CMS Webinar: Administrative Leadership
Practicing what I Preach: I teach this note-taking method, roughly modeled on the Cornell system.
On May 29, 2020 I attended the CMS Webinar, “Administrative Leadership during an Unprecedented Time of Uncertainty and Change.” Throughout the crisis of COVID-19 and now with the recent, egregious episodes of racism, effective leadership has been crucial, and I felt this was an opportunity not to be missed. The panelists included Mary Ellen Poole (Director, Butler School of Music, The University of Texas at Austin), Don Parker (Chair, Department of Music, Georgia College), Miguel Basim Chuaqui (Director, School of Music. University of Utah), and Patti Crossman (Music Program Coordinator, Community College of Baltimore County). The session was moderated by the formidable Tayloe Harding, now Interim Provost of the University of South Carolina.
The major themes of the webinar included 1) crisis as opportunity and 2) leadership as co-inspiraton. Common threads of critical reflection and transparency also wove through the discussion. In all, the session provided a admirable model of what responsive, pro-active leadership looks like, and I plan to check out the COVID-19 resources on the CMS website to see what else is available.
Dr. Harding began with Richard Kessler’s comment from the 2019 Carolina/CMS Summit 2.0, that administrators should “never let a good crisis go to waste” (I have since seen this attributed to Winston Churchill). The serious problems music departments faced before the crisis were easier to marginalize during good times, because the system still worked, at least to some degree. The widening gap between music appreciated and music taught, the pernicious challenges of diversity and inclusion, and critical reflection on all aspects of college music pedagogy seemed less pressing when students kept auditioning for the programs and the community kept coming to concerts - even if there were fewer and fewer of them. Now, none of these problems can be avoided. Recruiting, retention, community engagement, pedagogy… everything will have to be reconsidered immediately if our programs are to survive. This presents us with exciting opportunities however. As Dr. Harding put it, the crisis can “push us a little faster into innovation.”
I found the theme of leadership as co-inspiration particularly inspiring. All four leaders described leveraging the intellectual and creative capital of all the stakeholders, including faculty, students, and the community. In this way, they were able address both future innovation and also present fear; including not only fear of the virus, but also of downsizing, loss of programs, and the stability of the institution. Planning teams such as the one described by Dr. Poole keep faculty directed toward solutions and binds them together into a community of support. Furthermore, that faculty are given agency in decisions regarding course and ensemble delivery, assessing the need for targeted online education training and developing resources for faculty, equalizing student access to instruments and technology, and instituting department-specific policies for cleaning and social distancing.
In terms of both program relevance and course delivery, Dr. Chuaqui reminded the group that our students are also an under-used resource. “They are ahead of us,” he asserted, in both current musical trends and technology. If we seek to meet their needs, it only makes sense to give them a seat at the table. Similarly, Dr. Crossman observed that the demand for music in a time of quarantine (both as a means of promoting hope and meeting stimulus hunger) created broad opportunities for audience development. Speaking to community, Dr. Chuaqui also stressed the importance of partnerships with local businesses for mutual benefit.
Taking time for critical reflection and assessment is an essential component in any visioning process. Dr. Parker described checking in with every member of his faculty to find out how they felt the Spring semester had gone: what had worked, what resources they had needed, and so forth. Dr. Chuaqui admitted that he was a little disappointed by how well the online transition had gone, and was challenging his faculty to reflect on what made the face-to-face experience special. I especially appreciated his comment that we need to meditate on what is really essential in our courses.
Finally, I was deeply impressed with the concern for transparency shown by all four administrators. Certainly, this will be a feature of leadership as co-inspiration anyway, but I especially appreciated the concern for both incoming and returning students. They, just as much as the faculty, are concerned about “how we will spend our days,” and “what tasks will be different.” While I’m familiar with at least one study of methods for dealing with “Summer Melt,” I’m not entirely sure how it is addressed in my own department. If there is no specific policy, this would probably be a good time to enact one - particularly since we stand to lose returning students as much as accepted students.
I am embarrassed to admit that I get regular announcements of webinars like this one, and have generally ignored them. One of the blessings of this quarantine is that I have more time to take advantage of these resources, and I will be taking more advantage of them in the coming months.