ABSTRACT
This manuscript describes a certification program housed within a Midwestern,
medium-sized university whereby qualified participants can become certified
trainers and consultants. It is a joint venture among three units at the institution.
The article describes the program’s requirements; assessment techniques;
projects and clients, and the deliverables and benefits to clients, students,
and the participating departments. In addition, it discusses how this program
can be implemented at other schools, and the lessons we have learned.
A public comprehensive university is typically a solid, middle-range state
institution that balances teaching and research (Dalbey, 1995). By filling
distinctive, profitable niches, most universities seek ways to separate themselves
from similar institutions in their geographic region, thus, to acquire more
and better qualified students. For example, Ball State University, situated
right between three research-oriented Big Ten Schools, has positioned itself
as an institution that promotes innovative, inter-departmental teaching and
immersive learning partnerships that provide students with experiential education
opportunities. It is “Education Redefined” (Ball State University,
retrieved October 30, 2008 from www.bsu.edu).
The partnership involved in “Education Redefined” is multi-functional.
It can be a model for other institutions that are interested in developing
similar programs. It can initiate dialogue between academic departments and
more community-service oriented arms of an institution. It can facilitate
connections with local communities and neighboring universities. And finally,
it has the potential to significantly improve the academic experience for
its graduate students.
Across the nation, and certainly at Ball State, there
is a steadily growing call for innovative teaching and learning formats. Instructors
are looking for strategic ways to truly involve students in the learning process
(Smart & Csapo,
2007). Learning through applied projects has been growing in popularity since
the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration published
its 1997 survey (Sellnow & Oster, 1997), which was then replicated in
2004 (Oster-Aaland, Sellnow, Nelson, & Pearson, 2004). Although these
articles focused on extending the classroom into philanthropic ventures, the
intense local application of learning in our program is consistent with the
benefits of service learning. Simply put, in our program the students learn
by providing services. The partnership Ball State University’s Department
of Communication Studies has with the Certified Training Consultant (CTC)
Institute is remarkably adept at creating this link between the classroom
and the public sphere.
Program Overviews
Overview of the Graduate Program in the Department of Communication
Studies
The Department of Communication Studies graduate program offers students
the opportunity to pursue advanced study in a variety of areas, including
applied and organizational communication, interpersonal communication, and
rhetorical studies (Ball State University Graduate Catalog, 2007). The Master
of Arts in Communication Studies is divided into two educational tracks: Communication
Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and Organizational and Professional Communication
Development (OPCD). As the name implies, the OPCD track supports applied professional
development within organizational settings. Along with their regular coursework,
students are required to take Communication Training in Organizations (COMM
650) and Issues in Communication Consultation (COMM 653). Students enrolled
in COMM 650 are placed in groups and are then required to develop and present
a customized training seminar for a local organization or business. Students
enrolled in COMM 653 are also required to conduct a customized communication
audit for a local organization or company.
Overview of the Certified Training
Consultant (CTC) Institute
In the mid 1980s,
the Center for Organizational Resources (COR), in cooperation with the Central
Indiana chapter of the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD),
established the Certified Training Consultant (CTC) Institute. Its intent
was to develop the training skills of faculty content experts to meet the
growing training needs of regional business and industry. In other words,
faculty members were being called on to apply lessons learned to actual business
practices and scenarios.
It soon became apparent, however, that employees
of various businesses and within industry wanted the opportunity to become
certified in training and consulting. As one participant suggested, "This
is a must for anyone already in training and development, human resources,
upper management, or consulting. The diversity of the instructors and their
personal experiences is tremendous (CTC Institute, retrieved October 30, 2008
from www.bsu.edu/cor/ctc/).”
COR
discovered that many of the early CTC Institute participants had been shuttled
off to training facilitation settings by their employers with no information
or assistance on developing reasonable adult education programs or content
development methods. Also, in a period of corporate downsizing, other participants
wanted to develop a back-up plan for the future, or simply to begin a private,
part-time business. Over the past 21 years, the program has been revised from
a 10-week schedule to a 6-week schedule in order to offer fewer, but more
intensive sessions that met the scheduling needs of the participants. The
CTC Institute Program is typically offered once or twice a year and has been
completed by over 1,000 participants (CTC Institute Website retrieved, November
30, 2007 from www.bsu.edu/cor/ctc/).
Additionally, organizations often requested that the CTC Institute be customized
for their specific needs and employees.
