Part
1: Worksite
Our
institution is a Leader College for Achieving the Dream (ATD). ATD is an
initiative that assists community colleges in evaluating the effectiveness of
our student success model through the use of disaggregated data. These data are
used to target specific achievement gaps within our institution and higher
education as a whole. These data may also be used to assist key contributors in
taking a closer look at the area in which we operate and direct us in creating
programs and services that are more representative of our population’s needs.
This week's worksite was at one of our district campuses. We discussed how to
improve our ATD evaluation tool. The setting included faculty, staff,
deans, presidents, the chancellor, and the ATD coaches. We were there to
evaluate the tool and determine where improvements can be made to better serve
our institutional needs.
Part
2: Observation
Monday,
November 9, 2015, we convened in the multipurpose room of the college center.
We were seated at seven different tables. Each table had a portion of the
evaluation tool for the table members to review and score. The task of the
participants was to move to different tables in a 3 round format and assess and
score the portions of the tool located at the table. We intend to distribute
the tool to all levels of the institution to determine how effective our ATD
interventions have been and to assess how well we have gotten the word out
about the project.
We learned
that the institutional research staff is strong and responsive to institutional
needs. We also learned that we have not done an adequate enough job creating a
narrative around the data that will help the college at large understand and
appreciate the data. We also learned that our policies might need more clarity.
Additionally, we may have some contradictions between policy and practice. Also,
we learned that the scale of the tool is too narrow and may need to be
broadened to resemble a Likert scale. Finally, we will need to communicate and
educate the college a little more before distributing this tool as several of
the administrators and faculty in the room had minimal knowledge of certain
questions being asked.
This was an
educational setting because we were there to learn about ourselves as a leaning
institution. We have some substantial work to do in closing the communication
gaps within our organization before we can see the full potential of our achievement
gaps interventions.
Part
3: Readings
This
week's reading was from Sutton and Rao, chapter five. I can see where many
of the suggested approaches may be useful within an educational setting.
According to Sutton and Rao, hiring strong talent is not enough (pg. 146). Many
educators leave colleges due to poor professional development and often express
feelings of being under appreciated both existentially and intellectually.
Cultivating that talent and creating a professionally nurturing environment is
critical to moving forward with organizational objectives. Another area of
appreciation was that of guilt-prone leaders. According to the authors,
guilt-prone leaders are more likely to become effective leaders (pg. 159).
These leaders tend to consider the consequences or their actions and the effect
they may have on other people. As a result, these leaders tend to be more
"action-oriented", and when mistakes are made, they take the
necessary precautions to prevent future missteps (pg. 159).
Some
of the private sector examples such as Neflix and their hiring, retention, and
termination approach would not fit in an educational setting, nor should it.
Still, the underlying principles were there: know whom you need working within
your organization, know how to recruit for that need, and know how to retain
them as key stakeholders.
Sutton,
R. I., & Rao, H. (2014). Scaling up excellence: Getting to more
without settling for less. Crown Business.
Part
4: Integrations
My
problem of practice revolves around improving professional development and
employee engagement within my department. When I observe my institution, I see
many positive interventions being created each year to improve the student
experience. However, we have substantial turnover. Of course we have the usual
yearly retirements after many years of dedicated service. We also have those
who are following their career trajectory. However, we have a significant
number of employees who are talented contributors to our organization but leave
after just a few months. Many cite feelings of under appreciation for
intellectual capacity, poor onboarding, and lack of professional development. I
envision creating a more seamless and more comprehensive onboarding process. I
also want to develop a professional development program that leaves our
advisors engaged, empowered, and enthused.
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