Gary,
Thanks for this post. One of the more successful career colleges requires that each new faculty member be observed in a classroon or lab environment at least once during the first three weeks of his or her first term and again at least once later in the term.
Another college uses peer reviewers. They require new faculty members to sit in on classes taught by more experienced faculty members, then have the experienced faculty members sit in on the rookie's class. The peer review process tends to be less threatening to new folk than when an administrator sits in.
I recommend a combination of both techniques.
When a student misses class they get phone calls from their Instructor, the Registrar, the admissions rep and sometimes the Campus President.
We make a point of recognizing students publicly for perfect attendance and high honors.
The admissions reps do walk-throughs each week to say hello to current students as well.
Sometimes the education managers will sit in on different classes to observe how instructors are maintaining the attention of the students and also discuss different strategies and methods of keeping the class interesting.
Deborah,
You are right on point here. What gets measured gots done is an old, but accurate, philosophy of management. If we spend time in our faculty members' classrooms and share strengths as well as strategies to make them more effective, we are doing a great service on behalf of both the students and our instructors.
One way to manage faculty attention to students is through classroom observation -- online and in the classroom -- as well as reward and recognize outstanding faculty for their additional efforts.
