Faculty Excellence at UMUC

Interviewer:

Please tell us about yourself—what made you decide to teach at UMUC? What kind of work do you do when you are not teaching at UMUC? Are there any life experiences that have influenced your teaching at UMUC? If so, please share one story.

James D. Tschechtelin:

I like open door colleges and universities! Our students are hard working, motivated men and women who are determined to change their lives through education. It's the vision of our nation to make higher education available to everyone who will work hard to attain it. UMUC delivers on that. Equal educational opportunity is essential to a strong democracy.

I do consulting. For example, I'm a coach to two college presidents in a multi-year national initiative called Achieving the Dream. Institutional transformation is one of the key elements in Achieving the Dream, and that's one of the central topics in the courses that I teach. Coupled with the opportunity to teach at UMUC, it's a great life for a retired college president!

My twelve years as the president of Baltimore City Community College taught me a great deal about how life-changing a college education can be. A student may come to realize, "Wow! I really am a good writer!" Or, "I came to get a one year certificate, but I now I'm going for my Master's degree." I knew so many students who totally transformed their lives through education, and who changed the lives of their families around them as well. Getting to know these students has motivated me to encourage others to dream big, and then set goals that will help them achieve their dreams.

Interviewer:

How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy?

James D. Tschechtelin:

I tell students that it's my job to help them uncork their genius! I try to do that in three ways: (1) by engaging and involving them actively in the learning process, (2) by providing large doses of encouragement, and (3) by creating strong linkages between theory and practice.

I try to be an active facilitator of learning. I believe that students need to energize their own learning, and that I cannot hand it to them like a bag of carrots. However, it is my job to create situations that involve and engage students in the course material in a way that they are motivated to dig deeply into the subject and make it a permanent part of their habits and values.

I have been blessed to have quite a few outstanding faculty members, who both challenged and affirmed me. They demanded a lot, but they had confidence in my ability to rise to the occasion. They inspired me to do the same for others who are pursuing their dreams through education.

Interviewer:

Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this.

James D. Tschechtelin:

I post brief video re-caps each week in my online classes. In these short videos (3-4 minutes each), I try to hit on what I think are the key points from the content in the previous week. Students seem to respond well to these videos. In online courses, students normally neither see nor hear their instructor. It adds a human dimension.

Once a week, I send students a Wednesday News e-mail. In these weekly e-mails, I give feedback about how the class is doing in terms of participation, reminders about due dates, words of encouragement, etc. It's an active rather than passive approach to online students. This "jogging" often precipitates a quick flurry of participation in conferences or sometimes a question about something unrelated to my note.

I try to relate nearly all of my weekly conference assignments to the students' work experiences. (Nearly all students in my classes are employed, and those who are not can draw on their experiences in a church, non-profit organization, etc.) Rather than have students respond to questions at the end of a chapter about organizational culture, for example, I ask students to describe the culture of the organization in which they work, characterize it in terms of the concepts in the text, etc.

Twice each semester, I ask students to send me an e-mail about what they think is going well and should be continued as well as what is not working and should be changed. This practice engages students and gives me good feedback on how I can improve.

I post a Thought for the Week in each weekly conference. These are motivational or inspirational quotes, short stories, or something from my own experience. I think this adds a personal dimension to the course, and students seem to respond well to this feature.

Interviewer:

What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students?

James D. Tschechtelin:

I think they like the positive encouragement that I try to provide, as well as the many ties between theory and practice. For example, I include an assignment for students in my classes to interview a manager. Nearly all of my students are employed, and I urge them to aim high in the organization for a person to interview. The students ask questions linked to our study of organizational behavior. Quite a few students have told me that their eyes were really opened with this experience, and that it was the best part of the class.

Interviewer:

Do you teach face-to-face, online, or both? Do you have a preference between teaching face-to-face and online? If so, please explain.

James D. Tschechtelin:

About 2/3 of my classes are online. The others are face-to-face or hybrid. While I don't have a preference, I'm especially delighted to get feedback from students about how they appreciate the features that I incorporate in my online classes.

Interviewer:

Please tell us about your chosen discipline-i.e., what made you interested in the area initially? What do you do to stay current in your discipline? What do you like best about teaching in your discipline?

James D. Tschechtelin:

I have been interested in management and leadership since my college days. I was in student government, and got the opportunity to work with college administrators from deans to the president. I recall thinking, "I can do that!" That youthful immodesty got me started in the study of leadership, management, and organizational behavior.

My consulting keeps me in touch with current issues and reading in the field helps me to stay abreast. I also keep up with organizational behavior (and organizational misbehavior! ) in the business pages. I often turn these real situations into case studies for use in my classes.

It's so real and it's so important. You don't have to teach about abstractions or about things at a strictly conceptual level. Nearly everyone has experiences working for and living with an organization. They have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly close up. And it's so important. The shuttle Columbia was lost, in part, due to a failure at NASA to recognize problems in change its organizational culture.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge? Are there any special challenges to teaching your discipline online?

James D. Tschechtelin:

Helping students to structure their time and priorities to succeed in the class. From the beginning of the course, I share information about the characteristics of students who succeed. Then, I ask veteran students to share their "secrets of success" in online classes with others. In addition, I provide a lot of feedback to students in the early weeks of class if they are getting behind.

This is an easy question to answer! Too many students sign up for three or more courses while working full-time and having home responsibilities. They are not programming themselves for success when they do that. I hope that UMUC would include more guidance and "warnings" about the hazards of over-committing on their course loads. This guidance would be given in many places and repeated often in the material that students see on the website and as they register.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline?

James D. Tschechtelin:

Get closer to the discipline. Take a course in it. See if the content feels comfortable and natural. Talk to a friend who is doing work in that area and ask a lot of questions.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students?

James D. Tschechtelin:

It's the two Cs: convenience and cost. UMUC has such a great variety of courses online, face-to-face, hybrid, and EXCEL credit for life experience.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members?

James D. Tschechtelin:

There is a great deal of support in terms of professional development. That's terrific!

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC?

James D. Tschechtelin:

Talk to the Academic Director of the discipline in which the person is interested in teaching. Set up a meeting with him or her.