The Future of Education
Empowering Faculty through Coaching: An Online Quality Assurance Strategy
Kristen Kirkpatrick, Tarrant County College, Connect Campus (United States)
Carlos Morales, Tarrant County College, Connect Campus (United States)
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to highlight a tiered and iterative approach to faculty support within e-Learning. Common professional development practices in higher education- particularly among community colleges with high percentages of adjunct instructors- fail to incorporate professional empowerment. This may cause division between faculty and leadership.
The E-Faculty coaching program described in this text is framed by tenets of collaboration rather than evaluation. Coaches possess extensive education and work experience in three primary areas: online teaching, instructional design, and coaching. They do not currently teach for the institution, although they may adjunct for other institutions. The discipline they are credentialed to teach is not related to the discipline they provide coaching in. Notably, the members of the E-Faculty coaching team do not supervise faculty; this allows the program to remain collaborative.
This model, now in its sixth year, produces constant quantitative and qualitative data to drive decisions and improvement at the online campus. Community Colleges across the United States are expected to demonstrate increasing measures of student success related to enrollment, grades, retention, engagement, persistence, work readiness, etc. It is generally accepted that faculty impact and affect those metrics. Empowering faculty in a non-threatening environment promotes faculty success which in turn promotes student success.
Two notable and research-based shifts- professional development to professional empowerment and evaluation to collaboration- are reflected in the E-Faculty Coaching model. Each student, class, term, semester, and faculty member matters. Restructuring resources and support is key to success for all stakeholders in the online community college environment. An innovative learning modality deserves an innovative assessment program.
Keywords: E-Learning, Quality Assurance, Faculty Support, Coaching, Collaboration, Continuous Improvement
References:
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