This list is about two years old but still stands. It sets out what I believe the tenents of outreach and engagement are for Air University.
Tenents of Outreach and Engagement
“If we continue to hope no one discovers us it might one day come true.”
There are many facets and complexities of outreach and engagement. The Air University is at a great disadvantage in that profit does not drive its mission. However, its Intellectual value does. Expanding outreach and engagement improves the University’s ability at solving multi-dimensional problems and enhances our ability to take on multiple issues that can be solved better together than addressing each separately. Outreach and engagement strengthens the research and teaching functions of the University by making higher education directly relevant to the lives of the people it serves and the mission it follows. Everyone at AU must be involved.
Here is how effective outreach and engagement will drive improvement and success.
1. Awareness
The biggest factor in why AU should conduct outreach and engagement is that “Awareness” factor. Most places don’t know what Air University is or what we do. Instead, they know about Air War College or Maxwell AFB. Individuals that have attended school here or worked here know about us because they had to. AU needs to exploit the types of outward image projection whereby our products and services provide a vehicle to create better awareness. Successful awareness happens through many proactive actions.
- Demonstration
AU needs to demonstrate its capabilities to the greater Air Force, DOD and its served communities to provide information via education, research and doctrine that show how AU does in fact support and contribute to our national security mission. If AU can demonstrate why organizations and individuals need us, (faculty, student, and staff) then those are the ones who will be compelled to talk about us, keep using us, and advise others to do the same. Recruiting faculty and staff can be done, but if you want great faculty and staff you have to demonstrate for them why they should be involved through outreach and engagement. By it becomes a “no-brainer” for hard-sell individuals.
- Responsiveness
AU needs to be responsive to the needs of its served communities. Being responsive to questions, the anticipated needs of DOD, Air Force, Doctrine, education and research communities will further gain the trust of prospective, current, and former contributors and will add to our credibility as the Intellectual and Leadership Development Center of the Air Force.
- Relevancy
As it is with being responsive to needs AU must be relevant to the current environment it operates within. To be relevant takes a significant effort to stay tuned into all facets of the world around us. But more than being tuned in, AU must relate what it does to the current subject of the day. By being relevant it helps AU rise above mediocrity and relate our missions, functions and contributions to the needs of America—right now.
- Discovery
Discovery needs to take place both by AU and by consumers of our products and services. Discovery is similar to awareness, but by investigating why users need us, who will benefit from our products and services. AU can then exploit the necessary actions to take advantage of users that need us but didn’t know they needed us which can create a deep well to drink from through easier discovery.
- Heritage
AU inherited its legacy from some of the finest military minds of our times, and through the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) helped create instruction at the strategic level of warfare that we use today. Our heritage keeps us grounded by the very foundations that created Air University in the first place. Great strategists like Walker, George, Chennault, Eglin, Hansell, Fairchild, Tunner, Twining, Offut, and Spaatz believed in preparing warriors intellectually would complement their warfighting skills and sharpen the mind as a weapon.
- Influence
AU is positioned to help better influence top level decisions through education, research and doctrine developed at Air University. Influence drives much of the aforementioned ideas and without a compelling argument we will not survive. Internally employees help advocate the deep and unwavering knowledge of how this university can contribute to the already complex and ever changing national security interests. Moreover the influence comes from senior DOD Leadership caring about what we do and creating a reliance of our products and services that influence decisions, and influence actions that further substantiate.
8. Opportunity
Like awareness and discovery, what AU provides can become an opportunity for greatness, for organizations and individuals. AU should seek out opportunities to carry out the these mentioned ideas and in doing so can help AU to grow, evolve and improve. Sometimes if you provide individuals with a belief that there is great opportunity by interacting with, contributing in and becoming a member of AU, it becomes their idea. Trying to highly encourage individuals and organizations through campaigns and investigative approaches might be far too aggressive for some, but creating opportunistic outreach and engagement can further convince users they need us. This is an opportunity to create and opportunity.
- Internal Sharpness
AU needs to continue to sharpen its spear. As employees of The Air University advocates and begin to understand why they are needed, how they are used, and the benefits it provides to the nation they could become more aware of what it is AU actually does and can. Knowledge of worth and value compels a competitive and impenetrable spirit that drives sharpness.