Some suggestions please

[Gilbert Brenson-Lazan]

Hi, all:

Even though I have not contributed much to the OSLIST, due to commitments
as moderator of several other lists y my collegial and profesional
responsabilities, I am an avid reader and learner from this important
cyberspace.

Since there is no OSonOS in the next few days to help me with a big
challenge I am facing, as it did a few years ago en Monterey, I am turning
to the collective wisdom and experience of you all.

I  have been doing OS and training facilitators to do it for several years
now, not just in companies but also in community development and disaster
intervention.  Now I feel almost like a victim of the success we have
shared with this approch and have been approached by a very desperate
university president.

It is perhaps the most important and prestigious agriculture school in
Latin America.  They have just had a BIG structural shakeup over their
up-until-now famous autocratic style.  The 800 members of the student body
are chomping at the bit to make the student affairs policies more
participatory and relevant and the newer members of the faculty (yes, there
is a BIG generation gap both in the faculty and the administration) are in
agreement. Others are very fearful of the loss of absolute, hierarchical
power;  some of them realize it and some of them don´t.  A very strong and
influential alumni association also mirrors the same dynamic.  They have
all spent more than two years "diagnosing" all the problems and now want to
do something.

I have been called in as a consult to recommend changes, a role which I
immediately challenged, choosing instead to offer a startup with an a
one-day OS process with students, teachers and administrators all together,
to explore feasible strategies to make the processes por participative in
the school.  I will then do a program of training and mentoring of the
internal facilitators (grad students) of the school to keep the ball
rolling.  With fear and trembling, the powers that be have accepted this
approach.

My question is on logistics:  There are six, 130-student residences which
are microcosms of the school (the students live on a gorgeous 2000 acre
campus).   There is no facility big enough to put all 900 (students, profs
and admins) together.  Maximum
meeting capacity would be 400.  I originally thought of choosing a critical
mass of 300-400 for the OS but the main sponsor and supporter of the
program would like to be able to close down the university that day and
invite ALL those that want to participate.

My only idea so far is to organize mini-OSs  in each of the Residences.  My
colleagues and I would do the intro with two groups of 400 and then they
would go to their respective residences to do their OS thing, with the
support of a couple of previously-prepared facilitators to be on hand if
needed  (I know that isn´t very kosher OS but in Latin America I have found
it to be an excellent strategy).  Then they would return at the end of the
day (also in two groups) to share results and form a followup
commision.  Everybody would get everybody´s results.

What bright ideas do you all  have?  Any Spanish-speaking OSers out there
that want to help?

Thanks a million.

Warm regards,

Gil


      **************************************
     AMAUTA INTERNATIONAL, LLC
  Gilbert Brenson-Lazan - Socio-Gerente
   Tel: (+57-1) 345-2724 - Fax: 345-2072
U.S. Voice Mail and Fax: (206) 888-4386
          e-mail: <gbl at amauta.org>
         website: <http://amauta.org>
         *********************************

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