Chaparral 2023-2024: Embracing Change with Senate President Cameron Hastings

Embracing Change 

As we contemplated fear and anxieties as faculty at GCC, we asked Senate President Cameron Hastings what faculty fear most and how we can embrace that fear given our climate. Here's what she said:

Chaparral: What is the top fear faculty have right now given our climate?

I am sure that the answer to this question would vary from colleague to colleague, but I would say that many of us fear change. I don’t think that this fear of change is a knee-jerk resistance to what is new. Instead, it is perhaps because we are trying to navigate change while holding on to what we value, what has worked in the past, and what might have led us to teaching to begin with. Here are some types of change I have thought about, or others have pointed out to me, in no particular order:

• Standardization of higher education, whether it is common course numbering, standardized course outlines, or new rules on what we can teach
• Technological changes like the introduction of artificial intelligence that might force us to adapt how we assess learning
• The effects of the pandemic on student learning including the willingness to show up on time, stay focused and on task, and get assignments turned in
• An increased emphasis on distance education that creates new opportunities for student access but also might feel like it alters our role as teacher
• Retirements of valued faculty and staff, and with them the loss of institutional memory
• Transitions in the college administration that could be potentially unsettling
• Finally, finding the right balance of free speech and academic freedom in a classroom environment that might feel polarized.

Chaparral: How can GCC faculty engage with this fear, given your work in the Senate?

I think one thing we do relatively well at GCC is find space for conversations. It is not always easy and we definitely do not always agree, but if we give voice to these fears or challenges and have cordial discussions about them then we can mitigate the discord. I would also encourage faculty to identify the things we do well, or value, and find ways to protect them while also recognizing that change is going to happen. For instance, we might lose faculty to retirement but this provides space to hire new colleagues that bring with them new ideas, perspectives, and energy. The increased presence of AI might be an additional disruption but it also might provide new ways for students to learn and access information. We can introduce new administrators to our college’s culture while also being open to ways of improving what we do. Change will happen but it will be less scary if we find a way to shape it to fit GCC.