Our Little Movement

I applied for a big job at my college this spring and was a finalist (spoiler alert they hired someone else), and the process is what started this journey toward poverty informed practice in my division. In preparing my materials and getting ready for interviews, I needed to boil down what I believed in, and I needed to do it in compelling and concise ways. Poverty has always been an area of advocacy and interest for me, but I haven't pushed as hard as I might because I wasn't sure if others would follow... Would it be too much? Would I be written off as a bleeding heart? It was the day before my all-day interviews for finalists that it hit me. I was sitting in a hotel room in Springfield, Illinois attending my 2nd day of Donna Beegle training when it hit me. Our students with the greatest barriers teach us everything. They teach us how to get better in ways that students with more advantages never could. Basically, it became clear that removing barriers wasn't just the right thing, it was the smart thing! Building structures that work for people in the crisis of poverty is a form of Universal Design that benefits everyone. For years, I have given the same advice to folks who asked me to mentor them: "Don't worry about what you want to be, worry about want you want to do." Now it was time to take my own advice, and when the college chose someone else (she's great by the way), I knew nothing had changed for me. I knew what I wanted to do. And I wrote my first "Poverty Informed Friday" email to my staff the Friday after I found out. I was going to lead toward removing every barrier that was removable because it's what I believed was best for students. I'd like to share a little about what has happened to us since we committed to poverty informed practice.

First a piece of data that has my attention. We monitor enrollment very closely in my division because it is connected to state aid and performance-based funding. Like most institutions our funding situation is challenging, and we have had to make tough staffing choices. So, it seemed counter-intuitive when I realized our enrollment for our summer session had increased 25% over the prior summer. Can that be attributed solely to our poverty informed efforts? Of course not, but it seems worth exploring. Our premise is that we are going to create the most welcoming environment possible and create a level playing field where we work with people versus doing things for them. Enrollment credit in our area increases when we retain students (state funding tracks actual attendance), so I would also suspect that a welcoming atmosphere, sense of partnership, and our commitment to removing barriers has to have some positive influence on enrollment and retention. For sixteen years I've been told that retaining students is more efficient than recruiting new ones. Perhaps we can quantify the payoff of changes in signage, hospitality, and behavior as we have more time and more evidence. Data is always key in making the case for what we are doing.

So, there is some empirical evidence that this matters for us. But there is also cool anecdotal stuff happening. You can feel a movement take hold as it spreads and this week we had the story of Tim and Eldioju (who we all call Dio). I've shared multiple times before about The Bowl where we provide snacks for anyone who wants them (Food for Thought.) The Bowl has grown to lots of people donating things and last week Tim knitted several hats to put by The Bowl.

Tim's wife teaches in our County Jail and Tim is currently unable to work because of debilitating back pain. But he can knit, and he cares, and he made Dio very happy without ever meeting him. My friend Dio is pictured modeling the sky-blue hat just days before the snow begins to fly here in Wisconsin. This is just one example of what committing to an idea seems to do. We've seen hundreds of dollars in donations come in to support food in The Bowl. Our VP of Finance asked if he could join me on our walks to connect with

the homeless. (Theory to Action) And staff from every corner of our stressed out, overworked institution have reached out to say they want in. In fact, someone I had not met yet emailed me today to say she felt like she should "join the movement." If there is a lesson for other aspiring poverty informed practitioners, I think it is simply to lean in and be committed to the idea. It's not just right, it's smart, and raw belief will attract people to what you are doing.

 

Perhaps just as exciting as our internal movement growing is finding likeminded people across the country and across the globe. In just months we have connected with Amarillo College, Paul Quinn College, Sara Goldrick-Rab's #RealCollege crusade, Dr. Donna Beegle and many others inside and outside of education. Our relatively tiny action has inspired conversation and created possible partnerships already. I am in awe of the people I just listed, and they are miles ahead of us, but they have embraced us as part of a genuine movement. My staff and I are working as hard as we have in years, but this unifying belief and purpose is very sustaining. Connecting with others and telling our story and learning from theirs is edifying and inspiring at the same time. It's interesting that one of Dr. Beegle's tenets we adopted is that we must create belonging for people because it is a basic human need. Turns out that belonging is just as important for us, who knew? :)

 

So, our little movement is in its infancy, but we are not going back. We can't, it's too important. We know the tough discussions are coming and we are going to have to make the case for what we are doing, to individuals who aren't sure if people "deserve" what we are doing. I'm no crusader, and we certainly haven't found the perfect formula or gotten everything right. I'm just your typical middle aged, middle manager, but I find inspiration everywhere. Today I found it in the words of the

amazing Brené Brown. We will continue to choose being "brave and afraid. At the exact same time." Isn't that what our students do when they cross our threshold and trust us with dreams they may not even have dreamt yet?