Imagining the Impact: The Story of 100 faculty
My name is Karen Costa, and I'm the creator of 100 Faculty. If you know me, you know that I often like to start with a story.
Faculty success wasn't always a passion of mine. I got into higher education because I wanted to help students, underresourced students in particular, to gain access to college. I started my career in higher education in 2002 working for a GEAR-UP funded college access program in Rhode Island. I loved working with my ambitious, smart, passionate, strong, and caring students.
I was also young and naive. I thought that if we could just help them gain access to college, through services like financial aid counseling, college tours, and scholarships, that they'd soon earn their college diplomas. I realized very quickly that college access and college success are two different challenges. Some of my students didn't persist past their first year, and since I knew them to be hardworking students who very much wanted to earn their degrees, this troubled me deeply. I returned to graduate school to study higher education, focusing on student retention and completion strategies.
In my early years as a college administrator, I was a student success evangelist. I believed that we (faculty, staff, and campus leaders) should do whatever we had to do in order to help our students succeed, even if it meant that we sacrificed ourselves in the process. I got burned out really quickly.
When I transitioned out of full-time administrative work to teach part-time, mostly remotely, my viewpoint started to shift. My primary role in higher education became teaching, and I spent more time with faculty and faculty developers. I saw firsthand how much most faculty want their students to succeed, how passionate they are about their teaching, and how they are often treated as a barrier to innovation and success, rather than partners in teaching and learning.
I realized that I had always been a voice for creating a culture of care for our students, but if faculty, staff, and campus leaders were treated only as a means to an end, was that really a culture of care?
I have come to realize that faculty, staff, student, and institutional success are interdependent. I believe that creating a culture of care means that everyone on campus is valued. No one is treated as a means to an end. Yes, we know that when faculty succeed, students succeed too. And, it's also true that faculty success is worthy in its own right.
A few months ago, I spent some time journaling about my work and future. I wondered in my writing how could I contribute to the greater good? To making the word "higher" in higher education really mean something? What talents could I bring to the table?
I wrote this in my journal that day: If I help 100 students, I help 100 students. But if I help 100 faculty, I not only impact those 100 faculty, but through them, potentially thousands of students. That realization felt important, and it helped me to clarify my role in higher education.
I want faculty to succeed because they are human beings. Period.
I want faculty to succeed because I believe that when people are confident, supported, and empowered in their work, that the world becomes a better place.
I want faculty to succeed for the good of our students, our staff, our institutions, and our communities.
My goal is to empower 100 faculty with courses, events, resources, and workshops to support their success. And perhaps someday, that 100 will become 1000. And from there, who knows?
What if every teacher in American higher education had access to fun, positive, empowering, supportive, and evidence-based professional development and learning experiences?
Faculty success wasn't always a passion of mine. I got into higher education because I wanted to help students, underresourced students in particular, to gain access to college. I started my career in higher education in 2002 working for a GEAR-UP funded college access program in Rhode Island. I loved working with my ambitious, smart, passionate, strong, and caring students.
I was also young and naive. I thought that if we could just help them gain access to college, through services like financial aid counseling, college tours, and scholarships, that they'd soon earn their college diplomas. I realized very quickly that college access and college success are two different challenges. Some of my students didn't persist past their first year, and since I knew them to be hardworking students who very much wanted to earn their degrees, this troubled me deeply. I returned to graduate school to study higher education, focusing on student retention and completion strategies.
In my early years as a college administrator, I was a student success evangelist. I believed that we (faculty, staff, and campus leaders) should do whatever we had to do in order to help our students succeed, even if it meant that we sacrificed ourselves in the process. I got burned out really quickly.
When I transitioned out of full-time administrative work to teach part-time, mostly remotely, my viewpoint started to shift. My primary role in higher education became teaching, and I spent more time with faculty and faculty developers. I saw firsthand how much most faculty want their students to succeed, how passionate they are about their teaching, and how they are often treated as a barrier to innovation and success, rather than partners in teaching and learning.
I realized that I had always been a voice for creating a culture of care for our students, but if faculty, staff, and campus leaders were treated only as a means to an end, was that really a culture of care?
I have come to realize that faculty, staff, student, and institutional success are interdependent. I believe that creating a culture of care means that everyone on campus is valued. No one is treated as a means to an end. Yes, we know that when faculty succeed, students succeed too. And, it's also true that faculty success is worthy in its own right.
A few months ago, I spent some time journaling about my work and future. I wondered in my writing how could I contribute to the greater good? To making the word "higher" in higher education really mean something? What talents could I bring to the table?
I wrote this in my journal that day: If I help 100 students, I help 100 students. But if I help 100 faculty, I not only impact those 100 faculty, but through them, potentially thousands of students. That realization felt important, and it helped me to clarify my role in higher education.
I want faculty to succeed because they are human beings. Period.
I want faculty to succeed because I believe that when people are confident, supported, and empowered in their work, that the world becomes a better place.
I want faculty to succeed for the good of our students, our staff, our institutions, and our communities.
My goal is to empower 100 faculty with courses, events, resources, and workshops to support their success. And perhaps someday, that 100 will become 1000. And from there, who knows?
What if every teacher in American higher education had access to fun, positive, empowering, supportive, and evidence-based professional development and learning experiences?