To create a student-centric environment, faculty buy-in is an absolute must. Their active participation bridges the gap between classroom learning and essential skills development, ensuring students are prepared for both academic success and future careers. In this interview, Tim Harding discusses how to transition to a student-centric model and the work the institution must undertake to get there.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): How do you define faculty buy-in, and why is it critical for successfully transitioning to a student-centric model?
Tim Harding (TH): We need to look at a student’s collegiate experience holistically. It’s both curricular and cocurricular in nature, so we need to recognize that learning happens inside and outside the classroom. With that perspective, our Spartan Ready competency development initiative is an institution-wide imperative that leads us to focus on student learning in all that we do.
Now, not all faculty members will be collaborators who are all in on the initiative. I would suggest that faculty engagement is more of a continuum, going from support or awareness all the way up to engaged partner. Faculty may participate anywhere along that continuum. In my experience, more faculty are interested in being engaged in the whole student’s development, not simply around their particular academic discipline or the content they’re delivering in their classes, as important as they are. They also see the importance of developing students holistically, which includes competencies.
We want to ensure students can extract the valuable skills they learn and articulate and apply their competencies, not only in internships, graduate school and employment interviews but to academic success in their degree pursuit. Part of my job as a student affairs professional focuses on helping faculty understand the bridge between classwork and cocurricular work focusing on student learning. That’s where that sweet spot is—helping make that connection and developing it further.
Evo: What are some common challenges to getting faculty buy-in to move toward a more innovative student-centric model?
TH: Faculty will often say there is a lot on their plate, and there is. Many have heavy course loads and take on additional research or services for the institution on top of teaching. The greatest challenge, to me, is helping faculty understand that we’re not really asking them to do more. We’re asking them to approach the learning occurring in their classrooms differently and to think about the pedagogy so they’re also helping students make connections to skills development through learning.
Our Spartan Ready competencies are aligned with the National Association of Colleges and Employers career competencies, in addition to some others we’ve added in. When I share these competencies with faculty, I ask, “How might you be contributing to this competency development already?” Nine times out of ten, faculty members say their students are learning the competencies by taking their class. The problem is the students don’t know they are. We have to help them make the connections to the skills they use to learn and their transferability to other uses.
The other challenge is language. What language we may use in a career center, for example, around a student’s experience may not be the same language faculty use. It’s incumbent upon us to figure out a crosswalk between academic language and that of the world of work and find commonality.
Evo: What are some best practices to overcome these obstacles to move the institution toward a more student-centric model?
TH: It’s important to find influential faculty—and that does not always mean positional leaders. They are faculty who have a well-respected voice on campus. These faculty become important and outspoken advocates for the work we do around student learning and competency development. In this, faculty members become advocates who build the importance of this student-centricity into trainings and teaching.
We are fortunate to be a part of the new faculty orientation each year. We’re able to introduce the competencies and connect with resources to start infusing competency development into learning outcomes for their classes. For many new faculty, the competency-related learning outcomes resonate with them quickly.
Another best practice is finding faculty ambassadors who speak the language of peers and share the importance of including competency development in their learning outcomes. Often, these faculty can share practical ways in which they include competency development in their class outcomes without adding a lot of extra work.
Evo: How has faculty involvement influenced student outcomes like engagement and retention?
TH: Some faculty members have been able to infuse competency-related learning outcomes into core courses and the typical 101 and gen ed courses, which results in better student understanding of and a connection to the material. While the relevance of some course content may be less obvious to a student, it is impactful for students to understand that how they are learning can help them achieve academic success in other courses and articulate marketable skills for the workplace. If students feel more connected to learning, then they will engage with it much more, which can easily translate into higher retention rates.
An initiative like this one requires an institution-wide culture shift to reach the greatest number of students. Each student has a unique collegiate journey with multiple and different touchpoints along the way. If each of these touchpoints maps some of their learning outcomes to competency development, the institution is more likely to achieve core competency development that transcends academic majors while maintaining the integrity of each academic discipline.
Evo: What advice do you have for higher ed leaders looking at a more innovative model?
TH: The dream would be that everyone gets onboard, but that’s not the reality. It’s not one-size-fits-all, which means investment in time and energy to help faculty learn how to infuse competency development with little work on their part because it’s important for the students.
We do have to give space to those who are skeptical and may not support the initiative. There are many who do, so we need to empower them in this work. We can keep patiently and respectfully working with the naysayers but recognize that they may always be less comfortable with this approach. So, on the continuum, they may engage on more than the awareness level.
Competency development is about career readiness, but it is much more broadly about student success. These core competencies may help students become better scholars and more responsible citizens while experiencing social mobility.
You Might Also Like
