“Every major, every art, every field has collaboration.”
Those were words spoken by Lasell professor Deborah Baldizar, who was a guest in the COM 209: Intro to Journalism class on Sept. 15, 2025.
Baldizar brought along Colin Roderick, a sophomore psychology major, to bring to the class’s attention the Collaboration Recognition Program that is designed to motivate better collaboration by students throughout the Newton campus.
“This program makes a difference,” said Roderick. “I noticed it in school and back home. I found myself interacting with people more often.”
All FYS (First Year Seminar) and HON101 (Honors 101) classes are introduced to CRP, as are any classes where instructors choose to apply it. Through CRP, students start by identifying strengths and where to grow. Throughout the semester, the students practice skills, and, later, identify improvements and recognize the classwide growth.
Also at the end of the semester, the class votes on which of their peers are most collaborative, easy to work with, and helpful. The students with the most votes win a Collaboration Recognition Award.
Baldizar, who is an associate professor of art and graphic design, is one of the program’s coordinators, along with Amy Maynard, a professor of education. Roderick is one of the program’s student ambassadors.
Baldizar explained that the program was founded by Parker Small, a current Lasell Village resident and a retired professor emeritus of medicine from the University of Florida. He was seeing that his students were “cutthroat” and would “sabotage” each other to make themselves look better.
Small didn’t want students graduating with that mentality. In the same vein, employers want job applicants to have softer skills. A survey showed how people coming into the workforce were lacking the skills of a collaborator.
“Good leaders raise people around them, not just themselves,” Roderick said.
The CRP recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the keys to better collaboration. These keys are: kindness and respect, being in touch, active listening, truth and transparency, negotiation, generosity, keeping promises, creating safe spaces, and integrity.
“The program attempts to acknowledge weaknesses amongst students to improve their collaboration,” said Roderick. “It makes classes more enjoyable.
“It has changed and shifted the mind-set … makes students encourage others.”
The program uses activities that “foster collaboration,” like the spaghetti tower challenge.
Roderick said that through applying CRP skills he got better with interviews, which got him more on-campus jobs, when he said he wouldn’t have been that confident before.
The program was brought to campus in 2019 when only six professors were implementing it. In 2024-25, there were 26 classes which used it; this fall, more than 60 classes have adopted it. CRP itself is a collaborative project.
“Makes the uncomfortable comfortable” said Roderick. “It builds stronger confidence in the classroom and outside.”
(Story reported and written by Connor Blaney, Megan Crabtree, Derrick Dellea, Michelle French, Jaymien Harrigan, Huda Hussein, Sabrina Kalanz, Joe McCrea, Jill Neil, Daniel Newhall, Vi Nguyen, Gabriella Sacco, and Julio Vasquez.)
–Sept. 19, 2025–