NISOD: 29th Annual International Conference on Teaching & Leadership Excellence
May 20-23, 2007
Austin, Texas
The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) was established in 1978 at the University of Texas in Austin. Each year a conference dedicated to celebrating teaching and leadership is held in Austin. The 2007 conference was held on May 20-23. This conference provides an opportunity for graduate students to attend a variety of sessions and to interact with professionals in the field of community college education.
Brett Bodily's reflections
I remember vividly one particular session that involved the application of humor and technology in the classroom. This seemed a little odd in its inception: how does one become humorous with technology? Dr. Berk from John Hopkins had spent many years perfecting the skill and it showed in his presentation. He electronically incorporated movie themes, clips, funny voices, cartoons, and so forth to enhance his lectures on biostatistics, a typically dull and inaccessible topic. I have to admit that he was quite a ham and comedian but in a rather wry way for the technology assumed the risk thus leaving him safely holding the remote control. Although I was very impressed and quite sore from laughter, the reality of what he was positing materialized toward the end of the presentation. It took him hours upon hours of tedious work to capture the sound bites and clips, media often protected by copyright devices. In this sense, I thought, a professor may find his tactics too time consuming or frustrating; especially if one is not computer savvy. This was certainly true for me. The presentation certainly got me thinking about using these types of methods.
I attended a very helpful session presented by Rich Mercadante, a speech professor at St. Petersburg College in Florida. He discussed strategies for communicating with hostile, emotional, or upset students and colleagues. I learned many “one liners” that might help to diffuse tenuous situations such as angry students who feel mistreated when they receive a less than desirable grade or hot headed faculty members who do not seem to be getting their way. We examined a few less effective, yet popular default strategies and considered alternatives. Rich’s personal stories were helpful in the sense that he, a professional communicator, experienced a few instances where the textbook answer to perfect communication did not always resolve his problems.
Another memorable session involved a study conducted by a Texas Tech higher education graduate student. This was notable because I completed and presented a qualitative study on new faculty needs myself. This particular presenter conducted a quantitative study on what public community college presidents consider new faculty members need. His study utilized a survey that I was quite familiar with and applied it directly to Texas. He claimed that his presentation would include a survey of the study including how he used descriptive statistics, but he never discussed his methodology or analysis. He focused mostly on the survey results. Likewise, he did not discuss or present implications for practice, so I felt a little cheated. Unaware of the time allotments, he ended his session 30 minutes early, so he might have been more detailed had he realized that he was given more time. Never the less, I walked away with a few ideas that I may consider in my future research on new faculty.
Wilfred manyango's experience
I want to begin by expressing gratitude to you and the Board of Trustees of the Bill J. Priest Center for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference. It was a wonderful experience and an opportunity to represent the BJP Center and enhance my professional development.
Overall, the conference was rewarding. The keynote speakers were motivating. Dr. Belle Whelan from SACS did an incredible job on Monday. She encouraged us not to give up on the students, but to be involved in every facet of their lives. She challenged us as professionals to engage students and make them feel important.
I also attended different workshops and learned a lot. There were two sessions that really stood out. One had to do with the things they never tell you when you take a job. This session underscored the importance of asking questions prior to taking a new job. The other sessions discussed student success and engagement and their importance in improving retention among college students.
As a higher education student, community college student affairs administrator and an aspiring leader in higher education, the conference exposed me to some of the contemporary issues facing community colleges and students in particular. Issues such as recruitment, retention, student engagement, etc., were raised. Also discussed was the relationship and partnership between faculty and administrator in ensuring student success.
Overall, my attendance was rewarding. Looking back, I wished there were more sessions addressing administrative and student issues. Apparently, it seems the majority of the presentations was academic in nature and targeted faculty. If the opportunity is afforded me to attend NISOD in the future, I am planning to make a presentation from the standpoint of an administrator in student services. I have tentatively titled it: “Programming for the Millennial Generation to Ensure Student Engagement.” I have done some work in this area for our office.
Again thank you Dr. Calkins for this wonderful opportunity. I was also able to explain to a few people what the BJP was all about when they asked me who I represented.
Being present exposed the Bill Priest Center and also the higher education program at UNT. I was able to meet professionals from other institutions and organizations and was able to talk to them about UNT and the Bill Priest Center.
It was a rewarding experience for me.
shannon smith's thoughts on nisod
Before I attended my first NISOD conference this month, I fully expected to find valuable and insightful information for both the community college professor and administrator. However, what I did not expect was the tremendous sense of collegiality and the generous nature of those people I did meet.
If one phrase were to summarize my NISO experience, it would be from the introductions given by Mark Milliron, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas and NISOD director. He reminded us to CASE the conference: copy and steal everything. The willingness of the participants and presenters to share insight and successes, and even failures, was overwhelming. I gleaned wonderful information for my classroom and for my future career in administration.
I attended numerous seminars including sessions directed at developing student responsibility, revitalizing the lecture format of learning, and student probation and suspension. However, my favorite session, hands down, was the session entitled “So You’re Thinking of Being a Chair?” presented by Jim Hammonds of the U of Arkansas. Not two weeks prior, I honestly told my graduate committee as I sat for my oral qualifying exams that I believed I would be a terrible department chair. I felt that I simply lacked the experience and wisdom needed to juggle the tough love/compassion required of such a vital position. The session discussed not only what a department chair actually does, but more importantly, it discussed what successful department chairs do. Prior to the session, I had given little thought to the importance of department chair training and the continued, individual professional development of the professor as well as the administrator. The session, quite frankly, gave me hope that despite my misgivings I could indeed become an effective and generous department chair one day.
Following this train of thought, many of my other sessions focused upon career development, although like many of my colleagues, I often wanted to be in two sessions at the same time. The amount of interaction with colleagues was incredible, and I find myself refreshed and invigorated. I am anxiously awaiting the start of the summer session so that I might put into practice the ideas I copied and stole as I CASE’d the place.
Quite simply, NISOD is the most comprehensive collection of community college educators that I have ever experienced. Certainly, I believe that I will be a better professor because of my experiences here. Moreover, I also now believe that the various theories and disciplines I have studied as a student might become effective policies and procedures in my own career. I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the Bill J. Priest Foundation making my attendance possible. I fully intend to return to this conference annually in an effort to improve not only my mastery of my discipline but to stay abreast of the changes and trends in community college administration