{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":300,"width":600,"title":"Invest in Your People","description":"This week, Ken Steele chats with Maureen Adamson, president of Fleming College, about how higher ed leaders can sustain a culture of innovation on campus, particularly by investing in our people.   \u201cThe most important thing\u201d Maureen says, is to \u201cgive the gift of time\u201d to front-line faculty and staff to reflect and innovate.  \u201cIt can\u2019t be someone in a back room trying to think something up.\u201d We also need to invest in our people. \u201cWe want our faculty to be best in class; that requires investment and professional development.\u201d It\u2019s also important to bring in external perspectives for lectures and workshops, to help campus personnel \u201cthink outside the box\u201d and \u201cbeyond our navel,\u201d to be exposed to the many innovative ideas out there in higher ed around the world. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fabulous stuff out there that is mind-blowing,\u201d she observes.   Maureen has publicly committed that, even in times of serious budgetary pressure, \u201cthere will be no cuts to professional development at Fleming College.\u201d Ken observes that it seems particularly appropriate for institutions committed to education, to also be committed to the continuing education of their people. \u201cThere is no evidence to say that cutting PD is helpful,\u201d Maureen observes wryly.   From her career experience in the healthcare sector, Maureen has learned that research, whether pure or applied, requires some tolerance for mistakes. \u201cWe have to give people the opportunity to take a risk, and to make mistakes\u2026 That\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to get to that point of innovation.\u201d Between academic rigour and public-sector accountability, Ken points out, public colleges and universities experience a compound, cultural \u201cdouble whammy\u201d that discourages innovation and risk-taking, particularly at the levels of middle management and front-line staff and faculty.  Maureen emphasizes that \u201cit\u2019s all about accountability,\u201d and accountability frameworks need to allow front-line personnel to take some calculated risks. \u201cThese kinds of approaches are all hands on deck, and they\u2019re very iterative.\u201d   From her experience in government, Maureen knows first-hand that bureaucracy \u201cis very risk averse.\u201d Colleges are fortunate to be a few steps removed from that bureaucracy, and to have some latitude \u201cto change things up.\u201d  Maureen believes we have to shift the centre of power to faculty in the classroom, and to the student experience itself.  Finally, she observes, in a bureaucratic environment, even if people don\u2019t want to hear it, \u201cyou always must speak truth to power\u2026 It allows you to sleep at night.\u201d   Maureen Adamson is president of Sir Sandford Fleming College, in the region of Peterborough Ontario.  She has 25 years of leadership experience in PSE, healthcare, government and the not-for-profit sector. She has previously served as President & CEO of the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences and of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, as VP Corporate Services at Mohawk College, and as Deputy Minister of both Tourism, Culture and Sport and of the Status of Women for the government of Ontario.   A sincere thank-you to Fleming College for arranging the onsite videography for this episode.   Next week, Ken\u2019s conversation with Maureen Adamson concludes with her thoughts on how to nurture a culture of innovation on campus by investing in our people. To be sure you don\u2019t miss it, take a moment to subscribe at http:\/\/eduvation.ca\/subscribe\/   And if you would like to host 10K at your campus, more information is available at http:\/\/eduvation.ca\/twk\/site-visits\/ ","author_name":"Ten with Ken (Video)","author_url":"http:\/\/eduvation.libsyn.com\/podcast","html":"