The problem of skimpy attendance at faculty development events seems to afflict buckets of institutions. You’re not alone in this battle. Although you have probably heard a bunch of excuses by faculty for opting out of these events, I thought I’d open some of those old wounds with the comments I’ve heard. Maybe newbie developers will benefit.
FACULTY COMMENTS ON WHY THEY DON’T ATTEND
Here are a few comments from faculty. Take your meds and suck it in.
• “Last year’s speaker was horrible; I’m not going back.”
• “The event is a waste of my time.”
• “Who cares about these teaching topics? I know how to teach.”
• “The speaker sounds boring.”
• “My job is bringing in money and getting grants.”
• “I can’t relate to the topic.”
• “I don’t have the time. There are more important things I have to do. In fact, just about everything I do is more important than going to listen to these speakers.”
BOTTOM LINE: The message is that many faculty look for every reason not to attend rather than to consider any positive value to attend. (Sidebar: My simple and, perhaps, naïve notion about outside speakers on my campus always had been that I have a lot to learn and attending the event is a small time price to pay for something I might gain. What an idiot! What was I thinking?)
Back to reality. Tomorrow, I will suggest a dozen strategies to increase attendance at faculty development events. I hope they can help.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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