Thanks, Rocco.
In the long run, a school with inteligent hearts will make their numbers. The attitudes needed in an "intelligent heart" school pay off.
In defense of upper management, they may have the intelligent hearts we want them to have. Sometimes we, as faculty members, do not get to see them exhibit those hearts as they go through decision processes imapcting students and staff.
I believe that most of the faculty and staff are committed to student success and they have intelligent hearts which is demonstrated through their persistence in helping students. I believe it is a trickle down impact that not all of our upper-level management team model each and every day. Sometimes the idea of intelligent hearts gets lost in making a bottom line profit.
Sondra,
The 10% need to go if their attitudes cannot be changed. They are probably good people who are on the "wrong bus."
Encouraging folks to leave is never easy, but it is worth it for your students.
Wow...I think there are many things to learn, not just the content of the class. Well deserved praise can be a powerful motivator. Some of the "tools" we provide them are life skills as well as "book" skills. Just my opinion though.....
I feel our faculty and staff is made up of 90% Intelligent Hearts. I am going to work towards 100% by watching out for those who aren't and try to model the traits I'm looking for. May have to get rid of a few people though. (Even with faculty and staff that 10% can be very draining.)
Faculty and supervisors have academic and practical experience credentials; are timely and thorough with communication/information; and embrace academic freedom where faculty have the ability to focus on practical topics or assign various late penalties depending on individual situations by students.
Eric,
What are some specific behaviors that illustrate competence and compassion at your school?
people who are competent and compassionate
Thanks, Earl.
One of the biggest challenges is getting folks to see beyond just their departmental roles and goals. Once all see the big picture, the school will better serve its students.
I believe, for the most part, we have faculty and staff who care about the wellbeing of students. There are some who seem more focused on their job rather than the "big picture". There are some faculty and staff who has the "Intelligent Heaart". They are easily identified based on student's comments and observing them engaged in conversations with students.
A person who possesses an "Intelligent Heart" obtain their drive and energy by giving of themselves. They are people oriented and take on the problem-solver mentality. They are good listeners which is often what students need to get things off their chest. They are focused on the big picture and often maintain a postive outlook reguardless of the situation.
We have a wonderful faculty and staff with intelligent hearts. The warm culture is what the whole student body embraces because the students know they can come to anyone of us for whatever it is they need. When you walk along the hallways, everyone is friendly, students and staff/faculty alike. We look at each student individually and unique in every way. Where they come from and what they are made of (experiences) is accepted when they come with open hearts and minds to make a difference to the world out there.
An individual with an intelligent heart is one that thinks and talks with her/his heart, believes in the power of positivity and that everything great starts with one basic forward step...just believing and doing.
Thanks, Lawrence.
What are some specific behaviors that demonstrate that an instructor has an intelligent heart?
The instructors at our school are of intelligent hearts that go above beyond just help our students stay motivated and focus on there goals.
Our school is 25 years young. Some of the teaching staff has been here since the beginning. We have seen many people from both ends of the organizational chart come and go, the one constant has been the intelligent heart. It has been the majority for a long time and it has a strong presence and the atmosphere is very caring without being childish.
Larry,
I think one of the best ways to address this issue is through insructor orientation. We make sure that our faculty members know that the responsibilities of an instructor are more than just teaching time. Our instructor job descriptions set expectations relative to attending meetings, advising students, participating on committees and preparing teaching materials. The compensation they receive is for a teaching assignment, not for just teaching a class.
At a former employer, we had a similar issue because we did not make it clear what we expected from our teachers. We calsulate the rate we would pay using a formula that was based on qualifications and the contact hours of the class. Somehow, the amount we were paying became an hourly rate and we had some of the same issues you discuss. The revised job description and a better orientation program helped.
That works out very well then for everyone.
I would like to ask you for suggestions that would motivate instructoras to become involved in like manner but under different restrictions. For example, the instructor only gets compensated for teaching time. There is no compensation for prep time nor any other time outside the scheduled call period except for a 2 hour quarterly faculty meeting.
Thanks ahead for you ideas.
The instructors have office hours in which they can complete the phone calls. They are also required to be available 15 min before and after class, so they could make the phone calls during that time. For the 1 on 1 counseling sessions, these are usually done during class, while the rest of the class works on an assignment.
I am curious Sarah and must ask do you pay the instructors extra for their time? in the past I have heard some of our part time instructors ask, " Are you going to pay us?"
I would say, overall, my school has many "Intelligent Hearts." Of course, there are always a few that don't fit in to that category. I think I see the line between (for the most part) the full-time faculty and the part-time faculty. A lot of the part-timers are not as invested in the school or the students. Many of them have other full-time jobs, then they rush here to teach at night. Then they rush out again. I think the students and the other staff members can see/feel the difference. One way that we are trying to fix this is to get the instructors more involved with each student. They are required to contact the student when they are absent, and they also have 1 on 1 counseling sessions twice a quarter to check in with each student. I know that we could be doing more, but this is a start. We have also tried to move to having fewer full-time instructors, then many part-time instructors and this has helped a lot.
My schools culture is the typical career college. One wherein most of the students are adult learners wanting to improve in a career they are in or want to get a career for the first time in their life. A lot of them have jobs, families, and sometimes the greatest obstacle is finding someone to care for their child while they are at school or work for an acceptable rate. Our student body is multicultural and we even have international students sometimes. I think we have a stable "seasoned" group of instructors who are student success oriented or "heart intelligent."
They gladly go the extra mile after class to explain to students that ask and have difficulty.
Sometimes the instructor will solicit a stronger student who may be "getting it" to come to the aide of another. We solict and pay previously succesful student to tutor other who are weak.
I believe that is greatly empowers our students and drives them to success too.
