Bridging the Faculty-Admin Divide: Strategies for Success
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Transcript of Bridging the Faculty-Admin Divide: Strategies for Success
Bridging the Faculty-Admin Divide: Strategies for Success
Christina Sax Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs, Maryland
University for Integrative Health
[email protected]@cmsax
Christine Royce Professor and Chair, Teacher Education
Department, Shippensburg University
[email protected]@caroyce
Overview
• The vitality of PCO units depends upon collaborative and cooperative relationship of administrators & faculty.
• Need to bridge the divide between differentiated sets of values, priorities, and constraints.
• Insight into a successful faculty-admin partnership– Critical factors in its development and sustainability
– Examples of its spinoff activities
– Framework for developing and strengthening such relationships
Collaboration Produces Innovation
Innovation refers to the introduction of a new
idea, method or device or a “change that creates a new dimension of performance.”1
White, S.C. & Glickman, T.S., Innovation in Higher Education: Implications for the Future, New Directions for Higher Education, vol 2007, issue 137, March 15, 2007
Creativity
Enterprise
Flexibility
Adaptation
Many Pieces of the Collaborative Puzzle
Faculty Online PDGovernance
Structure
Students
Immediate
Growth/
Future Needs
Internal
Course
Offerings
Administration
External
Program
Offerings
ROI/
Sustainability
Community
Stakeholders
Potential stakeholder groups and topics of focus/concern involved in collaborative projects
Collaboration as Professional Development:Support Structures and Barriers
People and
Interpersonal
Relationships
Personal
Considerations and
Commitments
Institutional Structures Intellectual and
Psychosocial
Characteristics
Caffarella, R.S., Zinn, L.F., Professional Development for Faculty: A Conceptual Framework of Barriers and Supports, Innovative Higher Education, vol 23, number 4, Summer, 1999
Faculty-Administrative Collaboration - Your Experiences?
• Successful faculty-admin partnership: What made it successful?
• Unsuccessful faculty-admin relationship: What made it go awry?
Differing Priorities
Faculty Priorities
• Department/Personal program goals, development & opportunities
• Collaboration and networking with “like minded” individuals
• Expansion of teaching areas; interests, and financial income
Administrator Priorities
• Focus on institutional view
• Respond to external pressures
• Problem solving
• Maximize resources
• True collaborations
• Flexible, open minded
Frameworks for Bridging the Divide
A perfect mix of ….
• Enabling Conditions
• Collaborative Resources
• Interpersonal Values
Enabling Conditions for Successful Collaboration
1. Compelling direction• Energizes, orients, and engages• Clear, challenging, consequential purpose
2. Enabling structure• Respect the balance of diverse skills & perspectives
3. Supportive context• Access to information, resources, models, rewards
4. Shared mindset• Commitment to project goals & success, possibly for
different reasonsHaas, M & Mortensen, M., The Secrets of Great Teamwork, Harvard Business Review, June 2016
Hackman, J. R., Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances, Harvard Business School Press, 2002
Sharing of Collaborative Resources
• Informational
– Knowledge, skills, expertise
• Social
– Awareness, access, position in a network
• Personal
– Time and energy
Cross, R., Rebele, R., Grant, A., Collaborative Overload, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2016
Interpersonal Values
• Trust
• Respect
• Confidence
• Open minded
• Ego-less (well, kinda )
• Comfortable with the grey zone
Southcentral PA Education Collaborative (SPEC)
• Co-formed and led by faculty & admin based on a need
• Regional network of PK20 educational institutions
– 11 school districts, 2 intermediate units, Shippensburg Univ
• Engaged in activities designed to meet the common STEM and technology-enhanced education needs of its students, teachers, and faculty
SPEC – Compelling Direction
• Goals that equally energize, orient, and engage
• Overarching Goal– Strengthen university-school district relationships
• Why - Faculty Goals– Inform university teacher education curriculum
– Develop PK20 professional learning community
• Why - Administrator Goals– Develop new enrollment pipelines
– Develop new revenue streams
SPEC – Enabling Structure
• Joint leadership that respects the balance of diverse skills & perspectives
• Administrator– Organize, coordinate, communications, internal & external
PR, information flow to upper administration
• Faculty– School districts & leaders, relevant content & activities,
follow-up links
• Building respect – “Here’s how I can help you achieve your goals”
Administrative Actions that Foster Collaborative Learning
Supporting group activity and leadership development
in order to promote change, learning and achievement.
Develop environments committed to professionalization
that confront isolation.
Help to establish guidelines and incentives that
encourage group members to work collaboratively.
Mullen, C.A., Hutinger, J.L.., The Principal’s Role in Fostering Collaborative Learning Communities Through Faculty Study Group Development, Theory Into Practice, 47:276-285, 2008
SPEC – Supportive Context
• Provide mutual access to information, resources, models, rewards
• Administrator
– Identify resources to support faculty: money, staff, space, information, data, senior leaders
• Faculty
– Teach administrator: PK12 goals, needs, models, standard reporting & data
Administrative Roles in Collaborative Learning
(Co)-facilitator of groups.
Time builder for regular meetings and provider of
human and material resources.
Mullen, C.A., Hutinger, J.L.., The Principal’s Role in Fostering Collaborative Learning Communities Through Faculty Study Group Development, Theory Into Practice, 47:276-285, 2008
SPEC – Shared Mindset
• Mutual commitment to overarching project success, albeit for different reasons
• Champions within their own constituencies
– Sub-goals can be achieved through overarching project goals
• Focus on project success, not individual accomplishments
SPEC Outcomes
• Stronger, ongoing, open dialogue between university and school districts– Feedback on univ teacher education curriculum, ongoing SD needs
• Ongoing quarterly meetings• Analysis of the strategic STEM, educational technology, and
teacher/faculty development plans of SPEC members• Shared content development; guest speakers• Peer exchange among PK12 teachers & university teacher
education faculty• PK12 teacher workshops• PK12 educational technology conference• PA Department of Environmental Protection education grants
New Program Development
• Programs– Initial MAT Science Education & its evolution to MAT STEM
Education
– Certificate in Online Teaching, Learning, and Technology
• Enabling Structure– Respect for shared expertise: content & online design,
delivery, administration
• Shared Mindset– Shared sacrifice to launch with very low enrollments: low
pay for faculty, loss leader for admin
Pursuit of National Opportunity
• Opportunity to purse a science education initiative with a national foundation
– First need to demonstrate feasibility & impact internally
• Compelling Direction (but for different reasons)
– National prestige
– Grow enrollments
– Drive academic innovation
• Supportive Context
– Faculty & admin collaborate to identify and address concerns and barriers, unique to their skills, perspectives, constituencies
Finding Collaborators
• Don’t silo yourself – get to know lots of people, from different areas, internally and externally
• Notice what people say and do
• Watch for collaborative patterns
• Be intentional in cultivating collaborators
• Mirror and reciprocate what you’re looking for
Your Collaborators & Projects?
• Identify potential partner & new activity ripe for faculty-admin partnership
• Identify 1-3 first steps to make this happen
• Record this on index card; place index card in envelope; seal & address envelope to yourself
• Sax/Royce will mail envelope to you in 1 month as a reminder & checkpoint on your progress
PLEASE SHARE YOUR IDEAS NOW!
Thank You and Contact Information!
Christina Sax
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Maryland University for Integrative [email protected]
@cmsax
Christine Royce
Professor and Chair, Teacher Education Department,
Shippensburg University
@caroyce