Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

If you have worked in education long enough, you will quickly learn that educators are full of flaws. ·          The industry is highly indiscreet, despite FERPA (FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS PRIVACY ACT) ·          People often work in silos without collaboration ·          We do not admit when we are wrong soon enough ·          ETC Do not get me wrong, I love my industry and our hearts are in the right place, but real change is really scary for most, and often we do not embrace the change until it is forced upon us. Issues with accreditation did not just happen overnight, this had to have taken years to build up. Accounting and solvency issues did not just suddenly appear, mistakes are going to happen when people get promoted into positions that does not necessarily suit them. Online technology has been grow...

This is a real message sent out to employees in regards to a holiday party: “Please RSVP by COB Friday, December 9th. Holiday Party RSVP The Coleman University Holiday Party will take place on Friday, December 16th in Hopper Hall from 6-10pm. The event will include games, raffles, and a dance floor. The cost to attend is $5 per employee and you can bring one guest at no cost. Please pay at the front desk and RSVP by COB Friday, December 9th . We ask employees to provide a dessert item, employees bringing dessert will get one raffle ticket (only one).” Never mind the grammar issues in the message, never mind the acronyms that are not necessarily clear: you are charging your hardworking employees for a Christmas party! If money is an issue, perhaps just have a potluck, or maybe no party at all? The little things are what matter, it is the little things that get noticed, and these little things...

As employer and as a leader, you are going to get negative emails from employees from time to time because life happens. How you respond to those emails can be the difference between solving a problem and creating new one. By the way, not responding at all is a negative way of responding because every person wants to know that their point has been heard. Try and see the issue from the point of view of the employee, if you cannot, ask questions, and ask the employee what they would like to see happen. You might be able to fulfill their wish, but maybe all they wanted to do was vent; venting can be cathartic for people. There are too many people in authority who feel they must defend and counter every argument, rather than listen, understand, and try and help a person get through the issue. Leadership often means you must put the needs of your employees ahead of your own ego. So before you hit that delete button, before you decide to ignore that person, ask you...

Not an easy question to answer and many institutions are trying to answer this. Emory University : “Casually ask faculty members at Emory how they define faculty governance, and two themes emerge. First, most seem to focus on faculty governance at the departmental or the school/college level, in which their appointment is housed. Second, they view faculty governance as a mechanism to oversee the curriculum and guide decisions about the promotion, and if applicable, tenure of a colleague. From our perspective, the need for engaged faculty governance at the university level deserves at least as much consideration, though. Such attention is especially essential during this era of the rapidly shifting landscape in higher education”  http://www.emory.edu/ACAD_EXCHANGE/issues/2014/Spring/stories/sterkwagner/index.html NEA: Faculty Governance in Higher Education: “ Faculty members in higher education should have primary responsibility to: 1.    ...

Whatever political party you belong to, whichever label you put on yourself, all sensible people know that our criminal justice system is far from perfect. We have left the “correctional and rehabilitation” parts out and focused on the “punishment” thereby creating issues that should not exist. The system changes with the political winds (should not happen), and industries whose CEOs names we do not know, are making huge profits from it. Inflated phone calls for prisoners, expensive commissaries, prison labor, the bail bond system, debtors prison (still exists just not called that), fining communities into poverty for minor offenses, etc. Private prisons can only make a profit if there are prisoners, and we have seen judges go to jail recently for jailing kids and adults for a healthy kick-back. We have police officers, through no fault of their own, that are inadequately trained to handle a lot of situations and there is no training in sight. We have communities tha...

For the last 16 years, I have watched a steady decline in political discourse, and have seen an increase in political fighting and trolling; especially with the rise of social media. The vitriol is currently at an all-time high, and it is so bad that nobody’s message is getting through; and I mean the real message. Let me also so say that this is not a political message, I am not connected to any political party. I do not believe in labels and I do not fit into any category specifically. In 2000, when George W Bush was elected President, there were several people who I knew running around shouting, “he is going to be the anti-Christ”, there was crying, anger, etc. During one particular tirade I remember, when I routinely declined to let people know who I voted for (I got accused of all kinds of stuff because I was not agreeing with these folks), I asked a simple question: “what specifically are your issues with him”? Note the word specific… Fast forward to the electio...

