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Bridging the Faculty-Admin Divide: Strategies for Success
The document discusses the importance of collaboration between faculty and administration in higher education to enhance innovation and meet institutional goals. It outlines key factors for successful partnerships, including compelling direction, supportive context, and shared mindsets, along with examples from the Southcentral PA Education Collaborative. The authors emphasize the need to address differing priorities and foster trust and respect to bridge the faculty-admin divide.
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Bridging the Faculty-Admin Divide: Strategies for Success
- 1. Bridging the Faculty-AdminDivide: Strategies for Success Christina Sax Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Maryland University for Integrative Health csax@muih.edu @cmsax Christine Royce Professor and Chair, Teacher Education Department, Shippensburg University caroyc@ship.edu @caroyce
- 2. Overview • The vitalityof PCO units depends upon collaborative and cooperative relationship of administrators & faculty. • Need to bridge the divide between differentiated sets of values, priorities, and constraints. • Insight into a successful faculty-admin partnership – Critical factors in its development and sustainability – Examples of its spinoff activities – Framework for developing and strengthening such relationships
- 3. Collaboration Produces Innovation Innovationrefers to the introduction of a new idea, method or device or a “change that creates a new dimension of performance.”1 White, S.C. & Glickman, T.S., Innovation in Higher Education: Implications for the Future, New Directions for Higher Education, vol 2007, issue 137, March 15, 2007 Creativity Enterprise Flexibility Adaptation
- 4. Many Pieces ofthe Collaborative Puzzle Faculty Online PD Governance Structure Students Immediate Growth/ Future Needs Internal Course Offerings Administration External Program Offerings ROI/ Sustainability Community Stakeholders Potential stakeholder groups and topics of focus/concern involved in collaborative projects
- 5. Collaboration as ProfessionalDevelopment: Support Structures and Barriers People and Interpersonal Relationships Personal Considerations and Commitments Institutional Structures Intellectual and Psychosocial Characteristics Caffarella, R.S., Zinn, L.F., Professional Development for Faculty: A Conceptual Framework of Barriers and Supports, Innovative Higher Education, vol 23, number 4, Summer, 1999
- 6. Faculty-Administrative Collaboration -Your Experiences? • Successful faculty-admin partnership: What made it successful? • Unsuccessful faculty-admin relationship: What made it go awry?
- 7. Differing Priorities Faculty Priorities •Department/Personal program goals, development & opportunities • Collaboration and networking with “like minded” individuals • Expansion of teaching areas; interests, and financial income Administrator Priorities • Focus on institutional view • Respond to external pressures • Problem solving • Maximize resources • True collaborations • Flexible, open minded
- 8. Frameworks for Bridgingthe Divide A perfect mix of …. • Enabling Conditions • Collaborative Resources • Interpersonal Values
- 9. Enabling Conditions forSuccessful Collaboration 1. Compelling direction • Energizes, orients, and engages • Clear, challenging, consequential purpose 2. Enabling structure • Respect the balance of diverse skills & perspectives 3. Supportive context • Access to information, resources, models, rewards 4. Shared mindset • Commitment to project goals & success, possibly for different reasons Haas, M & Mortensen, M., The Secrets of Great Teamwork, Harvard Business Review, June 2016 Hackman, J. R., Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances, Harvard Business School Press, 2002
- 10. Sharing of CollaborativeResources • Informational – Knowledge, skills, expertise • Social – Awareness, access, position in a network • Personal – Time and energy Cross, R., Rebele, R., Grant, A., Collaborative Overload, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2016
- 11. Interpersonal Values • Trust •Respect • Confidence • Open minded • Ego-less (well, kinda ) • Comfortable with the grey zone
- 12. Southcentral PA EducationCollaborative (SPEC) • Co-formed and led by faculty & admin based on a need • Regional network of PK20 educational institutions – 11 school districts, 2 intermediate units, Shippensburg Univ • Engaged in activities designed to meet the common STEM and technology-enhanced education needs of its students, teachers, and faculty
