Managing [online adjunct] faculty at a distance

Dr. Stella Porto Master of Distance Education Graduate School of Management & Technology University of Maryland University College

Focus

This presentation discusses the challenges, opportunities and experience in managing online adjunct faculty.

The approach is one of shedding light on real-world situations and formalizing lessons learned.

Agenda

•  Introduction   Background & context

•  The faculty lifecycle: challenges and approaches   Hiring   Getting ready for online teaching   Living together

  It is all about communication; Resistance; Being the middleman; etc.   Carrots & sticks: Incentives; Professional development; Coaching; etc.

  Saying goodbyes

•  Final remarks

Introduction: Context the MDE partnership

Introduction: Context The program

•  Potential managers of the DE enterprise

•  Entirely online for part-time working adults

•  International •  Collaborative

Faculty Support

Instruction Design & Support

Leaders & Managers

Higher Education

Media & technology

Corporate Training & Learning

Distance Education

The MDE focus on developing managers and leaders in the areas of e-learning & distance education within different settings, including: K-12, higher-education, corporate, non-profits, government and military.

Our mission is our means and our means

is our mission

Introduction: the landscape

•  Managing online adjunct faculty…  Shift from a campus based perspective  Employment ties are loose  Ownership and accountability can be complex and

dubious  Lack of community  Dealing with students at a distance  Difficulty in tailored faculty development provision

The faculty lifecycle

Hiring

Getting ready to teach online

•  Formal training need   Best practices in faculty

training   Course design &

development vs. delivery

•  Mentoring & Advising •  Support

  Academics   Administrative

Getting ready to teach online

•  Setting expectations   Formally & Informally  How do we avoid the

isolation without micromanaging?

 How to be keep consistency without killing creativity?

•  Setting boundaries

Living together: communication

Communicating policies and procedures

✔ Re-enforcing ✔  Being reasonable ✔  “Don’t kill the messenger” ✔  Overseeing and respecting freedom

Living together: communication

Sharing information

✔ Reach out to everyone ✔  Share information about the program and the landscape ✔  Promote collaboration

Living together: communication

One-on-One: telling bad news ✔  The institutional perspective ✔  Teaching evaluations ✔  Issues of compliance ✔  Finding the core of the problem ✔  Coaching PhDs? ✔  When things are simply not working…

Living together: communication

Dealing with difficult students ✔  Policies and procedures in practice ✔  Taking sides ✔  Being the middleman

Living together: communication

Reflecting and building community:

✔  Sharing experiences ✔  Building partnerships ✔  Enhancing the program

(Social media for support in the MDE: The MDE Faculty Forum)

The MDE Faculty-forum  Management effectiveness  Privacy, listserv mode, discussion board, simple and not-invasive

Living together: professional development

✔  Community of practice ✔  Training ✔  Scholarly activities ✔  Institutional perspective and beyond

Living together: inclusion, ownership & belonging

✔  Course, program and materials ✔  Ownership vs. belonging ✔  Ownership & decision-making ✔  The big picture & the local view

Living together: assessment

✔  Course, program and materials ✔  Student surveys ✔  Peer visits

Living together: technology

✔  Resistance ✔  Training ✔  Needs and fads ✔  Mission & means

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE wiki

The MDE wiki on new technologies   Knowledge-base   Information sharing   Meta-learning

Living together: saying goodbyes

✔  Inapt for online teaching ✔  Issues with pay ✔  Excessive work ✔  Life happens ✔  institutional issues

Learning lessons…

  Resumes can sometimes fool you   The importance of the online people skills   Contributing beyond the classroom   Balancing ownership with independent decision-making

Learning lessons…

  Social media can provide enormous programmatic support   Learn to stand in the adjuncts’ shoes   The shoes may vary A LOT though   Accept being the middleman and learn how to do it well

Thank you!

Questions?

Contact: sporto@umuc.edu