Indiana Leaders Unite to Help Americans Disagree Better

Indiana leaders are working with colleagues in Colorado and Maryland to arm the nation’s governors with training designed to help Americans Disagree Better.

Ivy Tech Community College president Sue Ellspermann and Purdue Global chancellor Frank Dooley joined Becky Takeda-Tinker, president of Colorado State University Global and Gregory Fowler, president of the University of Maryland Global Campus, presented collaborations to create trainings around the NGA’s Disagree Better initiative at the National Governors Association (NGA) summer meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox, the current NGA chair, has made the effort to disagree in a way that leads to solutions the primary policy initiative of the NGA while he has been at the helm.,

In collaboration with their home state governors, Ivy Tech, Purdue Global, CSU, and UMGC are looking to provide the next generation of leaders with the skills and competencies to handle disagreement in a more productive way than it is now handled.

“The governors are showing real leadership by combating the inability to disagree without being disagreeable. It’s a real issue with far-reaching impacts,” said Ellspermann. “Our training is designed to help our students master the skills that will allow them to navigate difficult issues more effectively.”

Dooley sees the training of this skill as a key to building a successful career.

“In today’s workplace, few skills are more critical than the ability to navigate disagreement,” said Dooley. “I believe this and similar courses will address this needed skill development very effectively, with positive impacts for our communities.”

Governors have expressed concern about the rising level of vitriol in public and private discourse, including on college campuses.

“Americans disagree about a lot of things and that’s reasonable, as long as we can debate issues without attacking individuals,” said Governor Cox. “The Presidents Forum has been an incredible partner in collaborating with our governors to create compelling and effective training to help learners develop the skills they need to disagree productively. I know the governors are eager to implement this work in their respective states.”

How it works

In Indiana, Ivy Tech and Purdue Global joined Governor Eric Holcomb’s office, state agencies, and business and community leaders to create a four-week four module course. The course will be delivered as a microcredential and will be piloted in the fall by faculty at both institutions, followed by courses for students. At the end of the training, students will earn a badge they can add to their Indiana Achievement Wallet. By partnering together and co-teaching the course, this microcredential will be able to reach dual credit, traditional and working learners. 

In Colorado, CSU Global led the way and collaborated with Governor Jared Polis to create a fully-online, instructor-led course to equip learners with healthy conflict styles, tools and strategies for resolution, which has garnered positive feedback to date. Learner data reflects that prior to the course, 44 percent of students self-reported feeling very uncomfortable or uncomfortable having conversations where they disagreed. After course completion, 100 percent of students self-reported that they felt comfortable or very comfortable having conversations where they disagreed. 

In Maryland, UMGC is working to educate learners, including their military students occupying positions overseas and on the front lines of world stages, to navigate difficult issues and conversations. UMGC has approached Disagree Better as part of a larger redesign process within their institution. They plan to integrate the principles of productive disagreement and concepts into a redesign of their general education curriculum, which is based on an explicit framework of 25 skills across five competency areas. This process will support people in the various contexts of their lives to acquire and deploy these skill sets. 

What’s next?

These trainings will continue to be refined and it is anticipated that this new focus will remain a critical focus of higher education moving forward.