2008 Woodie Awards
Helm plans for present and future
Ben Veghte
Issue date: 4/22/04 Section: News
As Randy Helm, President of the College, reaches the end of his first year in office, he now explains his happenings the past year and his plans for the future of the College. Shortly after Helm took office in September, he told the College Community that this year would be mostly about "observation." More specifically he said that he would be intensely observing students, faculty, procedure and the general environment of the College.
The reason for his observation period was "about figuring out what this place [the College] values, what makes this place work, what is important to the people here and understanding that," he said.
He stated that it was very important to him not to change things with which he had no prior experience in dealing. "You should never try to change things you don't understand," Helm said.
Listening, according to Helm, was among one of the most important things he did during this year of "observation" at the College. He stated, "It's important for me to listen, and so I spent a lot of time this year listening [to various constituents of the College]." Now that Helm has spent the semester, "listening, learning and observing," it is time to switch gears and focus upon his plans for the future of the College.
"Now it is time for me as a part of this ongoing conversation with the different members of the community to start to move the College in the direction I think we are ready to go."
One of Helm's general goals of his administration is to establish the College as one that is particularly successful in planning. He said that his hope is to develop a "culture of planning." Planning, according to Helm is "very important" in the success of a College. "It [Planning] helps us make good decisions, it helps us allocate scare resources and [it helps us] set priorities," said Helm.
Additionally, Helm said that it is also important to have a "culture of assessment." While it is meaningful to have a careful planning process, it is also equally important to have a system that assesses the achievements made by careful planning. Helm said, "If we say that we are going to achieve certain things, how will we know that we have made progress? We need to set goals [and then] measure performance."
The reason for his observation period was "about figuring out what this place [the College] values, what makes this place work, what is important to the people here and understanding that," he said.
He stated that it was very important to him not to change things with which he had no prior experience in dealing. "You should never try to change things you don't understand," Helm said.
Listening, according to Helm, was among one of the most important things he did during this year of "observation" at the College. He stated, "It's important for me to listen, and so I spent a lot of time this year listening [to various constituents of the College]." Now that Helm has spent the semester, "listening, learning and observing," it is time to switch gears and focus upon his plans for the future of the College.
"Now it is time for me as a part of this ongoing conversation with the different members of the community to start to move the College in the direction I think we are ready to go."
One of Helm's general goals of his administration is to establish the College as one that is particularly successful in planning. He said that his hope is to develop a "culture of planning." Planning, according to Helm is "very important" in the success of a College. "It [Planning] helps us make good decisions, it helps us allocate scare resources and [it helps us] set priorities," said Helm.
Additionally, Helm said that it is also important to have a "culture of assessment." While it is meaningful to have a careful planning process, it is also equally important to have a system that assesses the achievements made by careful planning. Helm said, "If we say that we are going to achieve certain things, how will we know that we have made progress? We need to set goals [and then] measure performance."