Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dedrick, The SWOT analysis is an interesting approach. So much of an effective interview is dependent on a well written job description. With a good job description, you can construct interview questions that will help to determine whether a candidate is right for your vacant position. Many companies will also do various assessments of the candidates to make certain they have the necessary qualities for the position. We have profiled successful employees against which we measure candidates. They must score a minimum level to be considered. This assessment is looking at various traits including their motivational drive, their management style,… >>>

Linda, So often we are reluctant to part ways with long-term employees for a number of reasons. We hate to lose the history resident in those folks. We feel loyalty to them. They are a known entity. And yet, once we bite the bullet, so to speak, we find the end result is a new, fresh excitement that just didn't exist before or hadn't for a long time. Fresh blood can have that impact with new ideas, new ways of doing things, and so on. It just requires someone to take the initiative to take that first step and the… >>>

Eva, That is so true. Keeping the morale high is always a challenge and there are so many things that contribute to that. In my mind, it is treating faculty and staff with dignity and respect. In a former life, we were having issues with faculty threatening to organize. In response to that effort, I wrote the twelve habits of successful faculty administration. It began with "Treat everyone with dignity and respect." One of our many issues was that administration failed to provide faculty with the tools they needed to teach; e.g. working copier, white board markers, erasers, etc. Faculty… >>>

Patricia, You gave a very thoughtful and thorough response. I agree that there is a critical need for a job description. You cannot hold people accountable for completing tasks and responsibilities if you have not told them in writing what those tasks and responsibilities are. The best way to do that is with a well written job description. I am glad that you recognize the importance of this. My second comment relates to the teaching demo. I have usually done the teaching demo as you do. But as I think about our expectations of our faculty to engage our students,… >>>

Theresa, When you say major career opportunity websites, I assume you are talking about sites like Career Builder. If not, please let me know. Doing your homework on candidates is an important part of the process. You don't want to be surprised once you bring them into your organization. Both formal and informal reference checks needs to be a part of the process, as well. By that I mean using your network to investigate work history. It may be someone who is not on the reference list but may have information or be willing to share information regarding a former… >>>