Honors Colleges offer students opportunities unique on campus. They may be designed to provide alternative general education courses, workshops rooted in professional development, or even living learning communities where students can challenge and rely on each other throughout their time in school. For Honors Colleges which are more structured and require their students to complete certain milestones, it is important to consider the reasoning behind said milestones, why the milestones should be required, and how they can be leveraged to allow all stakeholders involved to grow. This paper explores how systems learning can strengthen high impact practices for all those participating.

Considering Systems Theory: Senge’s Fifth Discipline

Systems theory allows users to zoom out and consider organizations, individuals within, and stakeholders beyond to consider the internal and external complexities of systems and how said complexities interact and dependent on one another. Peter M. Senge (2006) explores this through his book titled The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Through his five disciplined routed in his years of experience, Senge depicts methods for organizations to thrive through learning, growing, innovating and reflecting. The five disciplines in the order described in his text are as follows:

1.     Personal Mastery

2.     Mental Models

3.     Shared Vision

4.     Team Learning

5.     Systems Thinking

Throughout this article, I contemplate my own experience as an Honors instructor and how I relied on Senge’s practices to revitalize a staple milestone in my university’s Honors College known as Crossroads. While the use of the disciplines were not exactly linear, I shifted the order in which I contextualize my experience to indicate where and how I leveraged Senge’s disciplines which made the most sense for my experience.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is the keystone which weaves through all of Senge’s disciplines. This discipline asks individuals to consider the system as a whole, the systems which operate within it, and how they interact with each other. When considering my Honors College, it belongs not only within a university, but within a state system of universities, too. Within the Honors College system is a team of department faculty and staff which support Honors students. The students join the Honors College in cohorts of 80 annually, yet they belong to a myriad of majors which spread across the majority of colleges across the university. Extended faculty residing in neighboring departments also teach various courses in the Honors College.

In addition to the school, Honors holds pillars of leadership and community engagement. We have active relationships with community stakeholders like local non-profits, businesses, and other organizations in our borough. I would be remiss if I did not note our alumni community, students who graduated from the program and leveraging their experiences from Honors in their current professions across the world. When considering the variety of stakeholders Honors has, designing milestone events is a great opportunity for the immediate participants – the students – to interact and/or consider the other stakeholders impacted by Honors.

This discipline, systems thinking, is a throughline of my re-envisioning of one of our milestones called Crossroads, which is elaborated upon in the following section. By considering the interaction of various systems, it is a reminder that any change can create a large impact to the systems with which Honors interacts.

Mental Models

Senge (2006) describes mental models as “deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting” (p. 222). Considering mental models is essential to those who work in Honors Colleges. Some employees might have had previous Honors experiences which influences their perception of what makes a good or bad Honors College. Others might consider other organizations in which they worked and that shapes how they visualize the future. Veteran Honors College directors might have been at their institution for a long time and tradition becomes a standard for how they operate in their role. By acknowledging said assumptions, one may be able to suspend them and consider a new perspective.

When I considered Senge’s mental model discipline, I quickly realized how strong my own perception was of what Honors should be. I am a product and now contributor of the system which shaped me. I currently teach within the Honors College from which I participated as a student and graduated only a few years ago. The experiences I had as a student in the very same program I teach in now influence what I believe is effective or ineffective. Realizing this played a big role in how I decided to move forward in vision casting for Crossroads.

My Crossroads experience was a milestone which functioned similarly to how it has run for the past ten years. It is a reflective retreat designed for second year/fourth semester Honors students lasting three days and two night out of state. It occurred during the busiest time of the spring semester – and a technology free event at that – as a way to force students to hit the brakes and reflect on their time so far in the program and consider their remaining time in it over the following two years before graduating. Activities varied yet all rooted in community engagement (at the surrounding town in which our lodging resided) and ways ‘Honors could support us’ and ‘we could give back to Honors’. While I view my experience through rose-colored lenses, I know the opinion of Crossroads varied greatly among my undergraduate peers at the time I was a student.

“No technology? How will I study for finals?”

“Three days out of state is too long for me. I’m missing end of semester events!”

