Education Commons^™

Assessment Basics: How To Implement An Effective Student Learning Assessment Process, Frederick Burrack

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Assessment Basics is a workshop focused on understanding the purpose behind student learning assessment, strategies to guide curricular integration, and techniques to use data for program improvement. Participants will be involved in leadership techniques to transfer into their own context.

Using Canvas Lms Learning Outcomes Assessment And Program Improvement, Frederick Burrack

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This session will provide a step-by-step process of creating program outcomes in Canvas. These outcomes are aligned with assessment tasks through the scoring devices used in courses, internships, or other course-based means through which students demonstrate outcomes proficiencies.

Program Assessment – Implementing A Cycle Of Continuous Improvement, Terri Gaeddert

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenter and participants will discuss challenges of assessment processes and best practices available to assessment coordinators, department chairs, and administrators to support a culture of assessment for continuous improvement. The presenter will share how adjusting the timeline of assessment reporting provided for increased data collection and more meaningful discussion and reflection on data trends.

Optimizing Course Offerings In A Science Department, Yu Kay Law

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

We will discuss how enrollment data and faculty/advisor input can be used to maximize schedule efficiency in course offerings and providing for student success. We will also discuss how best to monitor and rearrange course schedules in light of actual enrollment.

Supporting Faculty, Staff, And Student-Parents Though Cognitive, Emotional, And Behavioral Engagement, Beth Kania-Gosche, Kathryn Northcut

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters will describe intentionally developed supports for faculty, staff, and students with children, an aspect of diversity and inclusion often overlooked. Participants will see specific examples of ongoing initiatives, along with a theory of engagement that articulates cognitive, behavioral, and emotional/personal aspects.

Equity, Inclusion, And Faculty Hiring Committees, Jill Channing

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Issues of explicit and implicit bias pervade hiring processes for faculty members. This session focuses on creating equitable and inclusive faculty hiring processes and practices. Practices include defining and recognizing bias, adhering to university policies, and addressing equity during committee deliberations and decision-making processes.

Embracing The Change: Personal Experience In Academic Unit Transformation, Hazem Said

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This presentation will cover personal experience and case study on how academic unit heads can embrace change, build an identity for their unit, and lead their faculty and staff in transforming their unit from obscurity to prominence while under budget constraints and limited authority.

The session will draw from personal experience establishing an academic unit and transforming it from a small unknown teaching unit to one of the largest teaching and research units on the campus of a research one university. Over ten years, the grassroots transformation included the hiring of 24 new faculty and 20 new staff and sustaining …

Piaac’S Role In Global Food Security: Evidence From Machine Learning-Based Feature Selection Across Three Major Food Security Indicators, Sneha Roy, Jeffrey Zacharakis

Adult Education Research Conference

The PIAAC country dataset for 36 countries is explored to understand its role in global food security, adding to its significance in sustainable development goal four, zero hunger.

Leadership For Sustainability: A Case Study Of A University Research Center, Christiana Horn, Junghwan Kim

Adult Education Research Conference

Research centers provide benefits to an institution, but they struggle with funding. This paper presents how leaders and boards guide a university research center for sustainable organizational development.

Building A Community Of Practice Among Online Edd Students, Linda Lopez-George

Adult Education Research Conference

To address feelings of isolation among online doctoral students an action research paradigm explored a virtual community of practice with computer-mediated communication tools integrated in the mixed methods study.

Adult Education (And Educators) And The Mental Health Crisis, Cheryl Zelle

Adult Education Research Conference

The field of adult education needs to engage in deep reflection and discourse about adult educators’ role in responding to the mental health crisis in higher education.

Creating A Healthy Rural Ecosystem For Community Vitality: Developing Rural Community Business Research, Karalyn Kutzer, Dr. Emily Newell

Thinking Matters Symposium

The objective of this project is to create a model of and mechanism for statewide, systematic data collection to support workforce development pathways for P-20 students in rural Maine to ensure the long-term vitality and success of these communities. Businesses, as sites of financial and social capital development, can be more thoughtfully calibrated to local workforce needs in these communities. However, data is not currently made available to businesses and community leaders that would allow them to make thoughtful decisions about how to use community resources and time in order to create these partnerships. Businesses and economic growth in rural …

Building Partnerships Between Academic Departments And International Affairs, Butler Cain

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Department chairs and other campus leaders who have an interest in promoting global awareness in their academic programs should partner with their university’s Office of International Affairs. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant upheaval in international education, so now is an opportune time to begin building strong relationships.

What Is Knowledge Management And How It Benefits Your Department, Kris Helge

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenter and participants will define knowledge management (KM). They will also discuss emerging strategies and best practices regarding KM that benefit an academic department, and examine how effective KM systems help traverse unpredictable challenges such as COVID-19. Additionally, they scrutinize how to preserve, pass along, and securely store vital data, information, and knowledge; and how KM prevents information silos, and information loss.

The Impact Covid-19 Is Having On Freedom Of Speech And Expression On Campuses: From Issues To Solutions, Renee Marine

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

At a time of complete uncertainty, one thing remains consistent, the right the American people to freedom of speech and expression. What comes into question, is the cost of expressing that freedom. As stated in the First Amendment (1789):

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for the redress of grievances. (p. 1)

Right now, while millions of people are fighting for their lives, hundreds of thousands …

Leadership Lessons From Navigating Covid-19, Christopher Hirschler Phd

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Chairs played a key role in navigating important university decisions and communication during COVID-19, a hypersensitive time when mortality salience was elevated. We will explore leadership styles, view brief excerpts of videos that were created to celebrate degree completion and improve retention. Participants will distill “lessons learned” from a challenging year.

