322 Interview Questions

What are the questions again?

The ones I wrote down were:

1. Did you have any negative comunication experiences in TLA / Community forum? If so, what?

2. How would you describve what its like to participate in forum

3. Characteristics of TLA that help/ make it more difficult?

4. How would you improve the process

5. What were expectations when first stepping into TLA? Now?

6. Whats been the result of choosing dialogue in TLA?

Well, I'll start by saying:

1. Nope, not really.

2. I found TLA to be a nice change of pace. Your speaking to everyone in the room with no power distance. You are equals with everyone in the room, which ranges from first year students to faculty and staff. The openess of TLA helps move the questions forward where you want to take it, and if you feel that there is something more important that should be discussed, you are encouraged to bring it up then and there. Works wonderfully.

3. Its only every other wednesday

4. Even more diversity of attendees. The more people we have, the greater consensus we can reach, or possibly find more questions that need answers. Sometimes finding a question is more important then finding an answer.

5. I had been prepped for TLA due to being in Comm 322, but I was happily suprised by the amount of people and the obvious want for an open dialogue.

6. I feel that through TLA and the Comm 322 class, that I have been able to express my thoughts and views in a much more open way. TLA stresses an open dialogue where you feel free to say what you want, while being respectful. Trying new things, saying ideas that may not have been worked out, its all about experimenting with the ideas we have, but don't always share, and those ideas are sometimes the best ones.

Did your group come up with some questions or relevent problems that Western really needs to deal with other than the ones we orignally proposed the first day?

I dont remember the specifics of the converstation but we thought that the Student-Coop was an amazing idea and should be done. Also how figuring out what we need to do first as a campus community is an important task.We talked about Chik-fil-a and how students are displeased with its presence, and that the proposed healthy alternative should be taken seriously. Also the Provost position was breifley talked about, and how this position will take an important role in campus affairs.

Can't remember all the rest, I'm sure they were recorded by the scribes though

Here are my answers for any inquiring minds:

1. No negative communication that I can recall, so if there was it was something that was shaken off.

2. Participation is unpredictable.  Some days in TLA it felt like my group was just going through the motions of what we were supposed to be doing, hearing each person's thoughts and then moving to the next line of suggested topics.  Some meetings were eagerly approached with a new idea or thought instead of following the guidelines.  I would say that TLA was like opening a Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar because we are all hopeful to find a golden ticket (being a big question or issue), but we had to go through boxes of bars before we find it -- because who doesn't like chocolate?  To further elaborate - I mean talking about the little topics is enjoyable as well, but can sometimes leave you with a lot to chew on.  Like brainstorming ideas for how to save energy on campus for example. 

3. Characteristics that help TLA are the openness between students and faculty/staff. I never thought that the benefits of communicating between professors and students would be obvious.  It is a great place for students to receive encouragement to keep pressing for the things that we want changed on campus, and faculty to get input from those of us to are in the classrooms. 

4. I think that the only downfall of TLA is that some weeks seem a bit dry, nobody has much to say and what we do say seems sort of forced.  I think that since mostly that depends on the mood of the individuals of the group, I'm not sure how to improve that.  Plus some people are just quiet. 

5. I had no idea what to expect for my first TLA session.  I thought it would be a relaxed atmosphere to talk about _______. I really had no idea what we were even going to talk about, just knew that I was supposed to show up and be ready to share. I still feel like being ready to pass on information is an important expectation, and I still also think that I don't really have an idea where the conversation will go. 

6. Having dialogue in TLA has been very effective because I never leave frusterated or feeling like I wasn't able to share my thoughts.  It has helped to show me that approaching issues dialogically (such as the one I mentioned earlier, how to conserve energy on campus) is beneficial and should be essential.  We were able to generate so many creative ideas that students or faculty wouldn't have thought of alone. 

1. Did you have any negative comunication experiences in TLA ? If so, what?

No everything has been pretty straight forward. Everyone has been kind, respectful and there has been some quality conversations.

2. How would you describve what its like to participate in forum

TLA is a unique experience that brings faculty and students together to discuss current topics.

3. Characteristics of TLA that help/ make it more difficult?

I really thought that the food at TLA helped the most. Seriously, by 4 in the afternoon, I'm pretty tired and hungry. A little ginger cookie and some tea really hit the spot and keep me going during TLA

4. How would you improve the process

I would suggest changing the groups up a little. It's not that my group isn't great but I feel that mixing the groups would help spread ideas. I think a lot is missed in the provided highlights and I'm curious what other groups have been talking about.

5. What were expectations when first stepping into TLA? Now?

I really had no expectations going in. I had never heard of TLA so I just went in open-minded

6. Whats been the result of choosing dialogue in TLA?

TLA hasn't really improvement my communication skills but I have found out some very useful information. I didn't know anything about our opt-out option for a lot of fees, the university mission statement and some of the on campus groups.

