Oracle HCM Cloud
Engaging Both Sides of the Classroom
In a recent ranking of universities, Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education defined student engagement based on student experiences with professors, whether they were pushed to think critically, and whether they would recommend their school to others. According to the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, the five best practices are:14
- Transparency: Students need to know what to expect from their courses, what their professors expect of them, and how they will be assessed.
- Pedagogical approaches: Personalized instruction and active learning are just two pedagogical approaches that have been linked to better student understanding and overall experience.
- Assessment: Students can build upon their knowledge base and check their progress through regular assessments, as opposed to testing their new knowledge and skills once or twice throughout the term.
- Self-regulation: Colleges that require active participation and reflection from their students tend to be more successful and have higher graduation rates.
- Alignment: It’s important for students to see how separate assignments, courses, and experiences can complement each other and contribute to their overall success.
Sadly, though, these best practices are not widely practiced in higher education, according to the institute’s director, Natasha A. Jankowski.15 And Gallup reports that only 34 percent of university faculty and staff are engaged in their jobs.16
of university faculty and staff are engaged in their jobs
A harmful side effect.
With funding challenges abounding over the past decade—and baby boomer faculty retiring later than expected—it’s understandable that contingent workers have grown to over 50 percent of appointments.17,18
Unfortunately, several studies confirm that a growing reliance on part-time faculty negatively affects graduation rates, effective instruction, teacher–student interaction, and transfers from two-year to four-year colleges.19
A bigger shame is that these factors are a growing consideration for donors and other funders.
In their daily work, nontenure-track faculty members, particularly part-time faculty, often encounter a number of challenges stemming from institutional and departmental policies and practices that constrain their efforts. For example: Last-minute hiring and renewals limit the time faculty members have to prepare for teaching.”20
The Delphi Project
With a cloud-based HR system with predictive analytics, a school can create an engagement strategy in which even part-time adjunct professors receive guidance, feedback, and support.21 Beneficial modules include:
- Performance Management: Replace periodic reviews with continuous tracking of progress toward specific missions aligned to your school’s 10-year plan.
- Career Guidance: Use career pathing modules to perpetuate a long-term mindset even for part-time workers with an eye on the door. Use in conjunction with annual faculty reports.
- Learning and Development: Provide on-demand access to professional development courses tied to later opportunities within the institution. Prove value to adjunct faculty, who may be working multiple part-time gigs.
- Rewards and Compensation: Offer incentives for work that increase student access, while ensuring proactive pay increases to keep staff from leaving for competitors or other sectors.
- Succession Planning: Prepare for the transition of key faculty, but proactively manage changing tenure eligibility. Despite longer terms, nearly a third of college and university presidents are likely to retire in the next five years.22
In a recent report, Deloitte outlined the most vital student success factors. HR teams should use the following to drive all talent-management strategies:23
1
Student success should be central to your mission
“Student success should be a core element of institutional strategy at the president and provost level.”
2
Action taken is as important as analysis
“Staff members expected to enable the action phase should be included in the overall architecture planning of any student success initiative.”
3
Know the value and limits of technology
“From the outset, there should be a clear understanding of what the technology can and will do and what will be expected of an institutional staff.”
4
People investments are as important as technology
“A coordinated ecosystem of human touchpoints—academic advising, career counselors, tutors—all play an important role in student success.”
5
Improving student success can coexist with high quality
“Quality and student success are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing, provided there are high standards in place from both an admissions and an academic rigor perspective.”