“Why do I have to give back to Honors?”

That said, many participants also valued the time to unplug and re-connect with their cohort.

“I got to see people I haven’t since our first milestone!”

“I really had a chance to see my time at school differently.”

“I feel like I finally can exhale.”

It is no surprise I have strong opinions about the value of this event as I decided to come back and make a career out of it. That said, I must also acknowledge the framework of this event is over a decade old and revisiting its structure and overall purpose within our systems can allow for significant improvement to the overall mission of our college.

Personal Mastery

Senge (2006) beautifully describes the need for personal mastery as such: “Organizations learn only through individuals who learn. Individuals learning does not guarantee organizational learning. But without it no organizational learning occurs” (p. 176). Considering my background of Honors is within the same organization at which I currently teach, expanding my exposure to practices beyond my own organization is essential in not only advancing my proficiency but also “continually learning how to see the current reality more clearly” (p. 178).

Individuals can leverage professional organizations like the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) to learn practices other honors colleges integrate within their programs across the country. For me, I leverage my experience in my doctoral studies such as content from courses and connections with colleagues in various disciplines to enhance my technical competency and increase exposure to new and innovative ideas.

By considering the systems in and with which Honors operates, mental models I possess, and strategies to enhance my personal mastery, I can more readily engage in Senge’s other two disciplines: Shared Vision and Team Learning. That said, it is vital to note that the disciplines are not simple check boxes that can be marked ‘completed’, yet all practices which should be regularly considered as we navigate our organizations, change, and reflection of what we hope are steps forward.

Shared Vision

Shared Vision in some sense requires the loss of ego so that stakeholders can truly create a sense of “common caring” (p.  260) amongst each other. I knew that in my redesign of Crossroads, I needed to engage with various stakeholders and connect with them to invigorate investment and excitement around an opportunity to create something new. I did not care for Crossroads to be the endpoint goal. Crossroads is not the finish line but instead a vehicle to enhance a deeper connection between Honors College stakeholders to enhance a sense of unity between us all while students also engage in high impact experiences.

To achieve this, I wanted stakeholders to not only be heard, but feel heard and engage in their seat at the table. I designed various meetings with department faculty and staff who attended the trip, alumni who both enjoyed and disliked the event, administration who look to Honors as a flagship program, and community partners who seek early connection with these students. I also reached out to students who have yet to attend the event asking what they have heard it being, fear it being, and hope it will be. I also asked those with which I conversed their level of desire to participate or be involved at all with the new iteration of this event. While responses varied, a select few stepped forward, eagerly excited to create something new.

Team Learning

Senge notes that team learning requires three dimensions:

1.     Think insightfully about complex issues.

2.     Take innovative and coordinated action.

3.     Foster learning in other teams.

My team of innovators belonged to different stakeholder teams: faculty, alumni, and community groups. Together, we created a plan to create various intersections in the new Crossroads which allowed students to interact with various stakeholder parties, make new or stronger connections, and provide students resources to better equip them in their finals years at the school. Major changes and outcomes of this event included:

1.     A one-day event held at a local retreat spot. This increased accessibility for other stakeholders and reduced obstacles students face at the end of a semester.

2.     Invite a cohort of 20 alumni spanning different majors, graduation years, and careers to interact with students. This increased practical professional development opportunities with students, strengthened alumni investment back into our program, and provided alumni networking opportunities with students looking to create capstone projects supporting organizations beyond their school.

3.     Hold department and extended faculty sessions. This allowed students to form deeper bonds with faculty in Honors and throughout the university. This also allowed extended faculty to see the types of students Honors holds and how they may be able to teach new classes in our program. Department faculty have a chance to see how their students have grown over the first two years.

4.      Hold Capstone ideation workshops. This better prepares students for their final capstone to create at the end of their time at Honors. Community partners get to showcase potential projects with which students could collaborate.

Final Thoughts

Honors Colleges can greatly benefit from utilizing Senge’s Five Disciplines to enhance their programs. By exploring the systems Honors operates in and with, it can strengthen its functionality, empower stakeholders, and overall, allow the system to blossom.

References

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Broadway Business.