Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. 1 Welcome to Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. You are listening to Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. The objectives for this presentation include • Identify forces that influence nursing and higher education • Integrate the values of respect, collegiality, professionalism, and caring to build an organization climate that fosters the development of learners and colleagues • Discuss the criteria for effective teaching • Discuss strategies for change • Discuss leadership strategies As you begin your new role in academia, it is important to understand the institution. Identify forces that influence nursing and higher education. This might include internal and external forces—including the office of academic affairs, state board of nursing, and accrediting agencies. Integrate the values of respect, collegiality, professionalism, and caring to build an organization climate that fosters the development of learners and colleagues. Get to know the philosophy, mission and goals of the institution. How do they fit with your own philosophy? In the department where you will be working, get to know the mission, vision, and the goals of the school of nursing and your program. Again, it is important to understand the external and internal forces influencing change. Perhaps evaluation data demonstrated student dissatisfaction in a course because they felt the course was too easy, or too hard. Changes should be data driven and best practices involved in making those changes. Understand where you and your teaching responsibilities fit within the school of nursing. Review your job description and/or contract so that you know you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. Finally, understand relationship of the school of nursing to parent organization. What is the organizational chart? Who are the key people? Most programs will have internal reviews on a regular basis. For those that are accredited, preparation is continual. Become familiar with the school’s program evaluation plan and participate in the assessment and evaluation committee to better understand the processes involved with accreditation. Conduct an environmental scan regularly. Are the curriculum outcomes congruent with what is expected of your graduates? Finally, understand the promotion, tenure, and merit process. This is the pathway for your advancement. In unit 2, the discussion focused in detail on academic appointments. To review, appointments can be either full-time or part-time. The Tracks can be tenure, clinical, or research. Ranks are those of lecturer/instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor. Other titles might be adjunct, visiting, or clinical instructor. Why is it important to understand the appointment process? Well, to begin with, appointment and rank will depend on your education and experience. If you understand the process, you will be able to create a sound strategy to advance through the ranks. This will include selecting a mentor who will be able to help guide you through the process. Understanding the process allows you to choose how to use your time. If you are on a tenure track, then you know that time will be needed to conduct scholarly Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. 2 activities such as research. Also, keep your CV up to date. Add to it as you complete activities. Also— toot your own horn! Apply for awards and merit raises when you feel you have made important accomplishments. Your promotion, tenure, or advancement will depend on the effectives of your teaching. Communication of knowledge and the development of appropriate skills and attitudes are the primary objectives of all faculty members. The possible activities that faculty members may use to achieve these objectives might include Effective presentations, whether in lecture, laboratory, studio, or other venues. “Active learning” pedagogy, such as use of active-learning techniques and tools to enhance student learning including, but not limited to, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, and student polling; integration of service learning and other community-based learning into courses; direction of laboratory-based student research, supervision of internships and co-op experiences; perhaps even study-abroad activities. Engaged teaching, course- or curriculum-related teaching/learning activities that involve students with the community in mutually beneficial ways. This includes, but is not limited to, service learning and other community-based learning experiences, internships and co-op experiences, and involvement in community-based research or other special projects. Alternative delivery, such as team teaching or co-teaching; development and/or implementation of online courses; off-campus teaching; flexible scheduling and delivery models. Academic advising and mentoring, such as helping students plan their academic programs; presenting options for a career in the discipline or selection of a graduate or professional school; advising disciplinerelated student clubs or associations; sharing professional experience and expertise on an individual basis. Involvement in special academic programs, such as development and/or implementation of special retention programs/efforts; participation in first-year programs and/or learning communities; development of courses for programs offered using alternative or innovative delivery models. The evidence to maintain will be a list of: Honors courses designed, taught, and evaluated. • New courses introduced and evaluated. • New courses designed, team-taught, and evaluated. • On-line or ITV courses created, modified, and evaluated for impact on student learning. • Seminars created and directed. • Workshops created and directed. • Webinars created and directed. Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. • 3 Student projects directed that are not part of normal teaching duties. Theses. Written and oral examination committees. Student service learning opportunities. Student clubs supervised. Student research mentoring/sponsorship. Best practices reflecting contemporary methodologies. Student course evaluations (summary sheet only), self-reflection, and modification of courses based upon those. Peer evaluations incorporated into course improvement/modification. Chair evaluations incorporated into course improvement/modification. Original materials employed to create an innovative learning environment. • • Evidence of effective advising. Number of advisees. o Time devoted to advising. o Media employed in advising. o Innovative advising approaches. Methods employed accommodating student diversity Consider this… An assistant professor is in first year of a tenure track appointment. Tenure is awarded only if the candidate also meets criteria for advanced rank. The priority for this educator is to: • • • • Understand promotion and tenure criteria for assistant professor Make a plan to meet criteria for associate professor Find a mentor who serves on the promotion and tenure committee See a position on a university-level committee The answer is to make a plan to meet the criteria for associate professor. An assistant professor is a lower rank and to advance to the next level of assistant professor, a plan must be in place to meet the specific criteria. One of the role for the nurse educator whether in an academic setting, or in a clinical or community setting, will be to function as a change agent and leader. The nurse educator must identify the need for change—whether it be a new course or program, or a revision of a current course or program. If there are changes in the system, then perhaps there will need to be a change in the curriculum. Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. 4 Considerations might include budget shortfalls in which something may need to be revised or cut, or—a budget increase which may allow for the purchase of new equipment. As a change agent and leader, you should have the ability to know which tasks can be done on an individual basis, and which tasks will require others to be involved. As change occurs, support will be needed by all to ensure a smooth transition. As a professional, you should establish a culture of change. For instance, make changes according to needs. Once a need has been established, take into consideration the entire system. What will it look like after the change? Recognize not all persons accept change in the same way or at the same time. For instance, faculty members who have taught the same course for several years may tend to be very territorial when asked to make changes. Use a process model to help move through the change and use faculty governance procedures. For instance, if the assessment and evaluation committee identified a trend in an assignment used in Course A—such as the assignment in Week 3 has all scores that are 95 and higher, perhaps the assignment isn’t very rigorous. Perhaps the assignment should be eliminated and substituted with something more rigorous. When these suggestions are made, nurse educators will have to use cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence when effecting change for this course. The nurse educator will function as a leader and have a leadership role. This will include: • Works with others to establish vision/direction • Uses a variety of skills • Is a role model • Monitors external environment • Establishes partnerships • Has interprofessional view • Is a team builder • Is politically savvy • Serves as an advocate You should provide leadership in successive roles—for example as an educator, a course leader, a department chair, dean, or curriculum coordinator. Get involved. Participate in faculty governance in your own department and at the university level. Participate in campus committees in your area of expertise. Participate in an orientation process and socialization to the role of the nurse educator. • Review the organizational structure • Figure out the organizational “culture” • Understand the curriculum or program • Lean how your course fits with others Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. • Know and know where to find student and faculty policies/proedures • Know key people—course leaders, department chair, dean, student services director • Have a mentor or “buddy” 5 Find support for your role development. Request orientation to role and position and identify your support systems—whether it be family, colleagues, or the department chair. Find mentors— formal/informal and assigned. Seek them out and use throughout your career. Also, it is very important to determine a balance of roles and personal life. Find time to do the activities you like to do, leaving school work behind. Finally, grow with your career. Make advancements in your knowledge, skills, and attitudes moving from a novice educator to the proficient/expert educator. This won’t occur overnight…so hang in there. Practice makes perfect! Consider this: Which of the following indicators indicates a nurse educator is serving as a change agent at the school of nursing? • • • • Is one of three department chairs Chairs the curriculum committee for 1 year Leads 3 course faculty to test the use of simulations in a course Serves on the promotion and tenure committee to change criteria to reflect scholarship of teaching The answer is: Serves on the promotion and tenure committee to change criteria to reflect scholarship of teaching. Some thoughtful advance on self-improvement in