How would you describe "quality" faculty

Hi Everyone - In much of the research related to criteria for selecting one institution over another (particularly as it relates to management education) students choose "quality faculty" as being important. Unfortunately, the surveys I have seen do not dig deeper into the question of quality so the definition of quality as it relates to faculty is still vague. What I would like to know from anyone willing to share is what criteria/attributes would you expect to see or want in the faculty of a school that would lead you to say the school had quality faculty. I do not want to lead you to a response, hence the reason for a random request rather than a survery.

Thanks for any input you care to share. If I can draw any conclusions from the information I will share, for now I am just looking to this group for their usual insightful comments.

Mary A

 

If I had to say what I thought made a "quality" faculty, I'd have to say that it's a combination of teaching skill, real world experience, relevant publishing, and a genuine desire to see students succeed. You can always find at least one of these attributes in a faculty member, usually two or three, but the combination of all four is a rare gem indeed.

 

Thanks Fortunato - Now, how would you quantify those attributes if you were going to try and create a metric to make hiring decisions? e.g. What would you look for to determine a person has the desire to see a student succeed? Ratings on student surveys, or ? How many publications or would look at placement of those publications?

Thanks!

 

If you talk about ratings Mary, I'd say those ratings should be authentic first off, and statistically balanced to create a level playing field for the candidates.

In addition, I think by publications you mean journal publications. That in my view is no metric of a mentor or even a coach, other than to determine how well someone knows about a subject, can research, and can publish...

For instance, one of my profs at McMaster University was a great researcher, and excellent at publishing research papers. He even got grants worth several million dollars every year for his research. The thing is, he hated teaching, and taught students as if he were taking a burden off of himself. Also, many others teach well until they get their tenure, if you know what I mean.

So, there you have it Mary. If you talk about student ratings, then we need a calibrated system for determining how well someone can teach. And publications only mean to show how much someone knows, but present no metric of how good someone may be able to coach or guide others.

Best regards,
Mahmood

 

IMO, the best teacher is the best guide. If you are being guided to learn then you have quality faculty.

Ach! Pomo babblespeak! IMHO, of course.

Having herm conduct mock sessions might be the best determinant.

 

Ask me something hard, why don't you?

Seriously, not everything can be measured in numbers. That's why most schools have a formal interview process, to find the subjective qualities they are looking for. If anyone had a formula for it, we wouldn't have to deal with bad teachers, and we've all had those.

Sorry I can't be of more help here.

 

Of course I agree with all of the comments. I was just curious, if for example, you were to look at the faculty of an institution as part of your due diligence in selecting a school, what would you want to see? Is there something a school could do to differentiate itself besides simply saying they have quality faculty? For DL schools in particular this is difficult because so many DL schools use a large number of adjunct faculty. IMHO no teacher should be allowed to go live, solo, in an online environment (or any other teaching environment for that matter!) When I was at Aspen I tried hard to ensure that faculty got a chance to see an good, experienced teacher in action before actually teaching a course. It didn't always happen that way, but we didn't have too many bad teachers over the years.

When I hired teachers it wasn't always because they were the smartest or had published the most or even had the best industry experience. They had to be good online - understand the unique needs of online adult students, focus on the learning not the "sound of their voice" Anyone who has been involved in online teaching knows that sometimes, the most entertaining live instructor is not the best online instructor.

So, I appreciate your comments - it validates my own thinking so it must be right

Mary A

 

In my opinion, what you are trying to do is unquantifiable. You could assign numbers to various categories and hire the person who gets the most points. I think often you would be choosing the wrong person. Someone with more teaching experience (measured in years) might end up with more points, while someone who is a better choice, but who has less experience gets shut out.

It sounds like you would like to take what must be a subjective process and make it objective. My hope would be that an interview process in conjunction with the contacting of references would yield better results.

As to the students' role in any of this, it is difficult to use data from student evaluation. There is more than enough information out there that shows student evaluations are based on too many factors (beyond just teaching ability*) to have merit.



Tom Nixon

*Students who did less well often try to punish the teacher regardless of how well the course was taught.

 

Hi Tom - I imagine the reason no one has come up with metrics is because it is too hard to quanitfy and even if you did, as you correctly surmise, you might be unhappy with the results. Isn't there something about being careful for what you wish for. I really was just curious because so often "quality faculty" is on the list of things a student looks for, but when you break it down, everyon's idea of quality is unique!

Hope you are doing well.

Mary A

 

Past tense??? As in you are with Aspen no more??

-Jassen

 

Correct

 

Hi Jassen - I left Aspen in September but still in the business. I also continue to be available to Aspen as needed. The decision to leave was mine and I left on good terms. They are also in very good hands with their new Provost, Dolf Carlson. Where else can you leave a position, recommend a great person to take your place and have that person be hired. Aspen continues to be a great option for many people!

Best,
Mary

 

I think the best teacher is one who loves the subject that is taught and who has made that subject a portion of his/her persona to the extent that teaching becomes a sharing of the better, more nobler, part of him/herself.

Then no half way measures will he/she take to acquire a sufficient academic preparation to teach what is loved. No short cuts. No end runs. No phony schools. If one loves something, then one is willing to give up quite a bit to learn more about it. And what is learned is more precious than the degree that says something was learned.

Then , believing in the importance of his/her discipline to students, that teacher will additionally strive to utilize also the best methods of teaching. The delivery of instruction being permeated by the teacher's love for the subject will be pointed toward affecting , even infecting, the student with that love of learning not just going through the motions of passing on data.

The teacher's goal is to change the student, which, after all, is education, not just to get to a check. If one only wants a check, then be a plumber--they get paid better.Then teaching becomes not just a job but a sharing of oneself.

I know that I am at an advantage over most because I'm on a pension. But I'm beginning to form the opinion that the best teacher is the one who is not only genuinely academically prepared but who moreover loves teaching so much that he/she would be willing to teach--IF he /she could-- even if little or no salary were paid.

 

Hi Bill - I love your response. Thanks for sharing it with me.

Mary A

 

Mary,
Congratulations! I am surprised to hear you are no longer with Aspen but it sounds like you are in a very good place.

Bill,
Your words touch on things of value that are rarely mentioned. Thank you for remembering what is important and describing it so well.

 

Hi Bill - I was going to take a shot at an answer but discovered that you said it better than I would have. Nice.
Jack

 

Thanks, Deb. A lot of people were surprised, myself included, but I am having a wonderful time and haven't had a moment of regret!

Mary