CTC Institute Open Enrollment/Public
Option
The CTC Institute developed an
open enrollment option for the general public. It’s
arranged in six three-hour training sessions: (1) What It Takes to be a Trainer
or Consultant, (2) Analyzing the Client’s Need, (3) Training Implementation
and Evaluation, (4) Establishing Your Practice, (5) Innovative Learning Approaches,
(6) From Contact to Contract. Each CTC training session is taught by a content
expert, some with over 25 years of successful consulting/training practices.
Participants must attend five of the six sessions, pass a participant assessment,
and complete a relevant work- or practice-based project approved in advance
and assessed by a team of qualified evaluators (D. Boyd, personal communication,
November 13, 2007).
Certified Training Consultant Institute Student On-Campus
Option
The CTC Institute has also developed an on-campus option for graduate
students of the College of Communication, Information and Media. To make sure
that the content information covered by the public CTC is also covered in
the on-campus option, two of the public session speakers are guest speakers
in either COMM 650 or COMM 653. The speakers cover (1) From Contact to Contract
(e.g, promoting your services, negotiating the contract), and (2) Establishing
Your Practice (e.g., developing a business plan) In addition, the students
fulfill the same post-CTC Institute open enrollment requirements, including
the completion of the participant assessment, and a relevant training or consulting
project evaluated by a committee (CTC Institute, retrieved November 30, 2007
from www.bsu.edu/cor/ctc/).
When their proposals are approved students have three months to complete the
project after graduation. Open public enrollment participants have to finish
within two months from the time of approval, or four weeks from the last course
in the series.
Projects and Clients
Over the years the students have worked with a variety
of organizations. The end products provided for these organizations have included
communication skills training, listening training, and interviewing training
just to mention a few examples. From the consulting prospective the team’s
services have helped in areas such as determining employment improvement opportunities
at a state operated employment agency, restructuring needs for a state level
youth agency, and determining the communication needs of foster parents with
their foster children to mention a few.
Clients for the individual projects
come from many sources. If an organization is paying an employee to become
certified, the project may benefit that particular organization. Additionally,
projects might emerge from personal contacts or personal interest--a person
who is considering starting his or her own consulting firm, for example, may
choose to write a business plan. Likewise, a participant could choose to develop
a training program or a marketing plan for future use (D. Boyd, personal communication,
November, 29 2007).
Each student training team and participating organization
is unique, resulting in some interesting situations. For example, we had one
student team who voted a team member off because he would not become involved
or attend any meetings. Needless to say, the class instructor became the conflict
manager. A second unique situation occurred when a student team was conducting
training at a fire station and the participants were called to a fire—abruptly
ending the session. Possibly the most confusing situation occurred at a nursing
home where the student team was to provide communication skills training for
the nursing staff. Members of the afternoon nursing staff were to come to
work one and one-half hour early and attend the training. Members of the morning
staff were to stay one and one-half hour after their work time for the training.
This was not clearly understood by the nursing staff participants so the training
team had participants coming and going during both of the hour and a half
training sessions.
Benefits
So, what is the upside to this program? Departments participating
in these partnerships benefit in many ways. First, the most obvious deliverable
from the overall program is recruitment. Since the first year that CTC Institute
was offered, students indicated that they selected the OPCD track largely
because of the practical application of theory and the availability of the
certification. Second, it draws students from other graduate programs, as
well as those not affiliated with the university through the public option.
This increases interdisciplinary activities and promotes an improved understanding
of other departments and the university in general. Third, it exposes department
and university resources to the community. It is a unique “town and
gown” opportunity (Cooke & Williams,
2004). Finally, the program offers an additional opportunity for service and
networking within the local community.
The CTC Institute and COR benefit from
the fresh ideas and energy of the bright and talented participants. It also
is a way for the organization to develop a gifted pool of potential trainers
for its own future programs. Finally, when the participants, in their place
of employment, find the need for additional training in their organizations,
they know that COR exists and may use it for training and consulting.
For
the participants, certification helps them become more marketable. Professional
certification sends the message that the participants have expanded their
knowledge base and skill level by seeking training and education beyond a
traditional university curriculum. The program sets participants apart from
other candidates by giving them the valuable hands-on experience that employers
are always looking for. It also provides networking opportunities for students
via CTC employees, guest presenters, project judges, and client connections.
For the client, CTC certification offers organizations and businesses services
which normally are expensive, if not cost-prohibitive, but are free-of-charge
through the program. CTC is also a unique way to build better relationships
between the community and the university.
