Real-Life Communication
University presidents have to speak in personal meetings and at
board meetings. They give speeches and read and write all different types
of communications.
"Communication skills are very important," says
Colin Starnes. He is a university president. "That is what my job is all about.
That is what I do every day, all day."
"Getting along with people is
so important," adds college president Jim Kassen. "I meet so many different
people in a day, who all have different expectations from me. I have to communicate
with them."
Currently, you are attending a board meeting with the athletic
directors at your university. They tell you about the progress being made
on a new athletic center that has been proposed for your campus.
This
is what one of the athletic coordinators tells you:
We got
the drawings back from the architect today for the proposal for the new Atlas
Athletic Center. On the space allocated by the university, there will be room
for six tennis courts outside the building.
Inside, there will be an
Olympic-sized swimming pool, with all the necessary change rooms, a sauna
and some hot pools. The facility will have stadium seating for the basketball
and volleyball courts and a separate wing for recreational activities such
as racquetball, aerobics and dance studios.
However, if we include
all of these facilities and more, the total budget for the building will be
$18 million. As you know, this is far above the projected $10-million cost.
But we have considered ways that this extra money might be raised.
We
could levy a fee of approximately $140 per student for each year they study
at the university.
It will take two years to complete the building,
so there may be students who will graduate before its completion and may not
wish to pay for the facility. We have two options for them. We could convince
students that they will be paying for future students, just as others have
done for them. Or we could let these students opt out of the payment plan.
Another
fund-raising initiative could be to find a major athletic clothing sponsor.
This could mean changing the name of the facility or advertising on school
uniforms. Or it might mean a monopoly on the type of athletic wear the campus
store is able to sell. These are all issues to be debated.
As
the coordinator continues speaking, you jot down notes, then ask her to pause.
Before she continues, you would like to ask a few questions to make sure you
understand all her points.
These are the questions you ask:
- How much over budget is the center?
- What are the two options you suggest presenting to students that will
graduate before the center opens?
- What are three things that you think a major corporate sponsor could ask
for in exchange for funding dollars?
What should the coordinator tell you in response to your questions?