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Madison College
Supporting Collaboration and Consensus Based Decision Making

Location: Madison, WI, USA
Sponsor: Kathleen A. Paris, Ph.D.
Facilitator: Jeremy Kautza, Mike Lussenden, Michael McDaniel, Janice Mettauer, Jennifer Sauer, Kathy Sorensen, Kathleen A. Paris
 

Description

To create a culture of collaborative and consensus-based decision making, the Interest Based Problem Solving (IBPS) Office was established in February 2014, staffed with one full-time director and one administrative assistant.  The mission of the IBPS Office is to provide training, support and facilitation services for solving problems, resolving conflict and planning collaboratively throughout the college.  Concurrently, a shared governance structure that consists of a College Assembly and seven specialized councils was created.

Facilitation has been provided by a group of volunteer IBPS facilitators (called Fellows) and the IBPS Administrator.  IBPS facilitators have completed 31 projects to date.  The core of six facilitators cited here has provided the majority of IBPS facilitation, although an additional 15 facilitators of a trained pool of 63 have provided facilitation outside of their own offices and departments.

Key Results Achieved

As a result of using this pool of in-house facilitators, key results achieved include:

  • Difficult decisions and recommendations being made with input from stakeholders. In sum, 31 projects were facilitated during the 2014-15 academic year. Sample projects include:

  • Reallocating space in the School of Applied Science and Technology (ASET). See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axh-AGt-RCs

  • Redesigning, in one month’s time, the curriculum in the School of Academic Advancement (SAA). See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP81MtZOzCA

  • Making collaborative decisions to accommodate new classes in the Construction & Remodeling program.

  • Engaging in a cooperative process to reduce millions of budget dollars for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

  • Groups that use facilitated IBPS processes overwhelmingly reported positive outcomes. A sweeping majority of clients provided feedback, with 83% who agree or strongly agree that IBPS facilitation helped them make decisions that would have been difficult to make without the assistance of a neutral facilitator.

  • More than 700 Madison College employees were trained within 18 months (January 2014 – May 2015) in principles of the interest based approach.
     

    Sponsor: Kathleen A. Paris, Ph.D.
    IBPS Administrator, Interim
    Facilitator: Jeremy Kautza, Mike Lussenden, Michael McDaniel, Janice Mettauer, Jennifer Sauer, Kathy Sorensen, Kathleen A. Paris
    Madison College Administration, Faculty, and Staff