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.

John L. Barbato

The decision to become a UMUC faculty member was not made on my own. I became a UMUC faculty member because of my father. My dad retired from the Air Force after thirty years of active duty, went into the field of education as a college administrator, 'retired' once again, and became a UMUC faculty member. He taught for UMUC Europe for 17 years. I was earning my MBA with financial assistance from my father. I had visions of using my degree to re-enter the private sector, supervise people, wear the suits, and make the big bucks. My father offered me a deal. He told me that he would turn my loan into a grant if I did 'something' for one year that would entail a service to the community. He suggested I join him and teach for UMUC Europe. I did the math and sent my application package to Heidelberg. On April 1st, 1990, I had my first teaching assignment in Geilenkirchen and Bremerhaven. I was expected to travel between teaching sites. That's why I decided to become a UMUC faculty member. However, what keeps me a UMUC faculty member, (aside from the fact that it's just plain fun) is the satisfaction derived from the content of the job, the opportunities of the job, the context of the job, but most of all, it is the students.

I have owned and currently own a variety of businesses, do consulting work, am requested as a keynote speaker, and volunteer in my community.  I think my "Ah-Ha" moment in my teaching career came in October of 2011. I was teaching downrange in Bosnia, and the operations tempo and tension were extremely high. During the class break, a student (who was about 20 years old and a soldier) came up to me and thanked me for providing classes while he was deployed. He said, and I'll never forget, "Thanks. You know, I'm working 12 to 16 hour days 7 days a week and scared. However, for 3 hours twice a week, I get to come to class, and it just takes my mind off everything except what we're talking about concerning business. Every time I hear someone say 'WalMart' or 'McDonalds,' it also reminds me what we're doing over here." I think it was then that I truly realized the significance of what I and UMUC were doing.

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

I can only describe my teaching style as subjective, intuitive, situational, and dependent upon the nature and content of the course.Some courses are cognitive and skill based, whereas other courses are affective requiring attitudinal and behavioral changes. I also consider the students in the class.

I must admit that I am a bit more directive and autocratic in my lower-level classes because there are certain salient concepts that must be understood in order to move into higher-level courses. I don't tell students what to think (they have to do that for themselves) but rather how to think about an issue or concept and its application to their thinking process. This is part of the transformation process. Someone can have all the information there is to know, but it's how that information is used and turned into knowledge to make decisions that becomes a student's individual transformation.

I believe my approach to teaching has been influenced by the primary disciplines in which I teach, Business and Management. I have been pontificating about the virtues of particular business concepts such as motivation, training and learning, making decisions, etc., so I have internalized them and practice what I preach in the classroom.

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

I don't know if it's special or unique, but I use a holistic approach to every class and strive for I call academic intimacy. By holistic, from a business and organizational perspective, I perceive each student as three-dimensional: as a person, as a professional, and as a specialist in a particular business field. The student is a 'person' first. Their individual socialization process and experiences result in their values, attitudes, and paradigms. The person then becomes the 'professional.' The professional is one who exists within the context of a career through a series of organizational experiences. The professional becomes the 'specialist.' The specialist is one who selects a specific career field and path. By 'academic intimacy,' I believe that students take classes and pursue a degree in order to broaden their future opportunities. In every class I ask every student one of the most difficult questions, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" to get students to begin to think about it, and then define and focus on what I call their "ME" thing. I think this is one of the most important things a student can learn in my classes. I tell each student "…this class is about you and knowing what your own "me" thing is." Knowledge is essential for personal, professional, and career-specific decision-making. 'Academic intimacy' involves the student's person-professional-specialist association and how this specific course can characterize that intrapersonal relationship.  

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

Establish trust and then build holistic relationships, teams, and networks. I am an empathic instructor and an intuitive communicator. I think my greatest asset as a faculty member is my ability to build trust and establish individual relationships with each student in the class and thenalign their expectations with mine. I do this with every student during the first class meeting. The first session of every class is done like an orientation process to ensure they understand what they are about to undertake during the duration of the class. When meeting students for the first time, I try to glean a bit of perspective from each student regarding why they're taking the course and what they expect to learn. Fortunately, I have a memory (some say uncanny) for names and associations. After the first class, I have everyone's name down and an idea of their aspirations for the course. This usually results in sense of cohesion and collegiality among students and myself. We are all here for the same reason: to laugh and learn.

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.

