A productivity primer for higher education administrators

We conduct cabinet meetings on our campus each Monday. Our Chancellor develops the agenda and leads these discussions between our regional academic administrators. Typically these meetings are a simple sharing of information between our team leaders. On occasion we invite college and community leaders to meet with the team to understand important initiatives.

A unique twist is that once a month, the Chancellor asks a cabinet member to provide a professional development activity. The cabinet member does not have to personally conduct the activity. They can farm it out to someone on their team or bring in someone from the community. This month, the task falls to me.

While I have a large number of faculty on our Academic Affairs team that I can ask to lead a session, given that I am new to the cabinet, I felt it appropriate that I take my turn at bat. Folks who know me can probably predict the topic of my presentation (or have read the title of this post). I have this odd obsession. I constantly refine my productivity workflow. I’ve gone through a countless number of tools and processes to find a system that works for me in my given environment.

During my presentation I share some tools to get my fellow administrators thinking about their own productivity workflow. There is not a one-size fits all solution. Everyone has their own specific needs. My presentation provides some simple and advanced tools for consideration. It’s an eclectic mix. You can check out my slides and links to all the tools I mention after the break below.

If you are in the Columbus/Indianapolis area…

…later this month and are looking for a fun way to support the college, consider joining us for an evening of improvisation, comedy and good eats.

The event will be held at “The Commons” and the proceeds go to our foundation who support academic programs, facilities, equipment and more importantly, scholarships for our students.

You can check out the entertainment, ComdeySportz, by visiting their YouTube site. This will provide you with a good indication of the type of “fun that will be had by all.” You will find all the information you need to join us after the click below.

I’ll be there, so be sure to say “hello!”

Community college quality versus cost

Community colleges have several stigmas. One in particular is a sticky-wicket. That being cost. We strive to maintain a low cost for our students. We pride ourselves on being the most affordable college in the state. Then THAT question pops up, “How can a program that costs so little have quality?”

I’ve heard this referred to as the Wal-Mart syndrome. Sure you can go and buy the same product and save a few bucks, but is the entire experience worth the time spent? In our community, we face this question regularly and it is compounded by the fact that we have a university partner next door – literally! We share a campus, parking lot, library and even adjunct faculty; however, if you were to survey our community, most would probably state that the quality (and rigor) of the product next door was greater and of better value.

As the regional academic officer for our campus, I am always taken aback be these claims. I know them to be inaccurate. From my days teaching at a four-year institution, I know my rigor and quality did not change as soon as I hit the community college door. More perplexing is that these comments often come from folks who have no experience with our product, culture or student body. They have a university experience and that is “just better.”

In an effort to get the word out, our Chancellor prepared an op ed piece to better communicate our product and message. You can find it after the click below. I like what he has to say and I bet that when people read the piece they will be surprised by the quality of our programs and students.

After your review, feel free to drop a comment and add your thoughts to the debate.

Enhance Course Materials with iTunes U

Hot on the heels of my Apple TV: “Out of the Living Room and into the Classroom” presentation, I have prepared another entitled, Enhance Course Materials with iTunes U. This presentation was (will be) held on January 10th, 2013 from 12:00 - 1:00PM in Poling Hall, Room 201 on the Ivy Tech Columbus campus.

After the click below, you will find my presentation outline that includes all the links (and a few more) shared during my 45 minute talk. As always, feel free to add comments or ask questions using the comments section at the bottom of this post.

Thanksgiving, community colleges, and changing lives

This is the first Thanksgiving in my new role as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. While reflecting on this yesterday, I decided to send out the following e-mail to all of the faculty within our region:

Faculty, 

Before you head off for the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate everything you do for our students. For some this is a very difficult time of year and this can hold especially true for our students as they struggle their multiple commitments. What often happens though, is that we sometimes forget to recognize those co-workers around us who struggle as well. If you know of someone within your academic area who needs support, I do hope you will reach out to them this holiday season. 

So what am I thankful for? Being a part of this campus and having the opportunity to serve each of you as we strive to change the lives of our students. Thank you for letting me (sic) a part of your team. 

