May (2014)
5/16/2014
Invested
5/12/2014
What We Meant
April (2014)
4/22/2014
Earth In Mind
February (2014)
2/17/2014
Looking Ahead
January (2014)
November (2013)
October (2013)
September (2013)
May (2013)
April (2013)
4/24/2013
Advancement!
March (2013)
February (2013)
The Power of Empowerment
8/29/2002

The key to maintaining a great school is retaining a fabulous faculty while attracting a few outstanding newcomers each year to replace retirees, etc. Competitive salaries, benefits, and sabbaticals help, but if you ask me, it’s the work environment that has enabled Proctor to accomplish these goals. In 1971 the administration provided Proctor’s faculty unprecedented authority to define school structures, policies and programs. The culture that evolved on this campus since then includes a strong sense of institutional self, a high degree of agreement on the values that drive our actions, and a widely shared sense of mission.

In this week's faculty meetings Steve is inviting all of us to consider the wording of the mission statement once again. We do this with some frequency. This is not a matter of changing the mission, of course. Rather, Steve wants us to grapple with the words that best reveal the mission that we share collectively.

I believe that what we do here is very rare. In an industry too often stifled by top-down hierarchies, we enjoy a management style that elevates people to participate in their own management. Everyone benefits….not just those whom we’ll meet next Tuesday.

Steve listens to Ryan Flynn.
Terry makes a dramatic point.
New-comer Stephanie Fish ponders the mission statement.
Sarah Rowe McIntyre '90 shares a perspective.
...followed by former classmate Gregor Makechnie '90.
Dani Hinkley is one of 15 veterans who have served Proctor for 20-35 years.
Tom Eslick collaborates with Lee Carvalho on a new articulation of mission.
Brenda lets us know how she feels...
Future beneficiary Thaddeus Bicknell (Class of 2015), son of Brooks '77.