The Walter Cronkite School and The Poynter Institute are launching a certificate program that is expected to start in early 2015 to help adjunct faculty adjust to teaching in the classroom at journalism schools across the country.
Cronkite Associate Dean Kristin Gilger said the school will bring expertise and topics to the table, while Poynter will bring an “established platform for online education and an established brand for journalists and educators.”
Although numbers differ each semester, the Cronkite school generally houses 70 adjunct faculty. Gilger said she feels the Cronkite school has successfully trained its faculty enough to offer its expertise on adjunct education to a national audience.
Gilger said many adjunct faculty at universities nationwide are not sufficiently prepared for the transition into the classroom. She added that adjunct faculty sometimes are not as experienced as full-time faculty in regards to management tools, technology, engagement and how to grade student work, among other things. This program is meant to bridge the gap between the professional realm and the educational realm.
That gap is one Richard Ruelas, an adjunct faculty at ASU, said he would have gladly filled if he could have taken a similar program prior to entering the classroom. The skills Ruelas initially lacked in the classroom, such as how to form lesson plans or how to hold the attention of a class of more than 100 students, are what the program addresses.
“It would’ve been very helpful when I started,” Ruelas said. “I was the first in my family to go to college. I never entertained the idea of teaching before the position was offered to me.”
Ruelas said “getting the knowledge out of your head and into the notebook of the student” is the basic problem many adjuncts face. It’s a matter of presenting an adjunct’s experience and knowledge in a way students understand.
Ruelas said reporters have a lot to offer, since they bring to the classroom “off-the-street, this-just-happened” examples from their daily experiences in their line of work.
Vicki Krueger, the manager at Poynter’s News University, said although adjuncts are receiving the training, students ultimately gain the most benefit from the program.
This program combines the best aspects of “learning by doing” while still providing the coaching and feedback of a live instructor, all on the participant’s own schedule, Krueger said.
Having the program in an online setting is key to its practicality, Gilger said. Krueger expressed a similar view and said while online education differs from in-person education, the program integrates the desirable aspects of both in-person and online teaching.
Participants are not only listening to lectures or reading text; the program is based on highly interactive teaching, Krueger said. She added that the online-based program also offers a flexible schedule and still provides the coaching and feedback of a live instructor.
Gilger said the curriculum for the program is outlined, but mainly developed on paper. Poynter is working to develop video, audio and the online platform for the certificate. It is anticipated that the program, which includes readings, online work, live feedback and assessment, will take seven to 10 hours.
Upon successful completion, participants will be awarded a certificate. Since the partnership was announced, many journalism schools have expressed interest. The program is expected to launch in early 2015 with plans to prepare faculty for fall 2015.
Contact the reporter at cranshaw@asu.edu.
