Appreciative Inquiry on Leadership Commitment of Deans in a State College Towards Attainment of TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Advocacy

Abstract

This study focuses on the leadership commitment of Deans to realize “TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More” advocacy of the new administration of a state college in Mandaon, Masbate, Philippines. In particular, it aims to: (1) summarize the Deans’ understanding of the advocacy; (2) enumerate the best practices of the Deans in terms of administration, human resource relation, academics, and financial resource management; (3) reveal the Deans’ vision for the academic unit and the state college in the coming years in relation to the advocacy; and (4) list the plans and concrete steps by the Deans to realize the advocacy. This study uses the method of appreciative inquiry (AI), focusing only on the four steps, namely, (1) definition, (2) discovery, (3) dream, and (4) design, through interviews with three Deans. Results show that: (1) the Deans’ general understanding of the advocacy is that “more” organizational link and “more” organizational development happen when all work together; (2) the best practices of the Deans are: (a) administration [administrative communication and articulation, shared success, etc.]; (b) human resource relation (faculty participation in decision-making, conflict resolution as a professional opportunity, etc.]; (c) academics [accreditation, curriculum evaluation, and conscious academic collaboration]; and (d) financial resource management [fairness, fiscal delegation, etc.]; (3) Deans’ vision for the academic unit and for the state college are reinforced research and extension, employed professional alumni, etc.; and (4) Deans’ provocative propositions to realize the advocacy are: (a) “championing achievement and support;” (b) “timely input for a solid output;” and (c) “start as humble, finish as proud.” These can be related to the necessity for broader education goals and the concept of “co-agency” where learners and educational leaders are empowered, engaged, and inter-related.