VOLUME XI, NUMBER 2

#8 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

E UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

foi Vits/ ake) =

ae

 

Rewarding Community College Scholarship

Picture this. Itis a balmy evening and the city’s best
hotel gleams with lights. In a second floor room, the
college president walks across the deep carpet. He is
followed by the chairman of the college board, and the
executive director of the state system is already greeting
guests. Crystal wine goblets shine from a corner table,
and the attendant arranges the last pieces of pineapple
ona center table. A reception for foundation donors or
state legislators? Far from it.

Approximately 50 guests arrive. They engage
naturally in the acceptable “reception” format. The
chatter is somewhat normal for such a gathering; but
also it is excited with such comments as “We've never
done this before,” “This is wonderful,” and “It's about
time.” A yellow program, printed by the computer
praphics students, announces a “reading.” At the
appointed time, a poetic rendition is delivered by a
faculty member from the English department. Who is
the audience? Itis the faculty and staff of a technical
college who each, in the past year, published an article
in a significant journal or presented a paper to profes-
sional peers at a regional or national mecting.

The poem, the refreshments provided by the college
foundation, and the thank-you’s of the president and
others not only served to say that the “extra” work done
in the name of scholarship is appreciated, but also pro-
vided these faculty with magnificent motivation to be
back at next year’s Author's Reception. The whole
affair was an innovative way to both empower and
reward those who produce. It also cost less than $250.
It was innovative because it was a first. It was also
unusual for a technical college! It empowered those
faculty and staff who were “authors” because it pre-
sented their work as important to the most influential
people in the college.

Even collecting the information about scholarship
was a new activity at our two-year college. When the
annual activity sheets of faculty and staff were tallied,
we were thrilled. In 1986-87, faculty from our college
presented over 40 papers in 19 states and two foreign
countries. These faculty also published 12 articles in
nationally-referced journals. They did not receive a pay
raise for their scholarship. They weren’t even asked to

 

EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

do it, and they persisted in spite of 18-20 classroom

contact hours each week. Our college, like most com-

munity colleges, had no way of “rewarding,” Ict alone
encouraging, faculty scholarship. The Author’s

Reception gave us the power to do both.

The reception also produced other outcomes. When
news media were informed of the accomplishments of
the college’s faculty, two important stories were fea-
tured by local newspapers. This year we noticed a sig-
nificant increase in scholarship.

Over the last two years, a number of innovative
programs to empower and reward faculty have been
implemented at our college. The Author’s Reception is
one which adds a classy thank-you to the college's
climate for productivity. Another program, PRICE
(Program Reward for Innovative and Creative Excel-
lence), features competition between departments for a
few thousand dollars to complete an innovative project.
The Incentive Travel Program matches a faculty
member’s departmental or personal travel contribution
if a paper is being presented and all other funds are
exhausted.

*

1. If you want your rewards to be noticed, do some-
thing that isa first, or something unexpected.

2. If you want rewards to be motivational, do some-
thing that shows genuine, personal appreciation.

3. If you want the rewards to be challenging, repeat
and make them a part of your college culture; this
will build expectations.

4. Routinely collect information about faculty and staff
scholarship.

5. Don’t Iet the lack of big money deter you. The PRICE
awards assisted six departments for $9,000, and the
incentive travel is only $5,000. |

6. Express clearly why scholarship, the receipt of |
grants, community services, and teaching are all
important and worthy of reward.

Reid A. Holland, Vice President, Educational Affairs

For further information, contact the author at Midlands
Technical College, P.O. Box 2408, Columbia, SC 29202.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin

4/