Jay Hollowell

One of my friends and colleagues that I respected greatly as I entered the career education field was the late Dr. Neal Fox, founder of the Career Placement Institute. I remember him commenting, “The most qualified applicant doesn’t always get the job.  It’s the one who has done the best self-marketing.”  We, of course, coach our students on how to self-market themselves to potential employers, but what about our own faculty and staff? Do our potential hires effectively sell themselves? And more importantly, do our existing faculty and staffs market themselves and our organizations as professional, committed and mission-driven… >>>

I read some comments the other day about diversity in the workplace. It goes without saying that we manage diverse staffs on our career college campuses and universities. And our faculty also teach a diverse student population. We have always known that a component of diversity is, of course, respect for others' cultures, customs and mores. Yet, it is also so much more.

What is your definition of diversity in the workplace and how can we maximize the value of the wonderful cultural differences among our faculty and staffs?

One of our recent bloggers commented on the importance of learning students' names on the first day of class. It reminded me that even the simplest of techniques utilized by instructors can make such big differences and create lasting impressions with students. Our names in themselves are powerful entities that create identity and recognition. When an instructor learns and uses a student's name in a positive manner, it demonstrates to the student that he or she matters. Names are comprehensive representations of who we are, and a simple effort made to learn and use them adds a personal touch… >>>

As we develop the managers and administrators at our career institutions we continue to focus on the true tenets of leadership.

Here are four such tenets. Though not an exhaustive list, they may serve to put leadership into perspective. First, one must have the dedication and vision to exercise workplace leadership principles in the first place; second, the commitment to stay focused on how vision moves daily operations forward; third, the courage to step up to the plate; and fourth, the accountability to accept the consequences for leadership actions.

Leaders set the pace, provide the support and, sometimes until… >>>

As career college leaders, our time, challenged by so many competing tasks and responsibilities, is a most valuable resource. Much has been written about time management; perhaps effectively managing our time, and our priorities, comes down to asking a few fundamental questions:

•    Which tasks are the most urgent?
•    Which projects that upon timely completion will yield the most significant results?
•    What activities require resources that are not available at the time?
•    Which tasks that if not completed will affect someone else’s work schedule?
•    What are the financial costs associated with delaying a project?

Additionally,… >>>

Several of The Lounge's bloggers who have completed online faculty development courses have mentioned that the experience not only provided new information, but reinforced what they have been doing in the classroom or lab. It reminded me that continuing education is not only about new ideas, but also about self-reflection and reinforcement. To know that we are on the right track with our teaching methods and instructional delivery, and that we share similar best practices with one another as colleagues, is a critical component of real faculty development.