Q&A with Joseph Gallo and Harold McCullough

The Center for Organizational Leadership recently established two Blackboard communities for its undergraduate and graduate programs. In the conversation that follows, Joseph Gallo and Harold McCullough comment on why it did so and what this technological tool has meant to their unit.

Q: More and more faculty members seem to be taking advantage of Blackboard to communicate with students, but why did the center begin using it?

A: With a student population of 130 undergraduate students and 70 graduate students, it’s important to be sure they’re as up-to-date on the center’s activities as possible. But like every other unit, we sometimes have difficulty keeping students informed. For example, there was a recent change in the title of one of the core courses in the undergraduate organizational leadership program. Blackboard was an effective way of communicating with our students as soon as possible about this important change. Other examples include announcements about internships and job opportunities. So we decided to try using blackboard to communicate with our students in a timely way about the center’s programs and activities. In the spring quarter, we’ve planned several activities such as the annual MA LER Spring Awards Dinner and the MA LER Strategy Session for Securing a Job in Human Resources. We don’t want students to miss these events, so information about them will be posted as appropriate.

Q: Is this the only way you now attempt to reach students?

A: Since we initiated the use of Blackboard as a communication tool for our undergraduate and graduate students, we noticed some economies of scale. However, as we said, it’s not a perfect system, and we have to continue using other methods of communication such as mailings and asking faculty to make announcements in their classes. This is only one of several ways that we attempt to inform our students about the center’s activities.

Q: How have students responded? Do they seem to find it beneficial, and are you able to tell how many are using it?

A: Although we haven’t had a lot of responses, the ones we have received have been favorable. Students seem to appreciate the information they’re getting. Most recently, someone sent us an email that said, “Thank you! I found the information about internships very useful. I look forward to future announcements.”

Q: When we were talking earlier, you said you were also motivated by UC21. What did you mean by that?

A: If you recall, one of the directives of UC|21 is Place Students at the Center. The center’s Blackboard communities are a key mechanism to inform students of the opportunities that we provide. This is a way to meet students’ need to have important information about the center and to provide them with information about opportunities to fulfill their academic and career objectives.