I am going to answer the interview regarding the forum for the sake of the 2 people who are writing their papers on this online device.

1.  I have experienced others being negative towards others on the forum, it seems easier on the forum to be negative than in TLA due to (I believe) the lack of face-to-face interaction.

2.  I believe having a computer and keyboard in front of you allows you to pre-screen your thoughts as opposed to having eyes gazing at you when you are in TLA or a coffee shop, etc.  You can better think out your responses and thus eradicates the "raw" situations that emerge within face to face.

3.  As I stated, having the keyboard there and all the time in the world allows for more thought-out communication, however, that at the same time leads to more honest opinions emerging, which at times can make it confrontational.

4.  I am not quite sure how I would improve the process, computer-mediated conversation is computer mediated conversation... that won't readily change the way people speak to each other online.

5.  I expected the forum to be more of a straightforward FORMAL situation with more serious topics and less casual topics, but I am glad the way it turned out.

6.  The result of dialogue in forum has been the sharing of a WIDE (I clearly use capitals alot) variety of opinions and ideas.  More divergent coversation emerges from the online forum than I had expected, sometimes completely irrelevant tangents arise, it's awesome.

1. Did you have any negative communication experiences in TLA?

I'm not really sure what that means, no one was disrespectful but hardly anyone ever tended to disagree so why would people disrespect views that agreed with theirs?

2. How would you describe what it's like to participate in TLA?

Very focused on just a few topics and repetitive because it's always focused on the same topics due to constantly focusing on the highlights of the previous week.

3. Characteristics that help/ make it more difficult?

See previous answer. It's very focused, but repetitive.

4. How would you improve the process?

I don't really have anything to say, but most of the participants seem to enjoy it so who am I to change it.

5. What were my expectations of TLA?

I expected it to be pretty repetitive and boring, and it is.

6. What has been the result of choosing dialogue in the TLA?

I didn't choose the TLA, it was a class requirement. As far as choosing dialogue, that tends to promote a lot of agreement.

I have never had any negective experiences at TLA.  Quite the opposite.  I've always had a very postive experience at TLA. The people there are always friendly and willing to dicuss their opinions in a very civl and postive way.  People there are always professional and always talk in a very ethical way.  It truly impresses me the postiveness that is within the group.  I'm always excited to go to TLA and the hour and a half in which we chat, I always come away from it happy and never feeling like I have wasted a moment of my time.

2.To take participate in the TLA forum is like going to a candy store.   Except with the whole everything tasting good and actually being bad for you is the opposite. The TLA group makes me feel part of a bigger group that actually civilly listens to me and what my opinion is about what is happening on campus.  They are a caring group of people that want to see change for the better in Western and partaking in this activity makes me feel as though I'm part of this change.

3.) The only thing that makes this sort of activity difficult is I want to change the campus more than I can through the TLA groups.  It is difficult to not change everything as soon as you think that something needs to change.

4.)  I really wouldnt' change anything of this process because I truly do enjoy it so much.  I dont' want to risk changing the TLA group because it seems really really good already.

5. My expectations of TLA would honestly be low coming into it.  I thought it would be boring, not fun, I wouldnt want to talk to anyone that is in the class.  I came in feeling awkward and uncomfortable because of what I had already told my mind was gong to happen.  Thank goodness my mind was completely wrong of what is going to happen at TLA

6 Choosing dialog for me was the best idea.  It makes each person feel comfortable coming into an unfamilar situation and allows them to feel part of the group allowing them to talk more freely about their ideas.  If I was to go immediatelly into a debate i would not have talked as much as I would in dialog.  Dialog opened the doors to allowing me to talk about what I feel and I think should change on campus.

1. I wouldn't say that I've had any negative experiences in TLA, although sometimes I have had some less than desirable exchanges. These would include times when members were more concerned with discussing happenings from their days as opposed to the critical topics at hand. While I know it is natural to do this, for some reason, I hold the members of TLA to higher expectations to engage in meaningful dialogue.

2.Participating in TLA is a chance to bridge the gap between all of the different hierarchies that exist in our campus community. It's as if everyone is taking turns building something, and no single person contributes more than any other, nor possesses any greater ability than others. We are all collaborators aimed at reaching and expanding common goals.

3. One thing I find difficult about the current format of TLA is that there never seems to be enough time to discuss things. It alwasys feels like we are just getting started, and then have to leave.

4. I suppose the only thing I would change would be to extend the meetings, but I do understand the time constraint is in place for a reason. Many people (including me) have busy schedules, and this would be difficult to accomadate everyone.

5. My expectations for TLA were very positive. I'd heard a lot from my brother as he discussed what TLA had meant to him, and what problems and solutions came about from it. I came in with a very open mind, expecting great things, and thus far haven't been let down.

6.