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SRQ DAILY Oct 12, 2019

"Written and face-to-face performance evaluations are what most employees, particularly white-collar managerial employees, will encounter after graduation. "

- Miriam Wallace, New College of Florida.
 

[Under The Hood]  Sarasota Officially A Congressional Battleground
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

Political observers in Sarasota learned something in the past 48 hours— namely that this area is about to host one of the most important political contests in all of Florida.

Anyone wondering if Margaret Good can upscale her fundraising powers to the federal got their answer. The Sarasota Democrat, who gained national prominent picking off Vern Buchanan’s son James in a 2018 special election, reported $450,000 in contributions to her Congressional campaign against Buchanan.  A day later, incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, announced he raised $356,000 in new contributions for the quarter.

Does this mean Good suddenly has the edge on Buchanan. Nope. It will take much more before it feels she can genuinely unseat a 14-year incumbent. But the state representative who already shocked the political world once has proven she will to put up a heck of a fight.

Once both candidates had numbers to announce, the spin cycle turned on high in Sarasota.

“It’s time to start the retirement clock,” said Good campaign manager Kevin Lata.

“Margaret is already advising her team to go negative,” responded Buchanan advisor Max Goodman. “Gotta love it.”

Obviously, Buchanan won’t just retire at news Good got more dollars than he did in a single quarter. As chairman of Florida’s Congressional delegation and one of the top Republicans on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Buchanan has plenty of channels to turn to in Washington, D.C. Notably, he’s raised $1.35 million in total for 2020, most before he had an opponent. Good just got started.

Plus, Buchanan has already won over voters in the region seven times. Good won in a much smaller district twice in the same year. Buchanan on average won this Congressional district by about 20 percent, Good’s average victory in her House district is 4.5 percent, including a November victory of less than 1,200 votes.

Still, Buchanan cannot possibly feel comfortable about Good’s initial fundraising haul, especially when the political environment feels so chaotic and unpredictable.

The incumbent won against Democrat David Shapiro in 2018 by about 10 points. It was a blue wave election, but that wave seemed to miss Florida entirely. Maybe that will happen again in 2020. Local Republican leaders note the GOP gained registered voters statewide this year as Democrats saw a net loss.  But Rick Scott’s money seemed to shield all Republicans from a national fallout in 2018 and that won’t be in play this time.

Instead, GOP candidates share the ballot with President Donald Trump, a wild card delivering endless uncertainty in political battlegrounds across America. It’s anyone’s guess if the president will lift or drag candidates in 2020. A single tweet these days has the power to rapidly alter public opinion of the entire GOP at any given minute.

Buchanan, of course, has history on his side in the district. He’s fended off well-funded opposition before (though maybe never as well funded as Good will be). This was a Trump district in 2016, so even if the President turns stomachs in Manhattan, voters here have happily voted MAGA before.

The big question will be if the events of the last couple days repeat themselves. Democrats from across the country called me the last few days expressing (or at least feigning) surprise Good actually got more money than Buchanan. Republicans say it’s going take more than a $100,000 edge over three months to turn a red district blue. Just basic math proves that’s true.

We’ll see in three months if this spooks Republicans into heavily supporting Buchanan or inspires Democrats to further prop up Good. Either way, Sarasota voters will have front row seats to a top tier race.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ Media Group. 

[Higher Education]  The Model for the Narrative Evaluation System
Miriam Wallace

Written performance evaluations are what you get everywhere except school—so why are we so in love with letter grades? We’ve introduced grades for restaurants (A equals no health code violations, and who wants to eat at a “C”?!) and candidates for Congress (who regularly boast about their “A” rating from lobbying groups that showcase their political credentials). 

But would you really want to use grades in any place you work to evaluate your own or your colleagues’ work? As a manager would you prefer a flat grading system over one that requires consideration of multiple factors in evaluating an employee? How about as an employee?

