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| Author: |
admin |
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7/27/2007 |
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| Potpourri |
By admin on
11/4/2008
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Customer service has a foundation that needs to be built on strong partnerships.
Motivation for success can/is/should be a key driver for customer service. Success on a personal level is important, but the more important component of success is to transmit the motivation to achieve it to the whole organization so everyone on the team can also be successful in providing customer service.
The environment we’re in is intensely competitive. We are selling ideas and issues which are practically intrinsic compared to organizations that are selling physical goods. If we don’t ge ...
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By admin on
10/30/2008
If an organization has a reasonable endowment spending policy it should protect against shorter and mid-term market fluctuations.
As you can see below, the policy at the University of Michigan was adjusted to protect against these fluctuations. One might argue that this could be too conservative, but money typically "doubles" over a 10 year time horizon, so the policy is less conservative than it might appear to be.
"Distributions from Endowments occur quarterly based on the distribution percent set by the Regents. In June 2006, the Board of Regents approved a change to the University’s endowment spending rate policy and extended the moving average period from
12 quarters to 28 quarters, with implementation to be phased in over the next three years. Effective July 1, 2006, the spending rate moving average period w ...
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By admin on
9/23/2008
Turn, turn, turn
 The world is in a constant state of change. The ocean never looks the same as it rises and falls, and as waves are churned by the currents that run beneath the surface. We are always changing and we know that the person we were yesterday is slightly different from the person we are today. The shy girl I was in eighth grade has been gone for quite awhile. Some of us face that year, that day, that moment when we are forced to step up in our canoe and send the rest of the people around us lurching for the sides to steady themselves. But we no longer have to grip the sides. No, we’ve changed.
The thought of it is exciting and also, sad. There is no other way to say it. The old is replace ...
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By admin on
8/28/2008
The Great Flood: Part 2 (Group Dynamics & Leadership)
While it was still raining, we pitched up our tents inside of the barn on the second floor loft (accessed by an old, sketchy ladder) so they could dry and hung up our drowned sleeping bags wherever there was room. A band of guys set out to find the canoes and rescue them from the river. I remember hearing that they took turns diving below the water to cut the ropes that the canoes were secured to, so they could be set free and brought up the gravel road to the barn. One of my friends came back with his teeth chattering, lips blue, shaking from head to toe. We recognized the signs of hypothermia and the guys who had remained at the barn helped him out of his wet clothes while the rest of us dug through our bags to find dry clothes and warm fleece jackets that would fit him. It was interesting to see how the experience of the flood wasn’t driv ...
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By admin on
8/19/2008
The Great Flood: Part 1 (Teamwork)
It was a grey, but warm day as 32 college-aged students set out on the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. They had loaded their canoes earlier that morning with camping kitchens, food barrels, tent packs, and their own personal gear. The Destination: Mt. Hersey. Everyone called it “Mt. Hershey” instead, and they dreamed of a campsite with shady trees and grassy slopes.
The camp site was not what they had imagined in the slightest. It was a lumpy field with random patches of long-ish grass and bald spots that cracked and oozed with mud. After dinner was cooked and served, they had a community meeting where they decided to paddle hard the next day, some 30 miles, down to Tyler Bend (a luxury campsite compared to the field of mud they were currently occupying). Besides having nicer accommodation, they ...
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By admin on
2/21/2008
 Indian summers are the dream of rock climbers. The days aren’t summer-hot, but just warm enough as the Autumn breeze cools off an active climber. Reaching the top of the climb, you can see a vast expanse of crimson, gold, and pumpkin-orange hues that shine with the brilliance that only a northern deciduous forest can hold—a seemingly infinite banner of treetops.
Imagine yourself at this place. You stand at the bottom of a rock face, tying your harness into the rope that will catch you if you happen to fall. Your belayer gives you the go-ahead signal: “Climb on.” As you scale the side of the cliff, you find all the right handholds and footholds, and before you know it, you’re halfway up the cliff, but then... you stop. Freeze.< ...
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By admin on
10/29/2007
Everyone is a leader. Maybe you weren’t ever class president, captain of the football team, or editor-in-chief of your school newspaper. Maybe you’re not a CEO or a manager, but to be a leader is to have influence and we all have influence over someone. You have the ability to influence others for good or bad when leading people towards a decision or common goal, and there are four different ways to do it. A leadership course taught me about the four styles: Tells, Sells, Consults, and Joins.
Its funny how after completing any course, you begin to notice all of the practical applications that apply to what you’ve learned.
It was a crisp and clear autumn night, the changing leaves were dimply illuminated by the full moon as they rained to the forest floor whenever a fierce wind would spin through the trees. In a small town on a Friday night there&rsq ...
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By admin on
10/14/2007
 Summer is almost over. In-between working to pay for tuition, taking summer school courses for elective credits, and trying to keep up a social life, I have found my ever-spinning mind clamoring for a quiet retreat.
This is why I love camping. Try to tell me a better way to relax than having a nap on the beach, seeking solace beneath a shady tree, dipping your canoe paddle into a sapphire lake, participating in an impromptu Ultimate Frisbee game, or catching air during a cliff-jumping excursion. After I return from a camping trip, I am so incredibly relaxed and ready to get back to work. It's good for my mind. It's great for my soul.
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By admin on
9/16/2007
 There are many great universities that sit right on the outskirts of Urban areas. They are not located in the middle of a subway or streetcar system, but the campuses are fairly large and spread out. I have visited friends at Urban schools and have also had to go on many a long quest to classes, libraries, and more across my own campus. For students attending these schools, getting from residence to the grocery store or the last class of the day to the parking lot on the edge of campus is accomplished by pounding the pavement.
This is great on sunny autumn days in September or spring days that come in with warm winds, but what about in the winter? Never mind trudging through the snow; (wishing that you had the money to buy some good boots that you can't afford now because you had ...
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By admin on
8/24/2007
All year long there has been an ongoing campaign to reduce tuition fees in universities and colleges all over my province. Booths to sign petitions against rising fees winked in and out of existence around the main student areas— places where thousands of students pass through every day.
The series of these rallies to get signatures, individual protests, and other events throughout the year culminated one Wednesday as a group of students put together picket signs inside the rotunda that stands majestically in front of the main lawn. Buses were lined up outside of the doors, ready to take everyone on the short trip downtown to hold a city-wide protest in one of our largest parks near government buildings.
Student debt rises every year. It is nearly impossible to live away from home and avoid going into debt if a student is supporting him or herself. In addition to paying for tuition, there are textbook meal, a ...
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