Meeting with the Engineering Dean 11.13 (Day 6)

• I like to play a game in my head from previous meetings / encounters, I imagine a scenario in which the Dean was actively cheering me on in my entrepreneurial journey. Saying things like “how can I help you?” OR “Here are some things I recommend you do.”
  • This didn’t happen, not because the Dean doesn’t want me to become the best version of myself, but rather the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few.
  • There is something that she sees that I don’t. Or vice versa.
  • My internal definition for the “needs of the many” is different from her definition for the “needs of the many”

Post Meeting with Engineering Dean 11.14

• It took me a couple hours to realize what made the Dean handle that situation so well. I realized, the dean made me feel like I was being heard. She took in my opinions without friction and treated me like an adult. Tons of respect for that. That’s a truly great leader.
• So now I’m thinking, I don’t know enough about the Strategic Plan at Cooper (what decision making process goes on inside of the Deans brain). So let me do my research, think it over for a couple of days, and get back to the Dean about a way in which we can both benefit from my motivation.
• Good vs bad things that happened in the meeting
  • Good: I was able to hold great eye contact, I remained calm with a relaxed body language, I didn’t flinch when she raised her voice at me.

Reading the Strategic Plan 11.16

• Post crisis CU is very self conscious about public opinion. (Primarily the opinions of the employers, after all, what is a school for if not to get people jobs)
• Post crisis CU is rebuilding it’s connections with employers. Rebuilding means we need to make CU students super employable. We want students that are team oriented, [describe more hyper hirable traits]
• The Deans are in business turnaround management. But with a slightly militaristic approach.

Emailing the Dean for next meeting 11.17

Dear Dean Shay,

Thank you so much for taking the time last Wednesday to meet with me. Our conversation has been on my mind a lot and I really want to make the best of this opportunity. I’ve done some reflecting and I have a couple of action items that I would like to present to you, at your earliest convenience.

Please let me know a time this week that works for you. Thank you.

Best,

Alek Turkmen

Meeting w Student Dean 11.22

[have audio recording of our meeting]

• Essentially the IT and security departments are very upset that I was able to access this information
• I spoke for the majority of the meeting, giving information about how I got all of the information