Imagine, you have one coworker who is a great leader, but who sometimes struggles to work as a team member under a different leadership style. Another co-worker is a great collaborator and fun to work with, but much better if someone else sets the agenda and defines the goals. Which one gets the A? What if one is a real self-starter, seeing things that need to happen and good at getting attention to those problems. The other is great at taking a problem off to a corner, working it over and coming back with a great solution, but not particularly facile around a meeting table. Is one of these a C? Or do you put your project teams together to draw on their different strengths or to try to help each improve weak spots?

New College of Florida was one of several institutions of higher education that tried out a “narrative evaluation” system back in the heady days of educational reform that were the 1960s, when “relevance” and “process, not product” became watch words. Other institutions that began with narrative evaluations have moved to a hybrid form (a written evaluation with either an optional or an additional letter grade), or have given up all together on the time-consuming work of writing evaluations. Grade Point Average may matter for the small subset of graduates who plan to apply to doctoral or premed programs, but not so much for most kinds of employment. And of course, GPA is prone to inflation, parental pressure, and peer pressure—and it focuses on the end result, not on the improvement and growth along the way. And it doesn’t address weaker areas that the student is still developing. 

There are other arguments for the value of a written or face-to-face evaluation, which can better incorporate constructive criticism and targets for improvement. Grades can lead to some troubling behaviors. Colleagues at schools with letter grades share stories every exam period about the student who demanded a chance for extra credit to improve a low grade, who wept in their office because a “B” wasn’t acceptable, or whose parent called the teacher’s supervisor because their child was always an “A” student. With over 25 years of teaching under a narrative evaluation system, I can count on my fingers the number of times students have wept in my office, and it has never been over an evaluation of their work.

But perhaps most relevantly, written and face-to-face performance evaluations are what most employees, particularly white-collar managerial employees, will encounter after graduation. And it is those kinds of careers for which we are preparing our students. I want them to be resilient, flexible, capable of focusing on solving new problems, and responding to a changing world.

So why would we not want our college-age students to move into adulthood with an adult-style evaluation—one that can recognize what someone does well and where improvement is possible? One strong argument then for written “performance evaluations” isn’t simply that they are much better pedagogically if your goal is formative (improvement and reflection) than summative (a definitive score), but also that they foster the kind of self-critical reflection that we all want not only in co-workers, but in colleagues, teammates and friends.

I know I would rather have an honest evaluation of my work—warts and all—than a single letter or number grade. And in fact, that’s what I get as a professor or administrator—a letter from my supervisor and sometimes a face-to-face meeting—not a grade. 

Miriam Wallace is Chair of Humanities Division and Professor of English and Gender Studies at New College of Florida. 

[On Selby]  Preserving The Future
Clive G. Clifford

As overseas visitors to Selby Gardens over many years, we are delighted to see their plans for preserving the future. Born unique in collection and location the need for preservation for future generations is essential. Far too much of Floridian coastline has been sacrificed to unscrupulous developers.Sarasota has its own unsightly rash of high rise lego buildings but areas such as Marie Selby, Ringling and Mote continue to be a soothing balm on the landscape.

Clive G. Clifford is a resident of Southampton, Hampshire in the United Kingdom. 

[Transportation]  Have a Say on Transportation at Upcoming 'Sarasota in Motion' Workshops

The public has another opportunity to weigh in on the future of transportation in Sarasota when the City hosts two community workshops later this month. The City is in the second phase of “Sarasota in Motion,” the first citywide transportation master plan. Sarasota in Motion will serve as a playbook for how the City not only invests in transportation infrastructure, but also how it achieves the community’s long-term quality of life goals. Anyone who lives, works or plays in Sarasota is invited to attend one of the two upcoming workshops and share their thoughts on what they would change about the City’s transportation network, how our streets can be safer and how travel options can be expanded. Both workshops will be held Tuesday, October 22, with two options offered that day:

  • Workshop No. 1: 11:30 am - 1 pm at the Selby Public Library auditorium, 1331 First St.
  • Workshop No. 2: 4 - 5:15 pm at Selby Goodwill Manasota-Newtown, 1781 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way

In addition to the workshops, an interactive online feedback map is now available at SarasotaInMotion.com. Citizens can zoom in on specific streets, intersections and routes on the interactive map and post their comments and ideas. For more information on the transportation master plan, to provide your input or to subscribe to the email list for future updates and events, email SarasotaInMotion@SarasotaFL.gov. 



