talk on the college reorganization was premature and not really a “let’s talk” forum,” Bower said. “We were lectured at for three fourths of the time frame and then a short time period was allocated for Q & A. Many of the stakeholders, faculty and staff who this would impact, were not informed and consulted before this discussion, which resulted in hard feelings and anger from some individuals.”
Many found the Let’s Talk as a good resource for those to express their concerns, but shared concern for the time constraint on the question and answer section.
“I found the meetings interesting and nothing like I thought they’d be,” said Becca Webb, administrative specialist for the Department of English Languages and Literatures. “The Let’s Talk forum had a lot of consternation, which I found unhelpful. I feel that these types of opportunities should be used to bring us all together and not fight for individual factions (staff vs. faculty, students vs. employees, classified staff vs. unclassified staff, etc.), but not everyone feels the same, apparently.”
Mary Holland, associate registrar, attended two Let’s Talk forums in person and watched one over live stream. She said that the forum focused on the university budget was beneficial.
“I appreciate the willingness of WSU leadership to meet face-to-face with the larger campus community and to field our questions, especially in this challenging and emotionally charged climate. It has given me a better understanding of the complexities faced,” said Holland.
John Martin, associate professor for the Raj Soin College of Business feels the Strategic Planning Summit was beneficial.
“I think that opening the lines of communication is a good start,” Martin said. “There are many other opportunities to do so, including surveying students, employees, and community members about their satisfaction with our university. We have so much talent here at Wright State and we need to leverage our collective talent to be the university of choice for students and employees in this region.”
Many preferred the Strategic Planning meetings over the Let’s Talk forums.
Rebecca Edwards, associate professor of the Religion Philosophy and Classics department, said that she attended the Let’s Talk meeting on the university budget.
“Unfortunately, the discourse ran pretty much one way, with the administration making a presentation, countered by faculty, staff, and students airing their grievances,” she said. “The Strategic Planning session I attended was well organized. At each table there seemed to be a mixture of students, staff, faculty and administration. The questions were broad enough to allow everyone to participate in the discussion. The presence of President Schrader made me feel that the suggestions made during the forum were at least heard by the administration.”
