Reflections for the Year Ahead
A message from Dr. Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom.
bell hooks. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (p. 207)
Upon my arrival, I knew I wanted to learn more about The New School and hear from all of you about your experiences and what matters to you. Given the scope and complexity of my role, it was imperative that I be available to learn, discover, and query. Since starting last August, we have met informally for passing conversations, meals, coffees, and even chatted via social media. Not only have I met with the faculty, staff, and student senates; I have also met each college’s Board of Governors, held my own office hours for faculty, staff, and students, and attended college town halls and other convenings. These and other gatherings have all provided me with an array of important insights into The New School.
Because history is important, I also have reviewed our last Middle States self-study and other materials pertaining to accreditation, data on student outcomes, other IRDS reports, the climate survey findings, and various documents from all offices in Academic Affairs. Getting to know our students and working with colleagues across the university, including the President’s Leadership Team, has enhanced my insights into who we are presently and what we may become in the future. All of this helps me to better know what is at the heart of the university—the people.
My own education at The New School is ever-evolving and iterative. Even so, I feel as if I have begun to formulate a more complex and comprehensive picture regarding the university overall and am gaining a clearer overview of the hopes and concerns of students, faculty, and staff.
As I have reflected on the past year, several themes have emerged that will hopefully help drive and guide our work in the coming year and beyond. While not exhaustive, these observations reflect what I see as the fundamental beliefs that define The New School. This is what I have heard from many of you regarding what you want in our future and what I look forward to continuing to work with you on. What follows is an excerpt from a more in-depth message I will share in the coming weeks with faculty and staff.
Where We Come From: Our History Matters
We have a unique and important founding story. From our inception we have embraced respect for the dignity of others along with a commitment to independent and free inquiry, equity, and rigor. We have always been noted for breaking with tradition, challenging boundaries, and introducing new modes of thought from Franz Boas to Gerda Lerner and Frank Lloyd Wright. A cursory review of our website illustrates that our university is replete with firsts. For example, “The New School became the first American university to teach the history of film, and it was one of the first to offer college-level courses in photography and jazz.”
We continue in that vein of being innovative and experimental, future-oriented, critically engaged, and gearing our work for community betterment and sustainable social change. The New School’s future will be shaped by the values that have defined our past: we are a place of welcome, academic freedom, and experimentation. What we do here harnesses all those commitments in the service of preparing students to be independent and critical thinkers, but also people who become fully engaged doers. It is evident that we endeavor to equip students who can function in an ever-changing world and who treat others with respect and care. Our adherence to these tenets undergirds all that we do. We are committed to scholarly and creative development.
Inclusive Excellence in a Learner-Centered Community
Meeting with students, faculty, and staff reinforces a core tenet; students must continue to be at the heart of what we do. We will gear our actions in the service of student success and always advocate with their best interests at heart. Cross-university collaboration is needed to enable The New School to be a learner-centered community. Inclusive excellence and being learner-centered means we create clear, welcoming, fair, and sustainable ways for students to navigate within our institution. We will focus on living up to our promise to ensure that students become independent, problem-solving, and active lifelong learners since this is what is needed to be professionally successful and civically connected people. Students should graduate with the habits of mind needed to function in a world that will always be in flux, where the jobs of the present may not be the jobs in their futures. And beyond that, faculty and staff, as scholars and creators, are also lifelong learners. The New School can and should be a place that fosters learning for all of us.
A Creative and Collaborative Community
An entrepreneurial spirit runs through New School students, staff and faculty. I have seen many examples of your wish to innovate, collaborate, and introduce new ideas. This will require a few things of all of us: a willingness to take risks, an acceptance that failure will occur (but is always instructive and useful), flexibility to deal with the unfamiliar and uncomfortable, trust in one another, endurance, patience, and time. I will be relying on you to partner with me to realize the kinds of goals we will be setting in the near future.
In my view, there are multiple opportunities to help determine our long-term future and drive change in ways large and small. There are a few projects in process such as strategic planning and Middle States accreditation reaffirmation which will benefit from your full participation. Of course, there will be more initiatives beyond these that will also depend on your input. While there are unique expectations for me given my role, I will also look to you to be my co-creators in the vision, planning, and action to come.
As we begin a new semester I look forward to advancing these themes with you through open dialogue, fellowship, and collaboration. In the coming days, we will share more detailed updates on strategic planning, opportunities for community engagement, and information about new initiatives. I join President McBride in wishing you a wonderful and engaging year ahead.