cover letter - Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City

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2 required an ability to stay focused on the overall goal: achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency in our structure, and hiring right, so that our students, staff and faculty were positioned for success. Key to the success of this task were the several „listening‟ sessions we held, both to develop guiding principles of the reorganization and to assist in refinements to the plan. I have focused my actions in all my formal leadership roles on providing our students the best learning environment possible, while ensuring that as public institutions, we are effective and efficient stewards of the public trust. That means effective and efficient use of financial and human resources. Throughout my tenure, I have continually assessed individual and program effectiveness and efficiency through transparent processes, and redeployed financial and human resources to match institutional priorities and goals. This cannot be accomplished well without strong interpersonal skills, and a recognition that programs and people must deliver on performance. Interpersonal and communication skills Effectively performing in the role of President requires a skillset that all leadership roles require: strong interpersonal skills, including effective speaking and listening, knowing the various audiences within and outside the college, including their diverse motivations and goals, finding common ground, and negotiating solutions for issues. I have been ranked consistently above expectations in my interpersonal and leadership skills by all my supervisors in my career. An example of my interpersonal skills was my work in North Carolina with faculty and staff to collaboratively create a means through which their performance could be assessed, which can often be quite contentious. Within the first five months of my employment there, through three large task forces, and much listening and learning, we created an effective appraisal system for faculty, staff, and administrators that became ingrained in the campus culture. In addition, we revised the means through which faculty „excellence‟ monies are distributed to match college priorities, and to increase the quality of our distance learning courses, we provided stipends for experienced faculty to mentor their faculty colleagues who were relatively new to the online environment as well as for faculty new to the community college environment. We developed and deployed a “one stop” approach to the delivery of student services, and re-invigorated our program review processes to ensure that our program offerings matched current workforce needs. These examples of implementing college priorities and effectively utilizing financial and human resources could not have been successfully executed without a belief in and respect for other people‟s talents and perspectives, and without a collegial, consultative, open style on my part, focused not on personal agendas, but on identifying common goals which ultimately improve the student learning experience. Another area where interpersonal skills are key are in work with area employers, who are major stakeholders in post-secondary education. In all my roles, I have fostered strong relationships with existing and potential partners. Active involvement in the community, and consistent communication with faculty and students about business and industry needs are critical in adjusting, re-inventing, and adding to the curriculum offerings of a college.
3 My experience in North Carolina exemplifies a strong connection with business and industry. During my tenure there, we established an advanced manufacturing center with direct ties to Bosch-Siemens, who worked with us in establishing a new curriculum to serve their needs, both in advanced manufacturing and in Six Sigma. In addition, we developed and delivered a curriculum in composites manufacturing and repair in concert with Cherry Point, the Marine Corps air station in our service area. Key to both those efforts was initiating and maintaining strong professional relationships with key persons in both these industries, and effectively delivering training that matched their workforce needs. This meant constant professional development of our faculty, and continual assessment of our graduates‟ abilities and success in the workforce from the employers‟ perspective. My most recent experience is with St. Louis with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where we are re-establishing a relationship with their Chief Learning Officer, and delivering both a respiratory therapy and nursing degree for cohorts of their employees. The President as well as key staff must be active, trusted members of community and regional organizations and boards to ensure that the college is known as a „trainer of choice‟ for its stakeholders. Relationships with K-12 and other educational entities, including business and industry, also pay off in the pursuit of grant and other funding opportunities, for which partnership and collaboration is essential. Academic excellence Community colleges are known for their diverse curriculum, including vocational/technical preparation, developmental education, customized training options, and college transfer coursework. Having worked in four community colleges in three states, and having taught doctoral courses on “The Community and Junior College” and “Effective College Teaching,” I possess both an intellectual and practical understanding and appreciation of the range of educational offerings we provide the community, and the range and diversity of the students we serve. Our faculty are challenged with maintaining currency not only in content, but also in instructional design and teaching methodology. Ongoing, strategic professional development for college faculty and staff is key to developing a college‟s capacity in any area, especially in the development of employees‟ ability to learn, think and act in a way that values and respects the diversity of our students in all parts of their learning experience. I strongly believe that learning should occur on both sides of the proverbial podium, which is why I‟ve been a strong supporter of faculty and staff development, and have always advocated for and provided employees access to and support for quality learning experiences. People who teach must learn. In addition to developing an appreciation for diversity, it is also critical that our faculty and staff continue to learn about the scholarship on learning and assessment, and most importantly, develop a capacity and habit of thinking critically about their daily work, whatever their role. There is much to learn about learning, and the college‟s leadership, including thought leaders from faculty and staff and those in formal leadership roles, must insist on practicing what we preach: the value of life-long learning. A commitment to academic excellence is simply not possible without expecting our faculty and staff to engage in learning themselves. In North Carolina, we created a Center for Teaching and Learning for that very purpose, and to focus on staff and professional development, and at Forest Park, we have a fully operational Center to support the notion that it‟s not just students we must teach.
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cover letter - Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City

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