First Annual Colloquium on Abrasive Conduct in the Academy - Santa Barbara, California

July 22, 2013

It is common knowledge within the walls of higher education that workplace bullying and abrasive behavior are serious problems.  Yet, in spite of this common knowledge, little research has been done to identify the causes and extent of these problems.  Additionally, little is known regarding what solutions have been tried or what have been the outcomes.

In an effort to begin building a knowledge base and reduce suffering in the workplace, this first annual colloquium, organized by boss whisperer Laura Crawshaw, brought together knowledgeable individuals from universities all around the country, all of them experts on bullying and abrasive conduct at the universities where they work.  For two days, these experts worked together diligently to help uncover answers to the following eight questions:

1.    What has been your experience with abrasive conduct in the Academy to date? 

2.    Must we have an absolute definition of workplace bullying before we can address abrasive behavior?

3.    Must we wait until workplace bullying becomes illegal to address it?

4.    How do we set up systems to detect concerns of abrasive conduct?

5.    Once concerns are voiced, how should we respond?

6.    What barriers stand in our way at this time?

7.    What can we do to remove these barriers? 

8.    Where should we go from here?

The discussions, which were led by a variety of professional facilitators, were rich, respectful, and comprehensive in content.  My job was to listen well and take notes during the discussions, later transcribe the information collected on flipcharts and notecards, and combine all of the raw data into a comprehensive list.  Later, using this data, Laura Crawshaw will conduct an analysis and write a full report on the findings.  This report is expected to be ready for review by the participants and published in late November 2013.