First 3 days of SI

It is Tuesday, 28 June 2005. We have an unexpected afternoon off. Some of the panel did not arrive due to airline delays.

We are all very grateful!

The South African cohort arrived at BM late Friday afternoon after a long and tiring journey. It is very fortunate that we arrived early so that we could recover from the 23 hours in the SA to US flight, hours in several different ques, missed connecting flight etc. Apart from CK who flew with me from Cape Town, and conveniently was booked into a seat next to mine, and DZ who came to the US earlier, the SA cohorts met on Johannesburg airport. CKe and I thought that our being seated next to one another was a sign of good things to come. Certainly not for our journey to Philadelphia. By the time we landed the cohort knew one another very well, having faced the frustrations of our journey together, especially having all been marked for secondary security clearance at NY LaGuardia airport. By the time we arrived we had spent about 36 hours travelling.

BM is picture perfect with gothic architecture, green lawns and clean symmetrical pathways. Such a difference from the not so clean NY JFK airport. We were very happy to arrive at our dorm, H, our home for the duration of the SI. After the unhelpfull and unfriendly people at the airports, meeting M with her friendly smile and willingness to help at the door of our dorm was a relief.

The SA cohort had the dorm all to themselves and had the opportunity to spend time with Cynthia, director of the network that offers the BMSI. What a wonderfully approachable and easy to talk to person. During one of the conversations with her she asked me a question which I answered but spent the rest of the evening thinking about. Maybe I should consider this question for a PhD.

Registration was painless enough. The many fat files and reading was an indication of the packed programme and intense period of learning ahead. We also had to have id cards made. More ques. I felt like a student again. The card is lovely though, with BM's turrets and greenary watermarked on the cards.

The first dinner was interesting, meeting many new faces. BM College was started specifically for women with strong Quacker links.

We had pre-insititute work of course and on our first day of classes we were given some more work.

Key learning points for Monday, 27 June 2005 on Prefessional Development
1. Conversation, network and coaching is the Networks way.
Personal reflection - Love the conversations with Cynthia. Ask her to converse with WCHELIG when she comes to SA in September 2005.
2. 4 different stages of career, not prescriptive, descriptive. Choose to stay in one or hop around.
Key is the responsibility to help others along. This done by Reeba another lovely old brawd to have conversations with. Modelled well by Cynthia by adding new SI alumnae to BMSIs faculty.
Personal reflection-building networks and possible future alliances.
3. Diversity should also be considered ito personality types eg. Myers Briggs. Interesting book to get is the by Myers Briggs, mother daughter team, called "Gifts different". Also check website www.capt.org
4. When you are in management and have visibility, you become a target.

Met TB here. A Wellesly alumna, and South African now based in Massachusetts. We had a conversation last night in anticipation of the third week. It was enormously fruitful. I am confident we will have concrete plans of action in place by the time we leave.

Todays session was enormously interesting. A conversation about our home insitutions. A group of BMSI alumni talked about their institutions and their experience there.
D.L. Talked about not fencing the campus and remaining part of the community, and an outreach project that brought real concrete benefits to the community- community housing around the campus when they started encrouching into the neighbourhood.
Managing relationships key to thriving in HE.

From Reeba's conversation.Technical school that developed into college. Parallel with CT, lecturers without first or advanced degrees.
If you refuse to take blame, you will remain powerless as administrator of HE.

From Sabrina conversation. Caution for CPUT, we can be anything we want to be, but we have to decide what we want to be so that identity of CPUT is clear.

From Dee - SA is way ahead when it comes to diversity and integration.

Ideas and learning from conversations with fellow SI;
CPUT should explore prison programs
Do real outreach to D6 from CT Campus
Do real socio-economic outreach= more of Craft Institute stuff
Agreements with schools to increase access to higher education involves taking interest in schooling system and challenges they face
Place best student teachers in high risk schools
CPUT Women's network

Generally, tired. Feel like student - already behind with reading and assignments.

Pre Institute work

I have one more day to go before I leave. I have not managed to interview any of the people I am supposed and my immediate supervisor want my performance contract before I go. I still have some WCHELIG stuff to finish off, most importantly, the annual report.

I did manage to get some CPUT promotional things from student affairs.

I discovered the wheel of one of my suitcases is broken and probably will not last the trip, so got to go get another one. I wanted to get a duffle bag on wheels, but can't find in my usual shopping haunts and don't have time to look anywhere else.

Still have to get a few small gifts, go to the dentist and pack my son, amongst a million other little things that need to be done.