The election is over, the people have spoken, time to get back normality. However, what is normality? Technology has allowed voices and messages to be heard faster and broader than before; often in an anonymous way, but these voices have always been there, that is not new.  This anonymity is creating an atmosphere of uncivil behavior, and since that door has been opened, it is not going to close. What has changed is the strong and polarizing divisions in this country, and around the world. Look at Philippines, Britain and Europe in general; the cracks are there and growing. Look at the solid political and cultural divisions between states. Are we all aware that the conditions that exist right now (and that are developing) are similar to the way world wars have started? No, I am not saying we are going to war, I am just saying the conditions in which large wars start are here with us right now. There are already many battles going on around the world and this c...

My hope is simple. It is not partisan; it does not involve any labels or slogans such as conservative and liberal. My hope is for understanding as we move forward. Unless you understand something or someone. It is human nature to look at things and people suspiciously. Suspicion, leads to fear, that leads to hate (sounds like Star Wars but it is true), and that eventually leads to destruction. You might not see what I am seeing, you might not agree, however, America does have an important choice to make tomorrow, and that is whether we truly believe in an America for all or divided America. It is ok to listen to each other, to try and understand each other.   Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

I love science fiction books, they take you away from reality for a while, and they can also fan the flames of your imagination. Sometimes though, science fiction books can be omens of the future. I was recently reading a book by a well-known author written a decade ago that started getting me thinking about what is going on around me. FYI, no this is not a political article, it is simply an educated observation of the state of what is going on around us. The country is divided, it is divided by ideals, legal system, it is divided by politics, and it is important to understand that these divisions are not divisions of extremes. These divisions are and have been the norm for a little while, we have just reached a tipping point, we have reached a point where we are noticing. It is important that we understand that these feelings did not all of a sudden manifest themselves, these feelings have been building up for decades, these feelings are a part of the fabric of this ...

The days of pounding pavement, going to an office and filling out an application are done, for better or worse electronic applications are the norm. There is a certain convenience to them obviously, especially not having to decipher peoples’ handwriting, and being able to electronically store applications. However, it is my belief that a little of the humanity has gone out of the job search, which in term causes great frustration for applicants.  Here are some of the issues I have identified: ·          Applications are being pre-screened by computers, and while there are many so-called experts out there who are willing to give you advice on how to “write a winning resume” (for a nominal fee of course), there are no guarantees that good and qualified candidates resumes are ever going to be seen by the decision makes. The “blackhole” effect, can cause qualified people to stop looking for jobs. ·     ...

YogawithKristin: Teaching Yoga & Meditation to Kids in School : I recently came across an article about a school in Baltimore that uses meditation and yoga instead of detention for kids who were str...

The Biggest Crisis in Higher Ed Isn't Student Debt, It's Students Who Don't Graduate Michael Crow Follow Michael Crow President at Arizona State University There is a lot of talk these days about student debt and the challenges that families face managing this burden. Rightfully so, particularly at a time when too many families are struggling with flat wages and rising costs. But the discussion of a debt crisis often fails to address what I would argue is the greater crisis: the fact that more than half of those who start college fail to finish. Think about it: Tens of millions of people in the US are saddled with student debt and have no degree to help pay it off. They won’t get the substantial return on their investment—graduates with a bachelor’s degree earn about $1 million more in additional income over their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma—and they typically have not developed the adaptive learning skills that will help them prosper...

Can you answer a strong yes to these questions? ·          Do you have a robust and supportive onboarding process for your part-time faculty? ·          Does your part-time faculty get the administrative, technological, and general support it needs on time? ·          Do you regularly let your part-time faculty know you appreciate them? ·          Do the part-time faculty have a voice in changes that affect them? ·          When was the last time you had meaningful conversations with the part-time faculty that work for you? Do you know who works for you? I am sure a lot of people answered yes because that is what you believe; that is what you know. However, would your part-time faculty agree with you? Can you answer that question? If you cannot answer a strong unequ...

My formative years were spent outside of the U.S, so hopefully you will understand my perspective and confusion about this topic. The other day I was listening to a fit looking young woman talk about how she did not used to eat because she was worried about being healthy. She ended her conversation by saying, “but I do eat now; I ask for the salad dressing on the side and will add fries”. I am sorry but that does not sound like a healthy balanced meal to me, and I did mention that she looked like she was in shape, yet she was still obsessing. I am currently closer to 50 than I am to 45. Not a big deal in my book because where I grew up I am still considered young. Imagine my shock when a 30 something started referring himself as old, and when I shared my age, he said, “damn you are old as #@$%!”. I was actually quite insulted by that. You cannot completely blame people, because society is teaching people that this is the way it is. We have fat shaming and body sham...

