Leadership in Action: Winter Quarter

The second quarter of this year-long program will continue to equip the participants with the tools they need to effect change in themselves and in the world. During Winter quarter, the program will focus on acquiring the skills necessary to work effectively with information in the digital age. The program will be structured as four intensive weekend units. The units will include: Tools in the Age of Silicon (Arlen Speights), Understanding and Displaying Data (Steve Marshall), Performance Measures (Steve Marshall), and Knowledge as a Commons (Rick McKinnon). Students enrolling for 12 credits will do an independent research project spanning the themes of the quarter. Each intensive weekend unit will also be offered as an independent 2-credit course taught by the individual faculty member. Major areas of study include: Communication, Knowledge Systems, and Information Design. See the E&WS web page www.evergreen.edu/ews for course information.

First Meeting: Jan. 12th, 9-12

Winter Intensive Weekends

Classes meet at GHC, Room 1512, Fri. 6-9pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-4pm

(unless otherwise noted)

1. Tools in the Age of Silicon (Arlen Speights) Jan. 18-20

This unit will build computer skills. We'll focus on solving problems and communicating effectively using basic tools and, especially, the internet.

2. Performance Measures (Steve Marshall) Feb. 1-3

This unit is presented from a public/non-profit perspective and is designed to teach students how to develop, use and align meaningful measurement data to support planning, budgeting, improvement, etc. The unit also introduces students to the logical model - a general framework for describing and measuring work in organizations. The unit supports the general concepts and recommendations of Baldrige, Managing for Results Government Performance and Results Act, and Government Accounting Standards Board. It is highly recommended (although not required) that students take Performance Measures before Understanding and Displaying Data.

3. Understanding and Displaying Data (Steve Marshall) Feb. 15-17

This unit demonstrates a simple, practical approach to using simple tables and charts to analyze data, enhance decision making, and communicate performance, accountability and success. The unit uses a computer classroom and involves a lot of hands-on work actually creating spreadsheets, tables, and charts using the student's workplace data. It is highly recommended (although not required) that students take Performance Measures before Understanding and Displaying Data.

4. Knowledge as a Commons (Rick McKinnon) Mar. 7-9

The advent of the internet has brought about a radical change in the way knowledge is collected, validated, and disseminated, and it has changed the learning environment for people all over the world. In this intensive weekend workshop, we'll examine those changes, looking particularly at new ways of defining such terms as "expert", "community", and 'knowledge." We'll explore the implications of these changes on media, education, development, and science. We'll also examine new ways of organizing and searching information that depend on user-defined categories and tags.

Additional meeting for 12 credit students: March 22nd

Credit Options (Winter quarter):

8 credits for full series;
12 credits for full series plus individual research project;
2 credits per. weekend unit.

Major areas of study include: Communication, Knowledge Systems, and Information Design.