Best Practices For Faculty Searches, Jeff Buller

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Hiring the right faculty members is one of the most important decisions a department chair can make. But most chairs merely conduct searches the way people at their institutions always have. There are, however, best practices in faculty searches that can save time and other resources as well as increase the likelihood that the right candidate will be selected.

Shared Governance And It's Role In Higher Education, Robert E. Cipriano Dr.

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

For approximately the past seventy-five years, shared governance has been the overriding principle that guides decision-making in American Colleges and universities. The core notion of shared governance is that both faculty and administrators have important roles to play in setting university policy. Recently, has shared governance merely become a catchphrase that has radically different meanings to different people? This interactive workshop will provide attendees with the tools to fully understand the roles and responsibilities that both faculty and administrators must play to foster a shared governance on their campus.

Managing Time And Stress During A Pandemic, Christian K. Hansen

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In this workshop we discuss time and stress management specifically from the perspective of an academic department chair leading an academic department through a pandemic. The focus will be on practical strategies for effective use of time, not only at a personal level, but also at a department wide level, when there are limited opportunities to interact on a daily basis. In this live virtual workshop, participants will have the opportunity to engage in small group discussions via Zoom breakout rooms.

Navigating Leadership In Academia Through A Crisis, Domenick J. Pinto

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Academic leadership is a fast-paced ever changing entity. When you add an unexpected global pandemic to the mix, it changes academic life beyond anyone's wildest dreams. In this workshop I hope to share how I and my colleagues handled the pandemic and invite the participants to share their experiences. Let's learn from one another!

Upstairs/Downstairs: Moving Up And Down Through Leadership Roles, Markus Pomper, Margaret Thomas Evans

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenters will discuss the challenges they encountered moving up from department chair into the role of dean and associate dean, and the back down into the role of a chair. We will engage participants through interactive discussion in several case studies.

Managing Uncertainty Through Values-Centric Leadership, Kimberly Miloch, Chris Ray, Abigail Tilton

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Crises force leaders to think in the short-term to address immediate needs. In navigating emergencies like COVID-19, it is vital that leaders remain values-focused, especially when considering short-term solutions that inevitably have long-term impact. This presentation examines values-centric leadership in the context of crisis communication, budget reductions, and strategic planning.

What Do I Do Now?: Tackling Higher Education Adaptive Leadership Challenges, Jill Channing

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenter and participants will discuss current trends, policy issues, and adaptive challenges influencing higher education institutions. Through discussions of research and case scenarios, participants will analyze adaptive leadership strategies and best practices for chairs to develop departmental cultures that are responsive to adaptive challenges.

Faculty Reopening Committee: A Study Of Chair And Faculty Collaboration, Jeffrey Ward

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenter will share experiences with a self-selected group of volunteer faculty to form a Reopening Committee, offering conclusions not only about the committee but also about also how it more broadly illustrates principles of faculty governance and collegial relationships among faculty and between the faculty and the department head.

Leading Through Crisis And Covid; It’S Not What You Think, Christopher Jochum

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This interactive workshop will use the acronyms CRISIS and COVID to help participants identify and refine their leadership styles and departmental culture during times of crisis. Participants will learn how to apply the CRISIS and COVID models with their respective departments to better identify their mission and develop growth initiatives.

Start With Trust: Shifting From Pandemic-Centered To Person-Centered Leadership, Jerod Quinn, Tammy Mccoy, Traci Stromie

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

How policies and procedures regarding online learning, faculty coaching, and institutional policy around COVID (and post-COVID) can create more equitable support across the university.

Faculty Reopening Committee: A Study Of Chair And Faculty Collaboration, Jeffrey Ward

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenter will share experiences with a self-selected group of volunteer faculty to form a Reopening Committee, offering conclusions not only about the committee but also about also how it more broadly illustrates principles of faculty governance and collegial relationships among faculty and between the faculty and the department head.

Leveraging What Online Offers In Evaluating Courses And Instructors, Stephen F. Pyle, David A. Line

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

At most institutions of higher education COVID-19 forced the delivery of courses on-line. This has required department chairs to re-think traditional, on-ground, faculty evaluative strategies. This session explores the benefits of applying readily available, on-line course methodologies and metrics to enhance chair support and evaluation of departmental faculty teaching efforts.

Best Practices In Faculty Evaluation, Jeff Buller

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Evaluating faculty members is one of a department chairs least favorite and yet most important tasks. Faculty evaluations can be time-consuming, anxiety-producing (for Bothe the chair and the faculty member), and extremely limited in their impact. But they don't have to be. There are practices that chairs can adopt to make the entire faculty evaluation process, if not easy, at least easier and more effective.

Lessons Learned: Curriculum Map As An Assessment Tool, Paul Antonellis

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

During this session, participants will learn about the steps taken to use curriculum mapping as an assessment tool, what worked well, challenges encountered, and recommendations going forward at the graduate and undergraduate level. The program will demonstrate how the program curriculum map can be linked to the general educational outcomes and aligned with intuition outcomes (Banta, 2014; Hundley & Kahn, 2019). Curriculum mapping will reveal program strengths and weaknesses before beginning the assessment process, avoiding costly mistakes in the assessment process. The mapping process will assist in determining which outcomes are assessed, when the outcome is assessed, and in which …