Brown Bag #1
March 11, 2004 @ 11:15 a.m.
Southeastern Campus – Industry Room

In attendance: Jackie Addington, Bernice Ayer, Steve Bailes, Kevin Beardmore, Barbara Bradley, Nick Brake, Mary Ann Bratton, Lantana Bray, Janice Carter, Malissa Dover, Renee Durand, Stacy Edds-Ellis, Michelle Edwards, Kay Evans, Denise Goodman, Bernie Hale, Buddy Hoskinson, Carla King, Mary Kinney, Greg Labyak, Sherry Lee, Linda Main, Jelaine McCamish, Phyllis McNeil, Larry Miller, Cindy Murphy, Connie Porter, Ken Raley, Martha Roach, Craig Sloan, Angela Smith, Carol Snyder, Sandy Thompson, Chris Vaught, Angila White

Kevin: Welcome and thank you.

Dr. Addington: Fully consolidated, entering a new strategic plan, leadership team read these and talked about them at last summer’s retreat. Her question: everyone is a teacher to these students—what kind of learning do we value? Learning—we are about learning.

Nick: An IE planning team (Nick and Kevin) – Accreditation looming in 2005. Visit in Fall 2005. What is a little different this time? QEP—a new component. Required to submit a plan, engaging the academic as well as staff and students, create a plan to improve student learning. Find a topic broad enough but focused enough that will deal with all students in the institution. Encourage all to speak—respect what everyone has to say—try to understand what others are saying. Going around the table, identifying one idea or thought that struck you in the reading of the articles.

Go round:
They listen and they hear.
Training faculty and staff – essential to technical faculty
Change opportunities – using our employees and tapping into the resources we have
Nurture and empower people around them
They can talk with anyone
Community college faculty members have struggled to teach the underprepared students—will be seeing more better prepared and more less prepared
Involving all stakeholders – all campuses coming together
Redesigning and personalizing student support purposes – flow of student
Place learning first in every policy, program, and practice
Nurture and empower people around them
Liberal arts degree – employers don’t recognize the benefits of liberal arts education
Preparing our students for specific workforce positions and being lifelong learners
How do we apply some of these things to programs and courses
Can we make this change?
Professional development for staff and faculty
They can talk with anyone
Helping students become successful
Create a climate for learning
Connectedness – only connect – gaining the power and the wisdom, the generosity and the freedom to connect
How to get things done in the world
Emphasizing connected and lifelong learning – and the 10 connect ideas – apply to all students, whether a couple classes for a certificate or working on Associates on way to Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate
Lifelong learning and learn constantly – need team players, problem-solving—need time in lab still, though, to gain technical skills
Services to students that are web-based, faculty and staff web pages.
In times of change, must serve three meals a day while the kitchen is being remodeled
Only connect—getting hung up on lists. Lists of classes, courses, getting beyond that
Is our accreditation body and system office to provide us the flexibility needed to provide to our stakeholders now—not what they were ten years ago?
Lifelong learning – those that continue to measure learning in abstract and disconnected ways will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage.
In order to meet demand need one new institution each week needed to be created to keep up.
Exercising our freedom to make a difference in the world
Life long learning

Nick: Lists of things that students need to know? What kind of learning do we value? What is the final product that we are looking for?

Want them to learn how to learn and how to think
Need to be adaptable, need to learn how to learn, need to be the shape and employer needs
Flexibility
Work skills
Need to be technologically advanced, but if they can’t work with fellow employees, then we have failed
Need to keep on learning and changing and growing—the diploma doesn’t mean that learning is over
Learning begins when they are working with others
Technical college has given up 50% of contact time with students—need to focus on what they REALLY need to know—they still need to learn how to learn on the job
Locate and access information to keep up to date – students need to be able to do this
Employers say we want you to be a PhD but pay you minimum wage
What do we teach them so as things change, they know how to learn those new things
Teach them the basics
Have such a diverse population – but students that have been in the workplace already know things that the never worked before student doesn’t know
Have a lot of resources between the three campuses that can help students
Nick: Summarize: students need to be more well-rounded.

Today, we need more well-rounded person in the workplace – and have motivation to seek more and go further – need to open their eyes to the opportunities
Nick: How do we know when a student receives a credential through the college that the student has what they need?

Follow-ups with employers
Shouldn’t we know before they go out?
Attitudes when they are getting paid for it change considerably—students change
College they go to tells you about them
Follow ups with employers done—more from technical students on tech college side historically—but do we use it
Nick: The intangible stuff that Steve mentioned, how do we know if they can do all these things?

Transfer—how well they are doing at other colleges one of those measures
Quality of life in our communities is another measure of the intangible stuff – watch the paper and see more students involved—don’t know how to put it on paper
But economy drives quality of life – students may have to relocate to get a job
Culturally this area still rural enough that many students don’t want to leave
Increase in students that aren’t as well prepared – need resources in place to nurture them
Locating information, teamwork, WorkKeys is one measure of these things to bring workplace scenarios into the curriculum
How do we know if they have what they need? K-12 hit with assessment, it is coming to higher ed, need to be able to say and show value-added – this is what they learned from us
Just because a student graduates HS doesn’t mean that they are college ready – hard thing for students and parents to understand. In the same way, just because we give the grade, is that all they need?
Nick: Want to address Dr. Addington’s question directly—what kind of learning do we value?

We know by investing time – they need to learn from us “I don’t talk to you much in class, hope you can communicate with your employer.”
We need to be this
Learning that I value is the learning – I help the student decide if they want to do what they are majoring in, help them reach their goals, help them be adaptable.
How do you know what their goals are?
Much of it is assumed—but you talk to them
Benefits from tech college side—advise students who are enrolled in our classes, big advantage over those teaching psych, English, etc.
Because we do advise our students, fill out the academic plan with them, we get to talk with them about their goals, tell them they need to start planning now, find our what their goals are. It is our job to motivate them and help them open doors. Comes through communication.
Nick: Said we would keep this to an hour—final words and thoughts

As far as deciding if students have learned—we have competency based education in those technical skills
Nick: Beg the greater question of well-roundedness, although difficult to measure it

If we live it every day and model what they need to do. If they see it they model it.
Can’t teach anyone to have a certain attitude, but you can change your own. People catch character—it is contagious
Can build a longer term relationship on tech college side – and even on community college side, like Chris Dayman and art
That is why staff are so important
At WKU 30 years ago, we didn’t feel like we could go talk with teachers, we try to encourage this here
Nick: Thank you for coming, thank you for your contributions! Have an IE committee that is beginning to tackle the big issues of SACS, let us know—feel connected.