Steven

Generally I struggle when sending out mass email to faculty. I consider whether the message is relevant, beneficial, and/or productive. Once I write a message, I often go over it numerous times as I know that the English faculty are out there picking it apart for grammatical and spelling errors. I come from an industrial background and do not have what I would call, exceptional writing skills, as is evident by my exclusion of word in the last line. On this occasion though, I didn’t want my message to seem contrived, but rather heart felt. I decided to stream of conscious this one and just let it flow.

Feedback from the faculty has been positive, but my absolute favorite of the bunch was from a faculty member who mentioned that they decided to go to a food bank to make a donation after they read my message. When they spent time talking with folks, they found out that several of our students were recipients of these donations. That’s what community college service is all about folks. Changing lives and making a difference. To all of my fellow community college faculty, staff and administrators:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Indiana legislation all faculty should understand

Today our Regional Board of Trustees meet. My name is on the agenda to discuss the changes that will occur within the state with regard to transfer of general education credits among the public institutions. As I read the two pieces of legislation, House Enrolled Act No. 1220 (Credit Creep) and Senate Enrolled Act No. 182 (Common Course Numbering within the Core Transfer Library), the thought struck me that all Indiana higher education faculty (and parents for that matter) should be aware of these initiatives and understand their implications.

The legislation is not difficult to read; however, I need to provide the Executive Summary for the board, so I thought I may as well share my outline for anyone interested. The bullets are more concise and may be a bit more “bottom line up front.” You can check out my summary after hitting the link below:

Apple TV: “Out of the Living Room and into the Classroom”

On Monday, October 22nd, I was the presenter for a local brown-bag at the Columbus Learning Center for the three institutions of higher education on our shared campus: Ivy Tech Community College, IUPUC and Purdue College of Technology. The topic of my presentation is the use of the TV in the Classroom. See, even Vice Chancellors can stay current in the use of instructional technologies!

This post provides the slides used for that presentation as well as the presentation outline. If you have something to add or a comment about the content, please drop in a comment after the post. Check out the entire presentation content after the break below.

Online cohorts: the next big thing?

Higher education is all about trial and error. I can’t tell you how many articles in various higher education publications I’ve read where some college or university has tried some plan to correct some problem.

Well, in an effort to conform to the higher education norms, I have asked the faculty to give something else shot: online cohorts.
My built in Mac OS X dictionary tells me that a cohort is:

1 [ treated as sing. or pl. ] an ancient Roman military unit, comprising six centuries, equal to one tenth of a legion. 

2 [ treated as sing. or pl. ] a group of people banded together or treated as a group: a cohort of civil servants patiently drafting legislation.  

3 often derogatory a supporter or companion.

You can take a look at our plan after hitting the link below:

Got caught, did you?

Take a gander at the article below:

'We Take Your Class' Goes Offline | Inside Higher Ed

In case you are not familiar with the site, they promise, or rather promised, to “take” your online course for you and deliver an A at the end of the semester. All this for the low, low price of…an undisclosed fee. Learn my thoughts on this “endeavor” by hitting the link below.

Ivy Tech awarded “Military Friendly School” title

As a retired military member myself, I am very proud of this award to our regional campus.

Ivy Tech Community College – Columbus/Franklin has been named to the “Military Friendly Schools” list by Victory Media Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned business founded in 2001, which publishes its lists in national and local periodicals. This list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools in the nation that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and to ensure their success on campus. 

“Inclusion on the 2013 list of Military Friendly Schools shows Ivy Tech’s commitment to providing a supportive environment for military students,” said Sean Collins, vice president of Victory Media. “We’re thrilled to provide the military community with transparent, world-class resources to assist in their search for schools,” he said. 

The Military Friendly Schools media and website, found at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com, feature the list, interactive tools, and search functionality to help military students find the best school to suit their unique needs and preferences. 

“We are pleased to be counted among the schools that will be recommended to the military community through Victory Media,” said Pat Vercauteren, Ivy Tech military support coordinator and a veteran, himself. “We do all that we can to help our service members in their academic careers.” 

In October, a full story and detailed list of 2013 Military Friendly Schools will be highlighted in the annual G.I. Jobs Guide to Military Friendly Schools, distributed in print and digital format to hundreds of thousands of active and former military personnel. The Guide and associate media will also be featured at the Carrier Classic college basketball game on November 9 between Ohio State and Marquette on the deck of the USS Yorktown.

Congratulations to our Student Affairs Team!