So, one of big items in Higher Education is that an accreditor is in crisis: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-22/education-department-strips-authority-of-acics-the-largest-for-profit-college-accreditor?src=usn_li (not fan of this title but it is detailed) There are approximately 600,000 students who attend schools within this body, and not all are for-profit schools by the way, and even if that was the case For-Profit is not and should not be a curse word because that is unprofessional. Anyway, back to the question at hand: what is the plan to help all those students? Students have taken out loans, made sacrifices, and expect to get a degree: how are you going to help them accomplish this with causing more hardship in their lives? Community Colleges will not be able to help those on the tail end of a four-year degree, and how about all the loans that are going to come due because the students no longer have an in-school deferment? Too often, when large even...

We thought this had some useful information: http://www.creatrixcampus.com/blog/how-personalized-mobile-learning-can-enhance-student-engagement-and-achievement The ETeam

I am a firm believer in sharing good an relevant material, that is how we learn. Today I am sharing two articles by Jeffrey E. Reeves ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyereeves ) . I hope you get something out of this as well! Leadership… An Informed Perspective August 26, 2016 “Leaders create the vision.  Managers create plans.  Your vision motivates people to action; plans are an outcome that guides your team toward making your vision a reality.  Leadership and management are the two elements of   being-in-charge and being responsible .  The ability to discern which element one is dealing with or which is dominant at any moment in each unique situation is—in my view—the main characteristic of a great leader.  I call this characteristic   wisdom ”. Read the rest here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-informed-perspective-jeffrey-e-reeves?trk=prof-post Leadership: Part II - How the Planning Padlock Stifles Leadership, ...

In the near future, these elections will be over, people will get elected, the campaigning will be over, the banners will come down, the promises made will be broken, and since our votes will not be needed at that time, we will be ignored. Sounds cynical but true. The issues that existed before hand will still be there, there is no miracle band aid to fix them over night. We will still have to work, pay our bills, and raise our children. No elected official is going to do that for us. I will be glad when this election cycle is over because then maybe we can get back to having conversations without someone going off on a political tirade, without someone being insulting or feeling insulted. Maybe we can just be human again. This election cycle has brought out some of the worst traits of humanity I have seen in all the elections I have been eligible to vote for, and my first election was Bush senior vs Dukakis. As an educator, I talk about education issues, about chi...

Education is the only profession (and it is a profession) where non-professionals feel and can tell the professionals what do. Everyone has a n opinion about how to deliver proper education, and during political seasons, education gets tossed around like a football; usually without an actual educator in sight. As an educator, you are entrusted with our countries most precious resource, and that is our youth. Without them we have no future and there is no proof that we ever existed. United States has an incarceration problem, we love to lock people up, we love to punish; and we have hard time showing compassion, understanding, and suggesting true rehabilitation. This state of mind has unfortunately penetrated many of our school systems. Third grader in Handcuffs   School fight   Police slap student   Officer grabs student   Pepper spray in school Now I know some people will say “well these are extreme situations” or “well what was the stude...

“Former ITT Tech employees file lawsuit against dissolved institution” http://www.educationdive.com/news/former-itt-tech-employees-file-lawsuit-against-dissolved-institution/426005/ There is an interesting part of this article which all universities need to pay attention too, because the same conditions are capable of being re-created in non-profit private universities: “Though for-profits are specifically under attack by the federal government, there are other lessons for nonprofit institutions as well, particularly for terminating non-union or adjunct positions in the face of budget cuts, lowered enrollment, or   other factors   which may impact revenue or employment” Nobody is perfect and we all can be doing better Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

By  Danielle Douglas-Gabriel   September 8 at 6:20 PM   The closure of ITT Technical Institutes, a national chain of career schools with a 50-year legacy, is fueling a debate over the federal government’s aggressive policing of for-profit higher education and whether it could destroy the industry Read for yourself, interesting article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/is-the-federal-government-trying-to-take-down-the-for-profit-college-industry/2016/09/08/effb7ffe-75dd-11e6-b786-19d0cb1ed06c_story.html

I have learned and been given lots of good advice over the years about employees in the education industry, and there are many great quotes out there such as: ·          "Put your staff first, customers second, and shareholders third" ·          “treat employees not just the way you want to be treated, but the way they want to be treated”, ·          “People choose a school because of great faculty” These are all things I have heard being used in the education industry and they make sense to almost everyone. Why then does the education industry often fall far short of these great goals? A great many educational institutions now rely upon part-time or adjunct faculty. This pool of faculty tends to be very versatile, quick on their feet, and tend to work in the industry they are teaching. They are a wonderful resource so why do we not value them the way we...