Call with Administration + Some Progress

Hi all, Thanks again for your continued support. Yesterday, I spoke with President Healey, Kelly Lynch (Chief of Staff), and Ian Lapp (the new Undergraduate Dean). In summary, it appears that the administration does not have a lot of involvement in selecting faculty; this responsibility is left to the academic leadership. The administration has mentioned to the academic leadership that there is a desire for Len's course, but it feels strongly about its position and won't seem to budge. So, the administration is working on other options. One proposal is for Len to work on a co-curricular basis. That is, Len could have a workshop and work with students in a manner that emulates the Ultimate Entrepreneurial Challenge course. I was told there are no limitations to this option: Len can host the workshop as often as any course. President Healey is willing to make sure there is sufficient funding for Len in this situation. In this way, Len could engage with both undergraduate and graduate students; however, this workshop would not grant any credits. Len has expressed that it is important that whatever he teaches be for college credits. In the end, at least one message was clear to me: the administration would like to keep Len at Babson. Take this proposal as you will. Like many of you, I cannot understand why one of the best entrepreneurship courses in the country would be removed from the curriculum of a college that prides itself on being ranked #1 in Entrepreneurship. So let's apply the thinking from Len's class and not limit ourselves to the available options: let's reach out to the academic leadership directly and convince them to lighten their stance on this situation. So I ask of you all to perform at least one of the following tasks: 1. Send an email to Carolyn Hotchkiss (Dean of Faculty) and/or Gordon Prichett (Provost) explaining why they are making a mistake to sunset Len’s class. Remember to send a CIVILIZED, ASSERTIVE, and POSITIVE email. We will only deteriorate our credibility by sending insults and negative vibes. You can find their respective contact information on the following pages: http://www.babson.edu/Academics/faculty/profiles/Pages/hotchkiss-carolyn.aspx http://www.babson.edu/academics/faculty/profiles/pages/prichett-gordon.aspx 2. Submit a suggestion for other ways we can keep Len involved at Babson using the following form: http://goo.gl/forms/XIFqadywhA. I will put together the suggestions and send them to the administration. They are aware that I am doing this and thus are expecting suggestions from us. -- Now for something a little reassuring! I received a brief note from Len today, and he wrote the following: “Thank you again for all your positive efforts—it’s starting to have an effect.” It looks like we’re making some progress, so let’s keep pushing. Thank you all tremendously for your support. Best regards, Alex Deeb