your professional role will include: • Academic, clinical, pedagogical preparation is ongoing—be a lifelong learner. This doesn’t have to be credit-hour courses. It can be inservices, workshops, or conferences. • Have and be a mentor • Develop a career plan; seek mentor and peer review • Keep CV and portfolio up to date • Balance roles—find time for yourself. • Participate in professional organizations Use feedback to improve your role. Feedback from teaching will come from students and colleague reviews. Feedback about services will come through evaluations from committee leaders and members. Feedback on scholarship will be through peer reviews from journals, grants reviewed and obtained. Finally, use self-reflection to improve your role. Enhance our role through memberships in professional organizations. Focus on those that promote education, such as the National League for Nursing or the American Association of the Colleges of Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 1—The Educational Environment and Leadership. 6 Nursing. Be a member of clinical professional organizations, such as the American Nurses Association. Strive for membership in honorary organizations, such as Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing. Enhance your role from just being a member or committee member to a role of leadership. Enhance your role through certification and certificates. This is part of the life-long learning and could include certification in your specialty area, such as a certified nurse educator or a critical care registered nurse. Complete annual CPR training. Attend workshops and conferences where you obtain CEUs and certificates of attendance. This concludes Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment (Part 1). As an educator, you will be expected to function within the academic environment with formal and informal norms and policies. Nurse educators will have a role as leaders and change agents, so it is important to be aare of the system and culture of the school and institution as you lead, manage, or support change. As a faculty member, your role will evolve with the experiences you gain. As a faculty member, it will be expected that you become a life-long learner and seek out recognition through awards, certificates and certifications. Finally, developing your role is ongoing and you will need to respond to feedback, self-reflection, and peer review. Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 2: Scholarship 1 Welcome to Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. You are listening to Part 2—Scholarship. The objectives for this presentation include: • Discuss how Boyer’s Model is used for promotion, tenure, and advancement • Identify activities which correlate with the Scholarship of Discovery • Identify activities which correlate with the Scholarship of Integration • Identify activities which correlate with the Scholarship of Application • Identify activities which correlate with the Scholarship of Teaching In academia, Boyer’s Model of Scholarship sets the framework for faculty evaluations and considerations for promotion, tenure, and advancement. The academic model advocates four types of scholarship—discovery, integration, application, and teaching. According to Boyer, traditional research, or the scholarship of discovery, had been the center of academic life and crucial to an institution's advancement. Boyer argued for the academy to broaden its definition of scholarship in order to reward faculty for the work they do outside of the narrower conventional boundaries of research, teaching, and service. Scholarly activity in this area constitutes academic work that confronts the unknown, seeks new understandings, and/or offers a new perspective on knowledge, through both individual and collaborative work both within and across disciplines. Activities to consider in the evaluation of Discovery may include, but are not limited to basic and applied research; development and application of theory. Integration is a scholarly area that gives meaning to isolated facts, putting them into perspective and into context. Connections across the disciplines to solve problems, raise questions for research and examination, and involve others from various backgrounds to create and initiate new ways of thinking all reflect this area of scholarship. Integration can also involve fitting original research into larger intellectual patterns and work underway to lead new understandings. Key words often used to reflect the possibilities of scholarship inherent within this area include interdisciplinary, integrative, and interpretive. Activities to consider in the evaluation of integration may include, but are not limited to interdisciplinary research; new interpretations of current knowledge; integration of knowledge from diverse sources. The diversity of internal and external needs, as well as faculty training and experience, leads to many different forms of Professional Application. However, Professional Application activities share all of the following distinguishing characteristics: • They contribute to the public welfare or the common good • They call upon faculty members' academic and/or professional expertise • They directly address or respond to real-world need • They support NSU’s vision, mission, and values. Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 2: Scholarship 2 Faculty members who are engaged in Professional Application use their academic training and experience to serve the public and contribute to university’s mission, vision, and values. Professional Application includes internal service to the discipline, department, college, and university and contributing to the shared governance system and institutional development through a variety of activities including service on committees, task forces, policy advisory bodies, and the development and management of academic programs. The scholarship of application could be demonstrated by: Service to the university Governance, such as involvement in program or departmental administration; active service or leadership on committees, task forces, councils, search committees, and Faculty Council. Mentoring, advising, and sharing expertise, such as conducting workshops for other faculty; organizing colloquia and seminars; mentoring new faculty; supervising student activities or student groups. Development/advancement, such as participation in student recruitment; participation in fund raising; public relations and marketing of program; retention activities that strengthen a program or program enrollment. Other (to be added by the college or department). Service to the discipline/profession Governance, such as taking on a leadership role in a professional association; participating in the organizing, convening, or presiding for an association meeting or function. Scholarly Activity such as acting as a member of journal’s editorial board or journal editor; reviewing books for publication, grant proposals for funding agency, conference submissions for possible acceptance, and articles for journal publication. Sharing expertise, such as serving on an accrediting team; writing questions for licensure or certification exams; participating in a program review for a university. Other (to be added by the college or department). Service to the community Providing service to a local, regional, or global community or governmental agency, such as the PreK12 community, non-profit agencies, economic development groups. Facilitating or improving organizational development in the community. Providing services to support or enhance economic development in the region. Providing clinical services related to physical health, mental health, and wellness. Providing consulting services or technical assistance. Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 2: Scholarship 3 Planning and/or implementing public events, such as teaching non-credit classes or workshops; providing public lectures, arts performances, art displays; participating on panels or symposia for public presentation. Serving on boards, committees, commissions utilizing one’s disciplinary expertise. Providing public writing services, including grant proposals and grant awards for an organization or community. Contributions to the Scholarship of Teaching involve facilitating student learning, critical thought, and inquiry, as well as transmitting, integrating, interpreting, and extending knowledge. In addition, teaching should reveal and develop diverse perspectives, help to facilitate creativity and life-long learning, and work to integrate various principles central to the mission, vision, and values of the university. The scholarship of teaching is a process that results in dissemination of information, testing new practices and sharing through publication and presentations, the test and use of evidenced based teaching and learning. The differences between scholarship and research is this: Scholarship is an inquiry process that results in dissemination whereas research is a systematic search for knowledge about issues of importance. The scholarship of teaching will include that outcomes are shared with others through publications, products, and teaching others in addition to just teaching students. For example, you will: • Present effective presentations • Write an article • Contribute test questions to review books • Present at a conference • Be a guest speaker To help enhance your scholarship of teaching • Recognize your scholarly/innovative work. Discuss your work with colleagues and your mentor. • Integrate into your role—”double dip”. If you are doing research on a topic, that is the scholarship of discovery…but when you present your findings at a conference…you have demonstrated the scholarship of teaching. • Form teams with students and colleagues for presentations. • Find a mentor who is doing scholarly work and make contributions to their work. • Plan for scholarly results when starting a new project Consider this: A nurse educator in the 2nd year of appointment as clinical assistant professor is invited to participate in a research study about simulations. The nurse educator works in the learning resource center and has teaching assignments 4-6 hours 5 days a week. The nurse educator should Unit 6: Nurse Educator Competencies—Leadership, Scholarship, and the Educational Environment. Part 2: Scholarship 4 • Say yes and negotiate to include the research in regular workload • Ask to participate next year when more comfortable with teaching role • Set a priority to obtain a PhD before participating in any research • Request a workload reduction before agreeing to participate The answer is request a workload reduction before agreeing to participate. Most universities encourage the use of research and will allow workload reductions. However, asking first before making a commitment helps establish role understandings before any projects are taken on. This concludes Unit 6: Part 2—Scholarship. Your role as a nurse educator in the area of scholarship participate in the scholarship of discovery, integration, application and teaching. You will be expected to become a researcher and scholar—to use and contribute to the science of nursing education. Your role will include to provide service in the clinical practice area and to the school, academic institution, and professional organization. To help you with your scholarly role, seek out a mentor and be familiar with the application of Boyer’s model.
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