Talking Stick - November/December 2012 - 49

passionate team leadership makes the difference between a good project and a great one. A strong team will be able to resolve issues when the going gets tough. For example, what if the program is too ambitious for the budget? What gets cut? Over the past several years, Rice University in Houston, Texas, has been expanding its signature residence college system, which consists of 11 colleges, each having its own residence halls and dining halls. The first phase was the construction of two new colleges, which housed students of two established colleges while those halls were renovated and expanded in a second phase. Key to the success of these projects throughout design and construction was a solid process and key communications strategy, enabled by the use of telecommunications tools and the strong shared value of collaboration.

The new colleges both earned LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), as well as numerous international, national, and regional awards for outstanding design. Rice University’s Associate Vice President for Facilities, Engineering, and Planning Barbara Bryson talks about team roles, outcomes, and an owner’s responsibility in her 2010 book The Owner’s Dilemma, co-authored with Canan Yetman. The owner, or university, wears three hats, she says. The most obvious is the one worn as the client. But the owner also wears the hat of a service provider, “providing support to the project team by understanding the needs of team members, providing information, making decisions in a timely manner, creating a clear reporting structure and paying invoices. In-house, the owner/ service provider must inform building

users and stakeholders about progress and stewarding resources, including budget.” The third hat, she says, is that of a full and equal member of the team, which includes the responsibility of providing support and rewarding team member successes. Bryson says that no process can address every challenge or potential conflict. “Creating a list of values and guiding principles for team members creates an environment that allows and encourages collaboration, discussion, and problem-solving.” The University of Michigan has a highly structured process which has evolved over the past 25 years. Every phase is described in a design process manual, and the design team is expected to produce a booklet at each phase, tracking the progress of the project and any changes. The budget is tested at each phase by both a contractor and a cost-estimator. Each

online

he Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program at Indiana University, a pioneer in the study of higher education and student affairs administration, is now offering an online certificate program designed for full-time professionals.

Program details
• Twelve (12) credit hour program consisting of three (3) online courses and one elective • The core courses may be completed over the summer • All courses will be taught online • Certificate can be combined with the online Adult Education Master’s degree offered through the School of Education

Course topics
• Foundations of Student Affairs Practice • Applying Student Development Theory to Practice • Higher Education Administration

certificate

For more information about the application process and summer tuition fees, please visit the HESA web site at http://education.indiana.edu/hesacert or scan this code for the IUconnectED online partnership link:

HigHer education and Student affairS
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Talking Stick Ad-HESA-IU-Nov-Dec_2012.indd 1

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http://education.indiana.edu/hesacert http://education.indiana.edu/hesacert

Talking Stick - November/December 2012

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