9P7 Building Internal Relationships

Staff in-service days and monthly meetings provide opportunities for various teams and departments to interact with each other and to work together. The Administration and staff from the In-Service Committee invite faculty and staff to present on multiple topics: teaching techniques, learning styles, using the LMS system, addressing social issues such as substance abuse, and serving the needs of students with disabilities. A popular mini-session during in-service meetings has been to tour various program areas and departments and listen to faculty and staff “demonstrate” or explain key features of their respective programs or departments. Over the course of several years, faculty have been able to visit all programs. Faculty may also participate in an Industry/Job Shadow experience during in-service, which gives them the opportunity to monitor trends and technology in their given industry. As reported in the in-service survey results, this has been an effective way for peers to understand each other’s roles. Participation in the professional development planning and cross-department involvement is intended to create a sense of staff/faculty ownership.

AQIP Teams and standing committees are cross-functional and are comprised of faculty, staff and administration. The General Education (GE) Team members share responsibility for acting as liaisons to all program Advisory Committees. Every GE member attends two to three program meetings each year to promote the relationships between GE and programs. Information on business needs regarding GE and program curriculum and changes are communicated across the institution in this way. STI Success Advisors and various support staff also report on their roles and are invited into classrooms and faculty offices to assist students.

The STInet is the central communication tool where staff can access updates on events, Action Project status, minutes from committees, results from various institutional surveys and program data, institutional forms, etc. Periodic training on STInet is provided to encourage use of the system.