My name is Andrew Dinkelaker and I am running for the position of off-campus student board of trustee. I am currently enrolled in the Social Ecology Masters program and was an undergraduate campus student from 1989 to 1993. I have met some of you in either the Social Ecology-Education or the BA-MA Individualized community meetings (and just recently I met with several on-campus students at the first Student Life meeting).

My interest in running was initially sparked by the questions and concerns being raised by students in the two off-campus community meetings. The issues that came up in these meetings were focused around the direction of the college and the decisions being made by the current president. Students, from their perspective, questioned why the president is deciding to reexamine the "newly" drafted governance policy, to push for all faculty to have teaching credentials at the Ph.D. level, and with making "arbitrary" budget decisions like the brick sidewalk (which some students stated was not up to the Americans With Disabilities Act standards) and spending more money on signing a contract with the Culinary Institute (when most students made the point that they did not notice any improvement in the quality of the food being served). The apparent direction (based on discussing these issues) that the majority of off-campus students at the community meetings felt was that this school was distancing itself from the philosophy of progressive education and the democratic ideals of John Dewey. These meetings demonstrated that many students were concerned about the college and wanted to protect and nurture the unique educational experience that you find at the school. Many did not want to see the "spirit" of Goddard disappear into the crowd of liberal schools never to be heard from again. Students, by identifying the experience and the "spirit" of Goddard as their main concern, are attempting to address a diffuse issue. By that I mean that their concerns cannot be entirely focused on one thing, be it the president, the food, or the brick sidewalk. But what does this mean to the board of trustees?

The board of trustees is most effective in interacting with the community (students, staff, faculty, and administration) through setting up joint-committees. These joint-committees are created and given the task to address identifiable problems. However, when it comes to diffuse problems there has not been a real method developed that would fully address them. Hence, we find (on both sides) that there is a breakdown in communication and collaboration when it comes to community-wide issues that affect people in numerous ways. Misinformation, passionate protests, and tension result from this "breakdown." The "fact-finding/problem-solving" committees just don't work under these conditions, nor should we expect them to.

I am running for the board of trustee position because of this need to come up with creative ways to address diffuse problems that affect the college. It is my gut feeling that by looking into the tradition of progressive education, participatory democracy, and community collaboration we may find a process to address diffuse problems. It is obvious that I do not have the answers but I do have a trust in the ability for individuals to come together as a community and address serious issues in a manner that strengthens the community, not divide it. This is our school.

In addition, as a board of trustee I want to address several areas:

1. obtaining Information about economic issues so that students know how their money is being used and why it is being used in that way (since it appears that students are perhaps the least informed when it concerns the college),

2. placing emphasis on building up communications between all parties, especially the students of various residencies and between the students and the board of trustees, and

3. pushing forth the ideals of participatory democracy that is at the core of progressive education and how that will directly affect off-campus students and their role in making Goddard great.

If you, as a concerned community member, have any additional concerns or ideas as to how we can practically address the issues listed above please write to me about them and I will work to circulate and discuss them to others. Le us all strive to keep Goddard on a progressive and democratic track for the sake of future community members.

Sincerely,

Andrew Dinkelaker