[SCOOP]  National Alliance on Mental Illness' Out of the Blue

Don’t miss the second annual Out of the Blue fundraiser to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness Sarasota County (NAMI). Held at the beautiful Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, enjoy an evening of fun, entertainment and an opportunity to support mental health in our community. Food will be catered by Simply Gourmet, bar and entertainment by Rallo Pucci. The evening will also include a silent auction and raffle. NAMI works to support families in Sarasota County who have a loved one living with mental illness; advocate at the county, state, and national levels for non-discriminatory access to quality healthcare, housing, education, and employment for people with mental illness; educate the public about mental illness; and work to eliminate the stigma of mental illness. 

NAMI Sarasota County

[KUDOS]  Children First Named a Best Place to Work

Children First has been named to the Top 30 places of employment in Sarasota-Manatee in the “Best Places to Work” competition. Hosted by independent firm Best Companies Group and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the competition recognizes the area’s top employers who demonstrate workplace excellence and are known for retaining and recruiting the best and brightest employees. In order to qualify, the agency of 187 staff members were asked to complete a confidential Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey, while project managers completed a questionnaire regarding company policies, practices, and demographics. With the second highest number of employees of organizations who were named, and one of only five nonprofits, Children First was ultimately selected for its mission-driven approach to employment.  

Children First

[SCOOP]  First Day Films Provides Free Innovative Videos on Breast Cancer Awareness

First Day Films has announced that they are offering their educational-based video on breast cancer awareness free to all companies during the month of October. First Day Films wants to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Month by spreading awareness and inspire hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education, and support services. First Day Films is a home-grown business, right here in Sarasota by two Florida natives who have dedicated their careers to giving back to the community. Nick Altier, CEO of First Day Films, along with his wife and COO of the company, Abigail Altier, both created innovative videos to educate employees on numerous healthcare, wellness, and human resources subjects.   

First Day Films

[SCOOP]  Designing Daughters Launches Annual Giving Society to Celebrate 10th Anniversary

More than 50 guests gathered at The Sarasota Yacht Club, DATE, to celebrate the launch of Designing Daughters’ annual giving society, Donors of Distinction. The program supplements the organization’s multiple fundraising events throughout the year. Designing Daughters of Sarasota’s mission is to enhance the community and cultivate the next generation of philanthropists through strategic granting. “We got together and thought how to best support goals and how to bring along the community that has always supported us on this glorious philanthropic ride,” said Founding President Nikki Taylor, co-chairwoman of the Donors of Distinction kickoff event. Donors of Distinction will be an evergreen program available to all. The inaugural class has already donated more than $3,000, which translates to an extra grant for those in need. 

The Roskamp Institute

[SCOOP]  FST Improv's Fall Season Features a New Show and Returning Favorites

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces its Fall Improv Season, which includes a brand new show, Last Laugh, and raises the stakes in its audience favorite competition show, Out of Bounds. Just in time for Halloween is We’re Doomeda fully improvised horror movie-style show inspired by audience suggestions. The season kicks off on October 5 with Out of Bounds, where two teams of improvisers go head-to-head to compete for the most audience laughs. Out of Bounds runs every Saturday from October 5 to December 21. Last Laugh runs every Friday from November 8 to December 13. Special performances of We’re Doomed will take place on October 18 and 25 in celebration of Halloween. All performances take place in FST’s Bowne’s Lab Theatre at 7:30PM with doors opening one hour before show time. Full menu and bar are available.  

Florida Studio Theatre

[SCOOP]  Dig In to National Fossil Day at The Bishop

This year, The Bishop are thrilled to feature a special exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History during National Fossil Day. The exhibition, Giants, Dragons & Unicorns: The World of Mythic Creatures, helps guests discover how the fossils of prehistoric animals led to human speculation about their origins — and to misidentification and the creation of myths to explain such creatures. The exhibition includes models and casts of prehistoric species. Learn more about fossils and receive half-price admission to The Bishop as they celebrate National Fossil Day from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, Oct. 19.  

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature

SRQ Media Group

SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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