Learned in Leadership Class?
Facts: Seton Hall is a large Catholic university, which offers numerous undergraduate and graduate programs. Close to eleven thousand students attend Seton Hall and most of them commute. There is a wide variety of athletic, academic, and social student organizations on campus. Seton Hall University is a large and complex academic and administrative bureaucracy with several levels of management. It is relatively simple to get an appointment with professors or even the deans of certain schools, but it is virtually impossible for a student to get an appointment with the provost or the president. Going a step further, most students do not even know who is on the board of trustees, how many individuals are there on the board, when does the board convene, etc. To keep the university together, a network of smaller communities – specific schools – has been established.
Analysis: Seton Hall University, therefore, is a network of communities, which range in size and closeness from a specific class to an entire school, and then the university as a whole. Being the student at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, it is the easiest and perhaps the safest for me to start analyzing our school as a community first. Because our school is relatively small, the class sizes are small and it is easier for the professors to get to know us better. Thus, a personal and close relationship is established between the students (the led) and the professors (the leaders). Both the students and the faculty and administration of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations understand that it is in their best interests to communicate regularly and remain closely involved in each other’s lives and activities. In what other school of the university does the dean know the names and at least some personal facts from the lives of all his students? While in his or her school, each student is a part of a community to a certain degree. Yet, once outside one’s own group, one feels unimportant and lost. The general attitude of the administration in Bailey Hall is that they make everyone a favor by being there, instead of remembering that they are there to help, guide, and assist the students. It’s hard to feel a part of a community when you are treated like just another number or just another person in line.
It is often stressed that communication, be it verbal, written, or silent, is an essential part of a leader-constituency relationship. While many individuals at the various levels of management in Seton Hall make a point to communicate with their students on the regular basis, the communication between the students and the persons at the highest levels of management is virtually non-existing. It is absurd to presuppose that the university provost or the president should take time to write everyone individual letters and such, but it would be nice to know what work they are involved with, what are the problems that concern them and how they address those problems. A bi-weekly or monthly newsletter addressed to the entire university community would be greatly appreciated and would make the students feel more involved and included.
Another important task of a leader is to involve the constituency into the decision-making process. Instead of “transferring the headaches” to the leaders, in this case the administration of the university, the students have to be motivated to get involved in solving the problems. The administration should have faith in the students and delegate certain authority to them, let them deal with some problems on their own, and let them share their ideas, express their opinions and concerns, and give input on the course of action to be taken by the administration. By giving the students some power, the management of the university will establish the trust and strengthen the bond, thus creating the true community. In his book, On Leadership, John W. Gardner stresses that, ”Effective leaders tear down rigid internal walls and bureaucratic enclaves, counter segmental loyalties through creation of working groups that cut across boundaries, and foster informal exchange throughout the organization.” (pp. 84-85)
Managing the large-scale institution, such as a university is a hard task, yet creating the environment of the mutual understanding and bond between the leaders and the constituency is not impossible.
Conclusion: Overall, Seton Hall University is not a strong community. Instead, it consists of a network of smaller communities and a large number of students who feel they do not belong at all. The main goal, therefore, should be the creation of the environment, in which the students are encouraged and thus eager to participate, and the administration is willing to communicate and share authority. With effort and commitment from both sides, the creation of a strong Seton Hall community is not an impossible task.