John L. Barbato

I have been a part of the change in education delivery formats. I have been teaching courses in the face-to-face classroom for more than 20 years. I have been doing Distance Education on WebTycho for the past 10 years, and I have also done TelSat classes (synchronous satellite broadcast with students in different locations all over the world), and now hybrid classes. I've adapted to these new environments with ease. I don't make drastic changes in my courses because of the delivery format. The course objectives, the assignments, and the content of each class remain the same, and so does my teaching style and approach.

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?

John L. Barbato

I have been interested in business since I started selling Tootsie Roll Pops for 25 cents to classmates when I was 8 years old. Aside from being a practitioner in my field, the content of the job allows me to learn and evolve. As a teacher, I have to stay current and on top of my subject material. I have a 'few' course clearances and each class is new and different no matter how many times I've taught it. Things change; social values, technologies, economic conditions…and therefore the approach to each class must reflect those changes.

It is the desire to constantly improve myself personally and professionally that gives me an awareness of my teaching performance and the direction I need to go to reach certain specific goals. As I tell my students, "Nothing is ever perfect and no one knows everything about anything." I don't believe I will ever be fully satisfied with my performance as a teacher, and hope I never will.

I think within my discipline, I am the strongest in marketing. I say this for several reasons. First of all, it's just fun, and I enjoy the entire gamut of what marketing entails. Second, I have a lot of work-related experience in marketing in a variety of marketing specialties (sales force management, promotion management, retail management and brand strategies, etc.). I enjoy watching students take their past experiences as consumers and become marketers.

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 in teaching this subject matter online?  If yes, please explain what could be done to meet the challenges.

John L. Barbato

My biggest challenge, I would say, is concerning the family-related issues associated with financial decisions that must be made by students in my finance classes (FINC 322, MGST 140, MGST 198E/D). Those decisions that relate to having large amounts of debt and having to finance a child's education are sometimes hard for me. I don't have either children or debt. I usually try to overcome this weakness by inviting experts from the field as guest speakers to my class. I have the manager from the Loan Development Center of Community bank come in and do an analysis of each student's credit report. I've had the VA professionals come in and do a presentation regarding VA benefits and home buying. I've also had the Financial Aid Manager from UMUC come to the class and explain the process of student loans, grants, and other tuition assistance possibilities.

I believe the trend of harnessing even more technology in education will continue to grow. I am very excited to be working on a project that will totally revamp my Distance Education and Hybrid classes. I am working to make my classes much more interactive by creating a borderless classroom experience.  

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

Once students have an idea of where they're going, they will increase the benefit of each class by understanding how the knowledge will be used in the future.

Also, I try to provide an extensive preview of the course work in all of my syllabi. Like all work, this requires a commitment of effort and time. This brings me to my least enjoyable aspect of teaching: reminding students that every class and the work to be performed require a commitment of time and effort. In their enthusiasm or impatience to get a degree, some students don't realize the time commitment required to do a class. I put this time element in every syllabus and ask students to understand and realize what they are expected to commit to the class before they even enroll. 

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

UMUC students are for the most part not the traditional student. Many UMUC students either didn't have the opportunity to pursue a college degree, or if they did, they didn't complete the process. I believe UMUC students are extremely committed to their education because this is their opportunity to get the degree they didn't have the chance to get when they were 'fresh out of high school.' Many UMUC students work, have families, and must make sacrifices to attend classes and pursue their degrees. I value a student's commitment and take my responsibilities in my role as a teacher very seriously to assist students in their academic and professional pursuits. I think this is pervasive throughout UMUC and the students realize and appreciate it.

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

I have only taught for the UMUC European division, and I can say the unique opportunities of the job are extensive. Aside from having taught on four continents and experiencing different cultures, the faculty support is terrific. Administrators seem to have an empathic approach to each faculty member that goes beyond the classroom. That's what keeps me here at UMUC Europe.

My UMUC colleagues have also always been a very valuable source of knowledge and support. In that UMUC Europe doesn't have a quad or a faculty lounge, we do meet up both formally and informally. I get a lot of academic as well as emotional support from my faculty colleagues in that we are somewhat isolated in the sense that we do not interact on a daily basis. We can empathize with each other and remind each other of the importance of our jobs. We help each other professionally.  

Interviewer:

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

John L. Barbato

Share yourself holistically (who you are as a person, a professional, and a technical specialist in the field of Business and Management) with students and they'll do the same.

With regards to working for UMUC Europe, the context of the job, being in a military environment, comes naturally to me. I have been a military 'family member' all my life either by birth or through marriage. I grew up in a military environment; I understand it, and I respect it. I suggest the same for anyone interested in becoming a member of the UMUC Europe faculty.