- 13. SPEC – CompellingDirection • Goals that equally energize, orient, and engage • Overarching Goal – Strengthen university-school district relationships • Why - Faculty Goals – Inform university teacher education curriculum – Develop PK20 professional learning community • Why - Administrator Goals – Develop new enrollment pipelines – Develop new revenue streams
- 14. SPEC – EnablingStructure • Joint leadership that respects the balance of diverse skills & perspectives • Administrator – Organize, coordinate, communications, internal & external PR, information flow to upper administration • Faculty – School districts & leaders, relevant content & activities, follow-up links • Building respect – “Here’s how I can help you achieve your goals”
- 15. Administrative Actions thatFoster Collaborative Learning Supporting group activity and leadership development in order to promote change, learning and achievement. Develop environments committed to professionalization that confront isolation. Help to establish guidelines and incentives that encourage group members to work collaboratively. Mullen, C.A., Hutinger, J.L.., The Principal’s Role in Fostering Collaborative Learning Communities Through Faculty Study Group Development, Theory Into Practice, 47:276-285, 2008
- 16. SPEC – SupportiveContext • Provide mutual access to information, resources, models, rewards • Administrator – Identify resources to support faculty: money, staff, space, information, data, senior leaders • Faculty – Teach administrator: PK12 goals, needs, models, standard reporting & data
- 17. Administrative Roles inCollaborative Learning (Co)-facilitator of groups. Time builder for regular meetings and provider of human and material resources. Mullen, C.A., Hutinger, J.L.., The Principal’s Role in Fostering Collaborative Learning Communities Through Faculty Study Group Development, Theory Into Practice, 47:276-285, 2008
- 18. SPEC – SharedMindset • Mutual commitment to overarching project success, albeit for different reasons • Champions within their own constituencies – Sub-goals can be achieved through overarching project goals • Focus on project success, not individual accomplishments
- 19. SPEC Outcomes • Stronger,ongoing, open dialogue between university and school districts – Feedback on univ teacher education curriculum, ongoing SD needs • Ongoing quarterly meetings • Analysis of the strategic STEM, educational technology, and teacher/faculty development plans of SPEC members • Shared content development; guest speakers • Peer exchange among PK12 teachers & university teacher education faculty • PK12 teacher workshops • PK12 educational technology conference • PA Department of Environmental Protection education grants
- 20. New Program Development •Programs – Initial MAT Science Education & its evolution to MAT STEM Education – Certificate in Online Teaching, Learning, and Technology • Enabling Structure – Respect for shared expertise: content & online design, delivery, administration • Shared Mindset – Shared sacrifice to launch with very low enrollments: low pay for faculty, loss leader for admin
- 21. Pursuit of NationalOpportunity • Opportunity to purse a science education initiative with a national foundation – First need to demonstrate feasibility & impact internally • Compelling Direction (but for different reasons) – National prestige – Grow enrollments – Drive academic innovation • Supportive Context – Faculty & admin collaborate to identify and address concerns and barriers, unique to their skills, perspectives, constituencies
- 22. Finding Collaborators • Don’tsilo yourself – get to know lots of people, from different areas, internally and externally • Notice what people say and do • Watch for collaborative patterns • Be intentional in cultivating collaborators • Mirror and reciprocate what you’re looking for
- 23. Your Collaborators &Projects? • Identify potential partner & new activity ripe for faculty-admin partnership • Identify 1-3 first steps to make this happen • Record this on index card; place index card in envelope; seal & address envelope to yourself • Sax/Royce will mail envelope to you in 1 month as a reminder & checkpoint on your progress PLEASE SHARE YOUR IDEAS NOW!
- 24. Thank You andContact Information! Christina Sax Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Maryland University for Integrative Health csax@muih.edu @cmsax Christine Royce Professor and Chair, Teacher Education Department, Shippensburg University caroyc@ship.edu @caroyce