Now is the time to open up the dialogue with the community and go through a strategic planning process in a community forum for both on and off-campus programs that would address the question of what do we want as an administrative structure in order to maximize the quality, productivity, and the educational experience as a whole. A great many us who could not attend this very important meeting believe that the process for replacing one president with another should be halted in order to create the time necessary to address these concerns in a manner that is systematic, purposeful, and concludes with a concrete set of proposals and timeline for their implementation.

I am assuming that the Board also recognizes that there needs to be changes at Goddard in order to ensure that we do not repeat our experience with the past president, and dare I say the last 5 or 7 presidents we have had at Goddard.

In such an interim stage we need to identify the process for change, the various roles, and the design of the jobs necessary to fill those obligations.

Through such a transition there are in fact two sets of major roles that need to be fulfilled in order to successful transform Goddard. The first role has to do with maintaining the existing structure and organization ensuring that the daily operations of the school and all its various departments are up and running. The second role has to do with facilitating the transition to a new structure that is democratic and healthy.

By following such an argument the question then becomes: Do we fulfill the obligation of these various roles through one person/job or by dividing it into a two or more job scenarios? In order for the college to run smoothly the better argument can be made for a division into two distinct roles: interim operations manager and change facilitator

1. interim operational manager - has no control over future policy and is concerned with the way things are currently done ensuring that they are running smoothly, in addition such a person would deal with the day to day problems as they arise such as an increase in operational costs, broken equipment, and faculty grievances to name a few.

2. change facilitator - is aware of group and organizational dynamics and creates organization-wide involvement processes which enable members (students, staff, faculty, board, administration, and the local community) to take action, solve problems, plan, and make group decisions about the future design of Goddard.

I sincerely hope that you take into account these distinctions and see to it that we can build upon them for the future that is a living reflection of Goddard's mission: "to advance the theory and practice of learning by undertaking new experiments based upon the ideals of democracy and the principles of progressive education."

Sincerely,

Andrew Dinkelaker