brendajean6
April 3, 2017
Dear Rebecca,
You have worn many hats and played many important roles at St. Catherine University. When I met you, you were my instructor for the MAOL Leadership Action Project Research Proposal class. It was the fall of 2004. I remember your stories about your graduate work at Stanford, your guidance in our peer review group work, and your passion for doing research. You made that class enjoyable and dare I say – fun! Your feedback helped me complete my LAP on Creating a Global Leadership Course for a Workplace and graduate in May 2005.
The second role where I observed you many times was as Director of the MAOL Program. I would specifically focus on your skills as a hiring manager. When I initiated a meeting to discuss creating a new course that would focus on Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Leadership, you hired Josef Mestenhauser and me to co-teach it for four summers. Your enthusiasm for this course really kept us going, and I know you did much to promote the course to your advisees and new students. It was one of the highlights of my career to co-teach it with Dr. M. and have you sit in on several sessions during the summer of 2009.
The third role was as globalization advocate for the MAOL program but also for the entire SCU. I remember talking to you once about setting up a globalization of the curriculum workshop, and you not only agreed to it but promoted it for all MAOL faculty to attend and then encouraged them to meet with me individually to globalize their syllabi. It was your idea to do a full curriculum audit to see how globalized the curriculum was in 2008 and 2009 and then to repeat the audit in 2015 to see how far MAOL had come. Due to your leadership and indefatigable efforts, evidence of globalization in the MAOL curricular portfolio skyrocketed over those 6 to 7 years! Most of all, your ability to get external grant funding to cover many of the globalization initiatives speaks volumes as to your passion for the global perspective.
The fourth role that I have observed you play very well is an inclusive leader. I’ve watched you conduct MAOL staff meetings, faculty retreats, public events, and debriefings of complex and even controversial issues. Your warmth and genuine interest in gaining everyone’s feedback during those meetings and break-out sessions showed me that you really care about everyone’s opinions.
As I have introduced you to several people over the years including Deborah Pembleton, Jon DeVries, Basma Ibrahim DeVries, and others, I have been impressed with your interest in getting to know people as human beings and really help them create roles for themselves on the SCU campus. You know when to lead people and when to let go. You know how to guide others and then let others guide you.
I remember talking to you once about an assessment tool that helps people see their comfort level with differences, and then you initiated the IDI for all faculty. I believe the IDI and other assessment tools and those full-day intercultural faculty development summer institutes provided faculty with so many wonderful opportunities for growth and advancement in their own intercultural callings. That is what a great leader does -- she plants seeds for the future.
Thank you for making a difference in my life and in the lives of so many students, alumni/alumnae, faculty, staff, visitors, friends of SCU, donors, sponsors, business leaders, community leaders, government leaders, non-profit organizational leaders, healthcare leaders, and higher education leaders. With much enthusiasm, I thank you!
Sincerely and with gratitude,
Brenda J. Ellingboe
MAOL Class of 2005, Adjunct Instructor 2009-2012, Globalization of the Curriculum Consultant/Auditor 2008-2015, IDI Interpreter, and ORLD 6200 Cohorts’ Writing Coach 2013-present
brendajean6@msn.com
Dear Rebecca,
You have worn many hats and played many important roles at St. Catherine University. When I met you, you were my instructor for the MAOL Leadership Action Project Research Proposal class. It was the fall of 2004. I remember your stories about your graduate work at Stanford, your guidance in our peer review group work, and your passion for doing research. You made that class enjoyable and dare I say – fun! Your feedback helped me complete my LAP on Creating a Global Leadership Course for a Workplace and graduate in May 2005.
The second role where I observed you many times was as Director of the MAOL Program. I would specifically focus on your skills as a hiring manager. When I initiated a meeting to discuss creating a new course that would focus on Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Leadership, you hired Josef Mestenhauser and me to co-teach it for four summers. Your enthusiasm for this course really kept us going, and I know you did much to promote the course to your advisees and new students. It was one of the highlights of my career to co-teach it with Dr. M. and have you sit in on several sessions during the summer of 2009.
The third role was as globalization advocate for the MAOL program but also for the entire SCU. I remember talking to you once about setting up a globalization of the curriculum workshop, and you not only agreed to it but promoted it for all MAOL faculty to attend and then encouraged them to meet with me individually to globalize their syllabi. It was your idea to do a full curriculum audit to see how globalized the curriculum was in 2008 and 2009 and then to repeat the audit in 2015 to see how far MAOL had come. Due to your leadership and indefatigable efforts, evidence of globalization in the MAOL curricular portfolio skyrocketed over those 6 to 7 years! Most of all, your ability to get external grant funding to cover many of the globalization initiatives speaks volumes as to your passion for the global perspective.
The fourth role that I have observed you play very well is an inclusive leader. I’ve watched you conduct MAOL staff meetings, faculty retreats, public events, and debriefings of complex and even controversial issues. Your warmth and genuine interest in gaining everyone’s feedback during those meetings and break-out sessions showed me that you really care about everyone’s opinions.
As I have introduced you to several people over the years including Deborah Pembleton, Jon DeVries, Basma Ibrahim DeVries, and others, I have been impressed with your interest in getting to know people as human beings and really help them create roles for themselves on the SCU campus. You know when to lead people and when to let go. You know how to guide others and then let others guide you.
I remember talking to you once about an assessment tool that helps people see their comfort level with differences, and then you initiated the IDI for all faculty. I believe the IDI and other assessment tools and those full-day intercultural faculty development summer institutes provided faculty with so many wonderful opportunities for growth and advancement in their own intercultural callings. That is what a great leader does -- she plants seeds for the future.
Thank you for making a difference in my life and in the lives of so many students, alumni/alumnae, faculty, staff, visitors, friends of SCU, donors, sponsors, business leaders, community leaders, government leaders, non-profit organizational leaders, healthcare leaders, and higher education leaders. With much enthusiasm, I thank you!
Sincerely and with gratitude,
Brenda J. Ellingboe
MAOL Class of 2005, Adjunct Instructor 2009-2012, Globalization of the Curriculum Consultant/Auditor 2008-2015, IDI Interpreter, and ORLD 6200 Cohorts’ Writing Coach 2013-present
brendajean6@msn.com