Assessment
Both the CTC Institute and the individual participant projects
are regularly assessed. The overall certification program is assessed in a
number of ways. First, participants evaluate every individual session on items
such as stating and achieving session goals, handouts and other materials
used in the session, the instructor’s style, and suggestions
for improvement. The overall curriculum is also evaluated at the end of the
program, looking at program correspondence and literature, registration procedures,
quality of instructors and facilities, strengths and weaknesses of the program,
and a general overall rating of the program (D. Boyd, personal communication,
October 3, 2008).
Individual projects are assessed by a committee of two to
four people, depending on the type of project. The project is assessed on
the implementation of session content. There is also an overall assessment
by the committee of the project’s strengths and weaknesses
(D. Boyd, personal communication, October 3, 2008).
Lessons Learned
Unfortunately, not all of the students who participate in
the program actually complete the certification. We have learned that marketing
the certification program is key to maintaining student interest. Instructors
need to stress the importance of certification throughout the graduate program.
The final project that is to be completed, however, is not for credit and
is not a specific part of the graduate program. This three-month period generally
follows the students’ graduation when they are busy with job searching
and beginning their careers. Therefore, to ensure the completion of the certification,
we encourage the students to finish the project while enrolled in their final
semester.
Students often complete a training program as the final project
since many of them do not have the business knowledge to write a business
plan. We could facilitate these students’ professional
development by requiring specific business courses in the certification curriculum,
by affording the students the option of developing a business plan and consulting
project, or by preparing them through a training seminar.
How to Proceed if
Your University
Does Not
Have a Center for Organizational Resources
When an institution does not have a department
or office such as COR, it can still develop a certification program. The communication
department could join with another department or college (perhaps Business)
and cooperatively develop a certification program. Most of these programs
are from 15 to 24 credit hours and are usually approved by the university’s
graduate school. On the other hand, a department may choose to match its curriculum
to an existing certification program. Under this model, students graduating
from the department are well prepared to take the certification exam either
upon commencement or after they have completed the required number of years
in the field. Finally, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)
notes 21 different certifications available (ASTD website, retrieved March
24, 2008, www.astd.org/content/).
Departments could investigate these options to determine if any would be appropriate.
Conclusion
Blending the existing CTC Institute, a program designed and implemented
by the Center for Organizational Resources, with the Organizational and Professional
Communication Development (OPCD) track of the Department of Communication
Studies has enhanced learning, provided opportunities for better understanding
between college departments within the College of Communication, Information
and Media; and has increased the quantity and quality of community service.
All of these activities support and enhance the institution’s
commitment to innovative partnership between disciplines and the community.
References
American Society for Training and Development, retrieved March
24, 2008 from www.astd.org/content/.
Ball
State University, retrieved October 30, 2008 from www.bsu.edu.
Ball State University. (2007, Spring). Ball State University graduate catalog
2007-2009.
CTC Institute Website, retrieved, November 30, 2007 from www.bsu.edu/cor/ctc/.
CTC
Institute, retrieved October 30, 2008 from www.bsu.edu/cor/ctc/.
Center
for Organization Resources, retrieved November 30, 2007 from www.bsu.edu/cor/aboutcor/.
Cooke,
L. & Williams, S. (2004). Two approaches to using client projects
in the college classroom. Business Communication Quarterly, 67(2), 139.152.
Dalbey,
M. A. (1995, Fall). What is a comprehensive university and do I want to work
there? ADE Bulletin, number 111.
Oster-Aaland, L. K., Sellnow, T. L., Nelson,
P. E., & Pearson, J. C. (2004).
The status of service learning in departments of communication: A follow-up
study. Communication Education, 53(4), 348-356.
Sellnow, T. S. & Oster,
L. K. (1997). The frequency, form, and perceived benefits of service learning
in speech communication departments. Journal of the Association for Communication
Administration, 26, 190-198.
Smart, K. L, & Csapo, N. (2007). Learning
by doing: Engaging students through learning-centered activities. Business
Communication Quarterly, 451-457.
Dr. Susan Klingel-Dowd is in the Department of Communication Studies, Ball
State University, Muncie, IN, sklingel@bsu.edu.
Dr. Peggy B. Fisher is in the Department of Communication Studies, Ball State
University, pfisher@bsu.edu.
Dr. Mathew Fisher is in the Department of English and Foreign Languages and
Director of the John Duns Scotus Honors Program, University of St. Francis,
Fort Wayne, IN 46808, mfisher@sf.edu.
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