Employees Convene for Hassan's Meeting

Principal Tom Hassan gathered Exeter’s staff and faculty for an all-employee meeting on Monday to review the Academy’s current projects and initiatives. Hassan also took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of connections between employees and to review the faculty’s and the staff’s experience on Community Connection Day.When Hassan called the meeting, math instructor Jeffrey Ibbotson was reminded of the first all-staff meeting he attended, which involved the announcement of “some pretty dire economic news for the school.”There has a been a shift in all-staff meeting content over the past few years. “When they get called, I automatically expect [that] something earthshaking [is] going on,” Ibbotson said. “But that’s not the way it seems now. [It] just kind of seems more like business as usual.”Hassan looks at the meetings as “a wonderful way for colleagues to connect with each other, as well as for me to communicate news about the school and answer questions.”Hassan wanted to speak to staff about the trustees’ fall meeting, which concluded on Friday, among other topics.“I wanted to share with employees highlights from that session, notably the school's strategic planning process just in the earliest stages, which will chart a course for Exeter's future, as well as the recognized need for improved music, theater and dance facilities,” Hassan said. “You'll be hearing more about both of these exciting projects as they continue to progress.”Math instructor Joseph Wolfson is still unsure about the next steps for the Academy, but is now more familiar with Hassan’s thinking.“We mostly listened to find out from Mr. Hassan what he had to say,” Wolfson said. “One of the things he talked about was the progress on building a new performance arts center. He did mention that they’ll be looking at raising forty million dollars to do the whole project, which [includes] building and endowing [the project] over time.”Many faculty and staff appreciated the opportunity to have an informational session with Hassan.Dining Services Manager Heidi Brousseau thinks that more all-employee meetings would be helpful. “I think it’s important that there’s a connection between where the Academy is going and how it affects staff,” Brousseau said. “It’s important, as staff, that we know the direction that the Academy is heading in and what the Principal’s initiatives are.”Rose Dotson, a lead host in Wetherell Dining Hall, agrees that more meetings would be better. “They give us information that we wouldn’t normally have,” Dotson said. “It’s a good way for all the staff and faculty to get together. It’s a good way to communicate stuff to everyone on campus all at once.”Ibbotson, on the other hand, thinks that the meetings offer no real chance for communication, based on [their] sheer size.“I just think even meetings with twelve people strain the ability to have meaningful conversation,” Ibbotson said. “The fact that we manage it in class everyday is a tribute to the quality of our teachers.  A meeting with six or seven hundred people is not about communicating, but about show and tell. I just don’t find that useful. I think there are better means of showing and telling than bringing everybody in that room.”Hassan emphasized the importance of communication and connection between employees at the meeting. He showed pictures from Community Connection Day in late August, when Exeter closed for a day to give over 400 faculty and staff members the opportunity to volunteer. The employees worked at three different area nonprofits: Seacoast Science Center, Wings & Hooves Therapeutic Riding and YMCA Camp Lincoln.“I encouraged everyone to take some time to reconnect with those whom they had volunteered with,” Hassan said. “The all-employee meetings are relatively new and are a way for both staff and faculty to connect and hear the same news which is important in a school our size.”