[image 2]Those us who were here during the early days of NVC had the opportunity to see the culture unfold and to contribute to its creation.
For our community members who came later it became important to capture and share the history that has served as the foundation for the culture we are trying to foster for ourselves as employees and for our students.
As we prepare for our upcoming visit by a team of Baldrige examiners, I would like to share with those of you who have come more recently to the college a bit of that history. When I came to Northwest Vista, the only building on campus was a modular structure in which our tiny team of Student Success specialists greeted and advised prospective students.
Betty Cunningham and Abel Ruiz remember that time because they were among those Student Success specialists. Most of the rest of our small team of employees worked out of offices at the Sheridan Street complex.
[image 1]It was in those early days that we began building our cultural foundations. In this photo, are the team of employees who in April of 1998 gathered in our one modular building on campus to create the values that guide us today. We also created the descriptions that accompany the values. Here’s the link to descriptions: http://www.alamo.edu/nvc/about-us/values.htm
One of the characteristics that I recognized in our 20-employee group was a passion for serving students. That student-centered approach became one of the foundations of the culture. There are actually four foundations that I believe emerged in the early years and that we strive to maintain as foundations that will sustain us into the future. Those foundations on which we strive to build are:
- Student-centered action and decision-making
- Collaboration and engagement among employees and students
- Use of data to inform and to prompt improvement
- A “Can do” spirit that overcomes barriers and leads to positive results.