Dear student leaders and advisors,
UNPRECEDENTED events have impacted us on so many levels. The WAY higher educational institutions RESPOND to these dynamic times is CRITICAL!
Creating safe and engaged cultures for college in the virtual and in-person environment is key to molding our future.
The media is quick to highlight incidents of abuse in higher education, putting colleges at risk of litigation and lawsuits that can cost millions and cripple your college.
College incivility, in all its forms- harassment, discrimination, hazing, sexual assault, and poor cyber-conduct, is an epidemic that affects every campus around the country. As the nation’s leading institutions, colleges are often in the spotlight when incidents like these occur on their campuses or in their virtual school community.
The Pandemic
Due to COVID-19, colleges have had to navigate new learning conditions like having to transition to more of an online platform.
These dynamic and socially unrestful times require every institute to foster a Fearless Listening TM campus culture, and Fearless Listening Leadership TM training to address emerging issues that have been ignored previously.
Now universities have to determine how to teach incoming freshmen best practices for civility, student engagement, and other socially responsible behaviors. This includes ways to redefine and navigate in this new learning environment.
By building student engagement and integrating civility for students who have opposing viewpoints, students and universities will have a national and global impact.
My Solution
We offer modified training based on the highly successful work that we have done to reach students who have opposing viewpoints and who feel lost and disenfranchised from the new narrative of social injustices that is at the forefront.
The training teaches students how to be heard by the authorities of the campuses who seem to have turned a deaf ear to their sentiments. It also promotes student engagement that integrates this new era of students coming together to create change.
Student Engagement, Wellness & Civility In Hybrid Campus Experiences
As severe as these circumstances can be as ‘stand-alone’ challenges for any campus, they are more than ever, exacerbated by shifts in the campus environment. The gradual change from in-person to virtual learning has not eliminated the unrest that arises from such harsh realities but has allowed even more uncertainty for schools that have adopted hybrid models of virtual and in-person campus environments.
Along with these challenges, students also fall victim to criticism when they choose to express their discontentment with how they’ve been treated. Their expression is often communicated through social media and other virtual means, broadening their exposure to additional potential attacks.
The Critical Role of Professional Development
Fostering civility, personal civic responsibility, and student engagement, during a time when so many individuals engage in poor cyber-conduct will help administrators address and resolve issues that have been previously ignored.
It requires creating trust between students, administrators, and faculty that can only be achieved by integrating Fearless Listening TM. It is also important to create best practices for these key and crucial conversations.
I want to encourage the conversations and voices of students. I want to teach students that there is value in their decision to listen to voices that are unlike their own, yet to meet those voices with civility, kindness, and engagement.
From marshaling the unrest that will precede and follow the election season, to helping students debrief this unprecedented time in history, there is value in being part of campus. Faculty and administration must engage in Fearless Listening TM to allow their students to integrate their voices into their studies and campus experience. Their stories must be told!
It is our responsibility to create safe and engaged campuses. When we unite against incivility, everyone wins. Allow the resources and expertise offered on this site to serve YOUR college’s student body, faculty, and student organizations.
