A week or so ago a VCU graduate student from the Public Administration Department asked if he could interview me about my role as Director of the VCU Siegel Center for a project that he is doing for one of his classes. I agreed but did not know until the interview this morning that it was going to be about decision-making and how I make decisions on the job.
Reflecting back on how the interview went, I am confident that I would not have had the same response a year ago, prior to the Ed.D. program. I was amazed at the ease of how the interview went as I was able to talk about knowing the different actors and stakeholders involved in any decision-making process and identifying who the power-players are and what politics might be at play in the short or long-term. I was accurately identified as having a utilitarianistic style as many of my decisions have the potentially of affecting thousands of people. Ethical decision-making also came up as the student asked about “boundaries” when making politically based decisions.
I can already see the benefits of the Ed.D. coursework as the material that we have studied so far is coming out in my conversations. I honestly look forward to more stimulating coursework as I move through year two of the program.
