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.

Michael P. Sweeney:

Like all of us, I have many roles in life that often complement and sometimes conflict with each-other. Some roles that best describe me include: Husband, father, brother, teacher, storyteller, athlete, beer enthusiast.

After two decades of experience in face-to-face classes I started teaching online for UMUC about five years ago; mostly because I wanted to try something new. It has proven to be one of the most rewarding career choices that I have ever made. It forced me to seriously consider, for the first time, how I teach and how students learn. The lessons that I have learned from my experiences with UMUC have spilled over to enrich my face to face classes; renewing my enthusiasm for teaching and fundamentally changing my perception of the learning process.

When not teaching for UMUC I work full-time for Hillsdale College in South-Central Michigan where I hold the United Parcel Service Chair in Economics and Business Administration and serve as a Professor of Accounting.

There are so many people who have helped and influenced me over the years. I'll tell you a little bit about my first academic mentor. I started my undergraduate education as an English major at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I changed to Business Administration my junior year. (Some of my colleagues in the Liberal Arts jokingly say I "lost my way".) I signed up for Principles of Accounting I because it was required for my major. My teacher was Mr. Corradinni, a young, energetic new faculty member. At the time I was not, by any means, a stellar student. My choice of college was primarily dictated by my desire to compete on the track team (I did end up with a satisfying career in that regard.) However, up to this point I was used to not fully applying myself academically but still doing well enough to earn B's in most of my classes. In retrospect I was just drifting. I had no passion. This class, though, was different. Here was a teacher who thoroughly enjoyed what he did. Still, I tried coasting for the first few weeks and was rewarded with a D on the first exam; my first (and only) at Aquinas. Not knowing what to do I went to see my teacher outside of class (also a first). I can still see Mr. Corradinni sitting at his desk grading papers. I asked him what he thought I should do. He never even looked up. He said, "Maybe you should drop the class."

That stunned me. I left without a word. Later I became angry. "Drop the class? Me? Drop the class!?! I'll show him!"

Show him I did. I worked my tail off in that class for the rest of the semester. I discovered the satisfaction that comes from working hard on a complex problem until I discovered the solution. I ended up with a B+ in that class and from then on I was hooked. Mr. Corradinni became my mentor and friend. He helped me develop focus and passion and he is one of the reasons that I am a teacher today.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

I have come to realize that there is no "one size fits all" teaching method. Therefore, I try to provide several different methods for my students to learn. Textbooks, written notes, slideshow presentations, videos available online (produced at my desktop and also recordings of live classroom presentations), online self-test quizzes, homework feedback and classroom discussions are some of the tools and methods I currently use. My goal is to present the student with a variety of different, but complementary ways to learn.

Since my fist time teaching accounting in 1975, my experiences have influenced the way I teach. I continually tweak my classroom model. I try to incorporate one or two new teaching tools or methods each year.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

My most popular teaching tool seems to be online video. I discovered screen capture software soon after I began teaching for UMUC and now use it extensively both in my online and face to face classes. As bandwidth increases and software and hardware become more sophisticated, this type of learning tool will become ubiquitous. In my opinion it will dramatically change the face of education within the next decade.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

I try to be honest with my students. I know that learning finance and accounting can be dreary and intimidating to some, and I'm not afraid to address those issues, often with a joke. I also try to bring a little warmth and humor into my teaching. In face-to-face classes I typically interact with my students just before and just after class, talking about events of the day or other things that may or may not be class related. We just get to know each other. I find this makes me more approachable and makes the classroom environment less intimidating. I try to generate that same atmosphere in my online classes. I post an occasional "social" question in an appropriate area in class. My students' responses are a continual source of enjoyment and learning for me. My "Saturday Morning Posts," where I tell about recent events in my family and around our small mid-western town, have been so warmly received that a few years ago I set up a Yahoo Group where I re-post them for a hundred or so of my former students.

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.

Michael P. Sweeney:

I have enjoyed teaching online and face to face classes simultaneously for over five years. I am at the point where I where I would not want to give up either. I work in two mediums, online and face to face; and at two educational levels, undergraduate and graduate. This mix of mediums and levels continues to be a wonderful learning experience for me as lessons learned in one area serve enhance the other my efforts in other areas.

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?

Michael P. Sweeney:

My area of interest is accounting; management accounting in particular. Management accounting deals with information for internal decision making as opposed to external financial statements. As I am fond of telling my introductory students, financial accounting is rule-based while management accounting "has no rules"! Of course this is a simplification but it does have a basis in fact. Consequently, creativity, listening and communication skills are important as well as the analytical and quantitative skills normally associated with accounting.

In addition to being an academic I am also an accounting professional, having earned both the Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) and Certified Management Accountant (C.M.A.) designations. To stay current in accounting I read professional publications such as Strategic Finance as well as academic publications. I attend both professional and academic conferences and have written articles that have been published in professional and academic journals.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge?

Michael P. Sweeney:

My biggest challenge is to give students perspective. Teaching students to do complex nitty-gritty analysis can be challenging, but it is actually much easier than it is to impart an ability to step back from the details and put things into a broader perspective. I work at this constantly. It is my biggest joy and my greatest challenge. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it does not. I'll let you know when I have it figured out. ;-)

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

Some people are afraid of quantitative analysis. I've learned that while fear is sometimes not rational, it is real. I've also learned that sometimes it helps to confront the fear separately from the actual quantitative material. I do this by talking about fear in my classes; putting myself in my students' shoes and confronting those fears.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

As I mentioned earlier, my biggest challenge is to give students a broad perspective. Here are the three most important things that one should do in order to broaden one's perspective on accounting and business issues (listed in order of importance):

• Read the Wall Street Journal on a regular basis.
• Read the Wall Street Journal on a regular basis
• Finally: Read the Wall Street Journal on a regular basis.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

UMUC is a great school for working professionals who do not have the time, resources, or desire to attend school full-time. If you are looking for a particular degree, I would suggest you find out where UMUC graduates with that particular degree are getting jobs and what they are doing. If that is the kind of work you want to do and the type of company that you want to work for, then go for it.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

UMUC has a tremendous support infrastructure. From their hardware and software to their tremendous online research databases to the support staff; everything is top notch.

Interviewer:

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

Michael P. Sweeney:

I suggest you visit the web site www.umuc.edu