In recent planning meetings with a university group (the Action Team of our Strategic Enrollment Planning Council) we reviewed data from surveys of college-bound high schoolers and high school guidance counselors. One area of interest to us was, what do they consider important in their decision-making about where to go for a bachelor's degree? A resounding majority in both groups stressed that the "quality of teaching" or "quality of the faculty" was very important in their decisions about where to go to college (or, in the case of the counselors, where to recommend that their students should go).
But how, I wondered, do we demonstrate to the public the "quality" of our teaching? I would resist any effort at calling our students a "product" and so, too, I'd resist efforts to say that our students are the primary evidence of our teaching quality. (Certainly our students' success points to our effectiveness.) Upon reflection, I think the "quality" of our teaching can be seen in a number of ways. We can show the experience and preparation of our faculty. We can highlight their great care and concern for students both inside and beyond the classroom. We can draw attention to faculty efforts to actively engage students in the research and learning so vital to post-secondary education.
In the end, I also want to be sure that we focus some attention on our faculty as the genuinely kind, helpful, and generous people that they happen to be. I don't believe it is an accident that so many of our faculty take leadership roles in civic, community, and religious groups. They volunteer countless hours to local, state, and national causes. They care, and they care deeply, about improving our world for the next generation. As I continue to develop a communications plan for the College of Arts and Letters, I intend to make efforts at telling the story of our wonderful faculty a central theme.