Page 10 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2021

FEATURE
struggling with a pandemic response. This acquisition will make Delaware State University the first HBCU to ac- quire a mainstream institution.
When asked why the university made the acquisition announcement during the worsening coronavirus pandemic and amid increased calls to address racism at colleges and universi- ties across the country, Dr. Allen dou- bled down on our vision, and stated: “There was a case to be made that a university like ours should be focusing on other things. I would argue that that’s precisely what we’re doing. We are focusing on being bigger, broader and substantively the most diverse, contemporary and unapologetically Historically Black College or Univer- sity in the country.”
In the fall of 2020, Delaware State University enrolled 4,419 undergradu- ates and 608 graduate students. If Wes- ley’s acquisition is successful, we will be positioned to serve 25% more students. The campus infrastructure will be ex- panded by 25 buildings on 50 acres of prime downtown Dover real estate. But to execute this kind of maneuver successfully, we will need teamwork.
Teamwork Works
Higher education is a team sport. That was never more obvious than this year. In mid-March 2020, the univer- sity faced the need not only to send 2,400 students home but to simulta- neously transition 1,400 courses from face-to-face to digital platforms, take care of 200+ students who literally had no place to go, develop plans for a vir- tual commencement, move 90% of our employees to digital commuting, and raise $1.6 million to help our students struggling at home.
This multi-level challenge could not be met by a top-down, hierarchi- cal strategy wherein division heads issued directives, and the Adminis- trative Council only coordinated re-
sults. There were hundreds of cross- divisional decisions to be made and tasks completed. Testing was a collabo- ration between Legal Affairs, Academic Affairs, Student Life and the University Police; hybrid instruction fell not just to Academic Affairs, but to Information Technology. Facilities were an integral part of every operation, as regular dis- infecting of all work areas was required.
For the past year, the university has been increasingly operating in cross- divisional teams, wherein decision- making in pursuit of organizational objectives has been pushed down to the level closest to the customer. Sometimes this approach turns every- thing into a negotiation, at least from a supervisor’s point of view, but it gives real ownership to the people doing the work. As a result, during COVID-19, when there have been clear, overarch- ing challenges, and when nobody could possibly review all the critical decisions in real time, our people stepped up.
Focus on Your Customer
Any of us who are in business know our highest priority is to satisfy the customer. Higher education is no dif- ferent. Though the industry is rife with people who believe differently, we con- tinue to broaden our view of the cus- tomer, from an exclusive focus on stu- dents to a more generalized approach to students, parents, alumni, commu- nity partners and all stakeholders. We implemented various methods of com- munication to reach our customers wherever they are. The President held weekly digital forums for our faculty, staff and students, where he took ques- tions and emphasized our approach’s transparency. We focused on encour- agement, constant feedback, and learn- ing what’s important from our custom- ers. A student focus has long been a part of the HBCU experience. We used 2020 as an opportunity to try as best we could to understand our customers’
needs and make sure they knew they were not alone.
Thanks to our emphasis on listening and our willingness to share, we were able to work with our Student Govern- ment Association to safely hold a series of small, socially distanced cookouts attended by students and members of the University Police to address racial tension after the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. We also cre- ated a Black Lives Matter Boulevard at a prominent location on campus completely funded by private dona- tions, and created the Global Institute for Equity, Inclusion and Civil Rights, focused on providing the university with the organizational structure that permits us to have a positive impact in Delaware and across our nation.
We know that we must find ways to accelerate improvements and delight our customers more effectively in our attempts to become the organization we aspire to be. We also know that we must not be afraid to get some things wrong in the pursuit of our goals.
Make Mistakes — Just Learn From Them
The most important lesson Dela- ware State University has learned in 2020 is that mistakes happen. We have begun to see these mistakes less as problems and more as opportuni- ties to grow and progress. We continue in everything we do to create an en- vironment where our students, faculty and staff can adapt to changes, are comfortable making mistakes, and are excited to learn from those mistakes.
We know success does not come without risk, and risk does not come without some measure of failure. How- ever, a creative culture that focuses on teamwork and listens to custom- ers must be comfortable trying new things. After all, we are in the business of education, and there is no better education than learning from failure.
8 DELAWARE LAWYER WINTER 2021