Bill Davis, Program Chair, Department of Organizational Studies, Sally Deckard, Faculty Support and Classroom Consultant
In this issue of the UAGC Chronicle, we focus on the UAGC
student critical goal to offer high-value credentials with marketable
skills. Leading this charge for the College of Arts and Sciences and Forbes
School of Business and Technology® are Dean Tony Farrell and Dean Maja Zelihic.
Recently, Bill Davis, Program Chair of the BA in Operational Management and
Analysis, and Sally Deckard, Faculty Support and Classroom Consultant, sat down
with these two UAGC leaders to discuss how this goal is addressed in their
respective colleges and the vision for the future, moving forward as fully integrated
into The University of Arizona.
Bill Davis: For our first question,
please share your college’s approach to providing high-value credentials with
marketable skills to enhance our UAGC students’ employability.
BD: How do you see UAGC faculty and staff as contributing
to the value of these credentials so students experience optimal learning
opportunities and gain valuable, marketable skills?
MZ: Our faculty are practitioners first and foremost.
For example, I recently tasked Assistant Deans with soliciting the experience
levels of our faculty. We have former CEOs, CIOs, folks running divisions in
their industries, business owners, and researchers across the world. One of our
instructors owns numerous patents. These people are innovators, and as they are
teaching students specific skills, they are not just taking everything out of
the textbooks. What they are teaching is based on their experience in the
industry.
TF: Looking at specific programs in the College of
Arts and Sciences, we have a very eclectic group of programs; in these
programs, we have this group of content experts. Our faculty can bridge that
area from the degree to the actual career. Our faculty can support our
curriculum by providing real-world examples and looking at case studies, course
readings, and assignments, and they translate that to the world of work. Our
faculty are the most critical individuals when it comes to supporting our
students to optimize these learning opportunities.
BD: Durable skills, also known as “power or soft skills,”
are essential for success in the workplace. These skills include communicating
effectively, adapting to changing industries, demonstrating leadership,
displaying emotional intelligence, and creatively engaging in collaboration and
critical thinking. How do UAGC degree programs and courses provide students
with the technical and durable skills to succeed in today’s job market?
MZ: The old way of thinking was that we needed to
cover everything content-wise and give students “the meat on the bones” of the
course, and unfortunately, we neglected skills that today one would consider
essential. For example, in revising the MBA program, the faculty felt strongly
about including exercises such as having students do an elevator pitch and
setting up a LinkedIn profile. We have included gaming, where our students are
doing simulations. Some of these simulations are based on unique input provided
by the student, so no student will have the same experience, and within the
class, students will share their experiences. Through this process, students
practice decision-making, negotiation, and critical thinking skills, which
replicate an actual business environment. We are teaching students to assess
the variables and make the best decision based on those circumstances. Just
like in the real business world, you may not get the ideal situation, and you
make the best decision based on what you have.
TF: The student journey at UAGC starts with GEN101,
and we begin developing these soft or durable skills there. The skills are
intentionally built into the curriculum, especially when we think about our GEN
ED sequence, which supports student mastery of these skills within the scope of
their degree. We don’t expect students to come to UAGC with these skills; we
introduce, reinforce, and promote the mastery of these skills. Our faculty
coach, mentor, and support students in building these skills. In building our
courses, we bring in primary sources and multi-media resources, and students
have access to role models and examples, all in support of this mastery. How we
evaluate learning outcomes in our courses and programs aligns with these
skills. It is incumbent on faculty as they develop courses to bring real-world
examples into courses, which will enhance the development of these skills.
BD: How does UAGC research the job market, identify which
degree programs and skills are in demand, and how do our academic programs meet
those demands?
TF: We continue to have opportunities to build on the
job market research process at our institution. We leverage career services and
the work of the UAGC Business Education Services Team (BEST) in that effort. A
big part of how we identify areas of growth and opportunities is our
educational partnership teams, who are going out to the industry and talking to
our partners about the needs of our clients –including those in business,
health care, and education. They are reporting the trends they see in hopes that
we can address those needs. We are proactively looking at the Bureau of Labor
and Statistics data as we look to possible future programs. We want to engage
our students and faculty to understand some of these needs as well.
