The Power of the Group

Sandy, Elissa, Cartha and Mirtha discuss data resources we have right here as a goldmine for analysis

Today my faculty gathered after faculty meeting for their very first research lunch. As we had talked before the school year started, we had noted that we've gotten so busy with teaching that we haven't given enough attention to building our research and publications. That needs to change, if we're to make the case for the programs we want to add. So we made a strategic plan for steps to get to where we want to get in this area. And it included me sponsoring a once-a-month lunch for us to be accountable to one another, talk about our projects, and review drafts of articles to submit to peer-reviewed research journals.

I was surprised and my heart warmed when nearly everyone showed up, even those who are regularly publishing and presenting. We had good discussion, floated ideas, and my friend and colleague Sandy, who was hosting the session at my invitation, handed out a very helpful list of journals and their acceptance rates. We may as well go where the chances are good, since we want to see results in short order.

This whole situation reminded me of the power of a group for motivation, courage, and developing better ideas. We have one or two loners among us who get research and publications done, but most of us are in education because we love people, we get our energy from people, and we do things for the sake of other people.

A group for courage, a group for accountability, a group for inspiration, a group for celebrating together. It's worked in so many other situations. Hopefully it will do the trick for us, too. The next time we get together, we'll get a glimpse of whether it will.