Text: Quality
with Soul, by Robert Benne
By Donna Fletcher
The objective of my paper is to discuss how the Christian Faith relates to the institutional purpose of Lenoir-Rhyne College in my area of responsibility relative to important critical components of any organization, those being, ethos, vision, culture and persons.
My responsibility is to uphold college policy and to
execute my duties in accordance with the Christian values and mission statement
of the college. My duties include
daily interaction with students who are usually seeking guidance in the area of
advising or academic progress.
Students will be received with honesty, fairness,
responsibility, respect and compassion, five values that can be witnessed in
many cultures around the world, according to Dr. Rushworth Kidder, founder of
the Institute of Global Ethics.
The culture of an organization is reflected through shared
expectations, attitudes, values, symbols, heroes, and rituals, with values being
at the core. The culture of an
organization influences individuals and organizational processes and offers
stability in the sense that individuals know what types of behaviors are
expected and rewarded. And in order
to perpetuate these behaviors, we need a certain faction of the administrative,
staff, faculty, and student population whose beliefs are in accordance with the
Christian values and mission statement of the college.
Ideally, the attitudes and behaviors of individuals at LRC
will be aligned with the Christian values and these values will become their
guidelines during interaction with others. Our behaviors should reflect our Christian values; otherwise,
the values, attitudes, symbols, shared expectations and rituals become
meaningless.
The values and mission statement of the College could be
displayed in a prominent building on campus.
And, in order for the culture of LRC to become more distinct, more
symbols of the Christian tradition could be displayed at various places on
campus. Another symbol of our
Christian tradition could be a separate chapel building.
This chapel would provide many opportunities for Christian worship and
for the performance of our choir and music program, both of which are wonderful
vehicles for the expression of our Christian faith.
Our Christian culture may serve as a stable, safe
structure for students to have “freedom to be and freedom to grow.” Relative
to Benne’s typology chart, Lenoir-Rhyne’s place on the continuum is very
much aligned with the “critical mass” colleges, which indicates a strong
connection to the Lutheran religious heritage.
I propose that we work to keep this strong connection to the Lutheran
heritage by continuing group discussions, which may encourage continued valuable
reflection on the vision and identity of Lenoir-Rhyne College.