Yesterday I met up with Terry Carson in Secondary Education and we went over some ideas and I’ve put them together and put them out there to see what everyone who cares to comment out there thinks. So here it is:
Problem that needs exploring:
How to get the rank and file of the University to feel that they are truly connected to the University Executive and to help the University Executive appreciate the triumphs and challenges of rank and file in a direct and ideally unfiltered manner. Currently the only vehicles that the two groups have to interact in this direct manner is through town halls and scheduled events. These events have participants who are self selected to attend and then further self selected to interact. This self selection is mediated by various factors ranging from personal to political that are fueled by power differentials. An individual’s perception of self efficacy plays a major role in determining how they attempt to address their peers and others in the more powerful or advantaged classes.
Social media has, to date, been shown to be a powerful democratizing tool and when powered by mobile technology that allows for ubiquitous access to the various streams of social media. Individuals often share through social media, thoughts and ideas that would otherwise be restrained by their position within the organization.
Using the Scholarship of Engagement as a framework and the Obama 2008 campaign as case study, an attempt will be made to understand the roots of the problem within higher education and suggest mechanisms for change.
Preliminary Title:
Connecting the roots to the leaves.
Preliminary Research Question:
“How can the emerging social media tools, driven by increasingly ubiquitous mobile technologies be used to connect executive leadership with rank and file individuals within an organization in a meaningful manner”
If I’m not working “for the man”, I might as well “work for mankind” and take this opportunity to do my PhD. I was planning to do it eventually and a few weeks ago I started poking around to see who I might work with. Now I’ve got a few names and I’m getting my application together. Strangely enough, if I hadn’t been laid off, I might very well never have been able to ask the question that I did in the town hall that was followed up by a candid conversation that identified this issue. So hopefully, in a few years, I’ll be able to look back at this and say that this was where it all started… great trees grow from a seed and fertilizer. It certainly seems that I’ve got the seed and the fertilizer, now let’s see what will grow.
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