Are you a cold Chair? I was not pleased to see the snow on one of my favorite chairs today but this got me thinking about Chairs and their faculty. Do you know your faculty or do they know you only as an occasional email message?
I am lucky because I’ve been able to build my EDU program from the ground starting 10 years ago. I had a handful of interested ECE faculty who “volunteered” to try online teaching as an experiment. They knew their content (early childhood deducation) but they didn’t know much about computers, technology in general and teaching/learning online. That’s where I came in, as the technology mentor.
Over the past 10 years I’ve got to pick and choose my faculty, mostly through other faculty recommendations and now I have over 20 dedicated instructors. I’ve made it a point to personally meet each one of them and take them to lunch. I’ve sent Christmas cards with Starbucks cards inside. We talk about our kids and grandkids, our time at the beach, farm or mountains. I feel like I know each instructor and they know me as well.
Can you say that? When was the last time you personally thanked your faculty for their hard work? Do you send reports about what’s going on at CCCOnline, maybe summarizing important information from an A-Team meeting? Do you send emails of encouragement especially now that we’re involved with a new LMS? Have you called any of your faculty or even given them your phone number?
I realize you might have a much larger program than what I have, but come on…defrost that cold chair!
I am lucky because I’ve been able to build my EDU program from the ground starting 10 years ago. I had a handful of interested ECE faculty who “volunteered” to try online teaching as an experiment. They knew their content (early childhood deducation) but they didn’t know much about computers, technology in general and teaching/learning online. That’s where I came in, as the technology mentor.
Over the past 10 years I’ve got to pick and choose my faculty, mostly through other faculty recommendations and now I have over 20 dedicated instructors. I’ve made it a point to personally meet each one of them and take them to lunch. I’ve sent Christmas cards with Starbucks cards inside. We talk about our kids and grandkids, our time at the beach, farm or mountains. I feel like I know each instructor and they know me as well.
Can you say that? When was the last time you personally thanked your faculty for their hard work? Do you send reports about what’s going on at CCCOnline, maybe summarizing important information from an A-Team meeting? Do you send emails of encouragement especially now that we’re involved with a new LMS? Have you called any of your faculty or even given them your phone number?
I realize you might have a much larger program than what I have, but come on…defrost that cold chair!
I never got a card with a Starbucks card... What do I have to do to do that?
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