MZ: We have a significant advantage in our
partnership with Forbes Media. We have the Forbes Advisory Board, which has
some of the top thought leaders in the United States. They are world-renowned
leaders, and they provide valuable feedback on our curriculum. The vast
majority of our programs also have industry board advisors. We show them what
we are teaching students and ask them, “This is what we are teaching students.
Is there something we should be teaching them that we are not? Is there
something we are teaching that is no longer relevant, keeping in mind that if
you give them the proper baseline, regardless of how the market changes, they
will take skills into the marketplace?” We must also recognize what is
happening in business globally. You must have that mindset of what is happening
around the world. A 100% domestically based business is a thing of the past and
degree programs must reflect that perspective.
BD: Continuing with the discussion of providing programs
that meet industry needs, what is UAGC doing or considering in
micro-credentials or certificate programs that provide students with specific
high-demand skills?
TF: We will have some great opportunities,
post-University of Arizona integration, to focus on some of these areas that
may not lead to a degree. We will benefit from this effort with valuable
feedback from the BEST Team, advisory boards, faculty, and especially our
students as needed. It may be a bit cliché, but as Wayne Gretzky once said, we
need “to skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” The future
state of education may not always be a two-year, four-year, or graduate degree
program. We will have to be responsive to the needs of students in the
workplace. I hope we can leverage micro-credentials, which can lead to a degree
if the student chooses. Let’s be innovative in an intelligent way.
MZ: In the Forbes School of Business and Technology®,
we are identifying our courses that can be packaged into certificate programs.
Our BEST Team will work with our corporate partners to identify the
certificates that are in most demand right now and that our corporate partners
would like to see us provide. We have identified courses aligned with the
industry standards, such as our courses, which are SHRM (Society for Human
Resource Management) certified.
BD: Can you share how a program self-study helps UAGC
Program Chairs better understand and design programs that prepare our students
for success? In other words, how does this process provide opportunities for
UAGC students to gain even more marketable skills and experience success in the
job market?
TF: The self-study is probably the most beneficial
and important process in critically examining our programs. We analyze student
success metrics, the acquisition and mastery of learning outcomes, and the
demographics of our student population. Taking that critical eye, the
self-reflection done in self-study paints a picture of the tremendous quality
of our programs and areas of opportunity. We empower our Program Chairs to
engage with external reviewers who are thought leaders and subject matter
experts and are highly regarded in that field of study. These reviewers will
think critically about our programs by reading the program self-study report
and then complete a two-day virtual site visit where they meet with key
stakeholders. One of the benefits of our evolution to a remote workforce is
engaging with reviewers all over the country. We aim to work with external
reviewers who are currently working in the field and who are thinking about the
future state as it refers to employment trends in areas that relate to these
programs. At the conclusion of the self-study, the external review report is
transformed into an action plan that will benefit our students.
MZ: It is imperative to step back and reflect. The
self-study provides an opportunity to decompress and reflect and, to the extent
possible, look at the program from the perspective of an outsider, looking at
peer studies, market demands, and every course in a program with a critical
eye. Our external reviewers are incredibly objective and equally passionate
professionals. Their insights on the self-study report provide feedback on what
we are doing well, what may need a minor tweak, and what needs significant
repair. As hard as it is to do these studies, I have not met a single chair
that walked away without saying, “I am so glad we have done this,” and a newly
found sense of passion and purpose. As a Dean, I have discovered so much,
sometimes things that are right in front of us, and we don’t see it.
BD: I would like to thank you both for the time you
have shared. You have provided valuable information, insights, and inspiration,
and it is clear that the UAGC Forbes School of Business and Technology® and the
College of Arts and Sciences are in excellent hands.
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