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Leadership Philosophy
I believe that I live in a friendly universe, where positivity breeds more positivity. I am a citizen of the world who draws energy from empowering others to reach their full potential. I believe that wellness and balance in life are essential and allow us to give from our abundant surplus rather than from our sustenance; therefore, I encourage all those with whom I work to invest in their self-care.
I ascribe to servant leadership and believe that, as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu said, to lead people, one has to walk behind them. While I humbly acknowledge that I do not and cannot know everything, I work tirelessly to improve myself in all aspects and make up in will and effort where I lack in talent or experience. I am concerned with the collective good and treat everyone as a full and equal human being.
I am passionate about the dynamics of 21st-century teaching and learning, particularly in the online-education realm, where I have always advocated for quality. I derive motivation from providing kind and holistic service to all those with whom I work.
Values
I value kindness, quality, integrity, creativity, positivity, diversity, faireness, and compassion.
Vision
One of my greatest teachers used to love the following quote: “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. My vision, therefore, is to be a servant/transformational leader that gently guides organizations, groups, and individuals into looking at things in ways that transform them into the best versions of themselves.
Mission
As an online higher education leader, I serve the areas of teaching/learning, research, and community outreach in support of organization-specific strategic plan, mission, vision, and values. Looking specifically at my leadership of online teaching and learning efforts, I aim to:
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- strike a balance in maximizing the accessibility, affordability, and quality of student’s active learning experience in authentic contexts, aligned with the realities of the complex and rapidly evolving global job market
- undergird those efforts with quality in the administration of online programs (at the level of institutional support, technology support, curriculum development, instructional design, course support, faculty support and development, student support and engagement, as well as evaluation and assessment).
Instructional-Design Philosophy
Instructional design sits at the core of the online academic experience and, combined with teaching acumen, contributes to the quality of the student’s learning experience. It is therefore critical that instructional design meet stringent quality standards, whereby program-level outcomes (PLOs) inform course-level outcomes (CLOs), which, in turn, inform module-level outcomes (MLOs); where there is alignment between outcomes, instruction, assignments, assessments, interactions, and choice of technology; where instruction is accessible; where there is frequent and substantive student-content, student-faculty, and student-student interaction; where there is support offered to students; and where the course is logically organized and easy to navigate.
Mission
As an instructional designer, my mission is to collaborate with faculty members to produce effective, efficient, and engaging learning experiences (at the document, lesson, course, certificate, and program level) while continuously improving the quality of instructional designs to meet or exceed nationally recognized standards.
Main Goals
As an instructional designer, my main, ongoing goals are to:
- strike a balance between maximizing the students’ learning experience and minimizing the faculty’s time through personalized instructional design and technology choices
- add value to online instruction by enhancing student-student and student-faculty interaction
- bring a high-quality, institution-specific signature look to all online courses
- meet and/or exceed nationally recognized eLearning quality standards
- create instruction compliant with current federal/state copyright and accessibility laws as well as regional and professional accreditation standards.
Teaching Philosophy
First and foremost, I am a mother, so I aim to serve each student with the same loving care and attention I show my own son. While knowledge used to be a privilege for my generation, it is a right for my son’s generation. I am not the sage on the stage but the guide on the side, the professional privileged to work with the generation that will move our city, county, state, nation, and world into a better tomorrow!
When I am in the classroom, regardless of whether the class meets face to face, online, or in a hybrid format combining both modalities, I make all decisions keeping in mind the realities of the world today, as well as the unique contexts and academic and professional needs of the students I teach. I also keep in mind that students are preparing for careers that may just be emerging at this time, so I focus on hard and soft skills, I foster critical thinking and innovation, as well as personal leadership.
When it comes to the nitty-gritty of the classroom, I aim to reduce the cognitive load needed to understand how the course is organized and, instead, have students focus their mental energy on active, authentic, and problem-based learning. I tap into gamification principles and involve students in creating an adaptive learning experience, allowing them to chose their path when it comes to the degree to which to engage with leadership principles and practice, the level of difficulty, their learning style preference, the day/time to get engaged with the course community, etc. I realize that I am helping shape adult learners, so I tap into their experiences as much as I prompt them to bring in facts from current events and the scientific literature. I embed teamwork opportunities into my courses, allowing students to use the safety net of our classroom to practice serving and/or leading a team. Whenever possible, I bring in a guest leader from the respective field, to expose students to current issues and give them the opportunity to ask questions of a leader in the field.
Most of all, I encourage learners to think beyond their student role by thinking, acting, and serving as the professionals they are preparing to be upon graduation.
Mission
My mission is threefold:
- to offer instruction that produces meaningful growth in those I teach,
- to steer those I lead toward acting with compassion, using facts, and doing the right thing, and
- and to bring about positive changes in the lives of those I serve.
