"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

**This blog represents my personal views rather than the official position of MSU Denver or ACUPA.**

Developing community standards rather than rules

Often when I tell people that I work on policy, they respond with, "So you make the rules?" While this question often amuses me, I’ve come to view policies as much more than rules.

In “Decolonizing Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Framework for Organizing” (Garcia, 2018), Dr. Garcia argues that HSIs “must recognize their history of colonialism before moving toward an organizational model grounded in decolonization” (p. 132). One way to do so, Garcia claims, is to create community standards within an organization rather than rules.

Garcia describes community standards as “dynamic and fluid” (p. 139). “In a decolonized organization,” Garcia writes, “members develop rules, regulations, and policies as needed to protect…and to progress as a community.”

Bringing Multiple Voices to the Conversation

Garcia argues that community standards are “complimentary to the decentralized governance structure in that standards can and should be created by multiple people within the organization, including students, faculty, and staff” (p. 140).

Creating welcoming and respectful spaces, such as policy advisory councils, open forums, and cross-functional workgroups, that acknowledge and adapt to the diverse backgrounds of students, faculty, and staff leads to better synergy between constituent groups, senior leaders, and organizational areas. Rather than being viewed as rules that unnecessarily restrict behavior, policies are viewed as community standards that uphold the shared values of the organization.

References

Garcia, G.A. (2018). Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 17(2), 132-147.