7 Questions for Incoming Teaching and Learning Program Director Kathe Pelletier

As many of you know, I recently retired from my position at EDUCAUSE. I am thrilled to announce that Kathe Pelletier will be leading the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community.

As a way to help you get to know Kathe better, I asked her some questions about her career and her ideas for the teaching and learning community.

Malcolm: What is the single most important message you have for the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) community?

Kathe: These are extraordinary times for higher education. The coronavirus outbreak has upended many campus traditions and practices, and we would be foolish to assume that stability is within reach any time soon. Our collective creative capacities are being stretched. We may be grieving the loss of loved ones or feel anxious about the safety of our students, families, staff, and ourselves.

As unsettling as these times may be, the most important message I have for the community is simply that we are here for you. I am stepping into some gigantic shoes, Malcolm, and the legacy you are leaving behind in the teaching and learning community, particularly the strength of that community, is one anchor that will see us all through. I am also convinced that EDUCAUSE must be more agile and responsive, providing resources and community-building opportunities that are timely and relevant to the problems we are facing right now. I'm excited about the reception of the EDUCAUSE QuickPolls, which have provided just-in-time insights about the community's response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the new Member QuickTalks, which are focused on conversation instead of presentation and are framed around topics that are of interest to the community. 

I will also be working with the ELI advisory board to dig into the insights we have already gleaned from sources like member surveys and focus groups we've conducted with the teaching and learning community. I'd like to send a huge shout-out to those of you in ELI who have participated in the focus groups or surveys! Overwhelmingly, we are hearing that members really value existing programming and see the needs of the teaching and learning community as unique from the broader EDUCAUSE community. I have also connected with the teaching and learning Community Group leads for ideas about how we can continue to support emergent needs for learning, networking and collaboration, and career advancement.

But as many opportunities as there are to respond to emerging member needs, there are just as many opportunities to reaffirm the core resources and experiences that have served the community for years.

Malcolm: What do you most want to learn from the community?

Kathe: One of the most humbling things about coming to EDUCAUSE is recognizing just how many different successful models for teaching and learning there are. I think I have the right background to add value, especially now when many campuses are turning to online or hybrid learning models, but there are just so many institutional contexts that are different from the ones that I've experienced. I come from institutions with largely centralized approaches to curriculum, instructional design, and advising. I'm less familiar with the nuances of navigating faculty governance, for example.

Even before joining EDUCAUSE as a staff member a few years ago, I was well aware that the strength of EDUCAUSE lies in its community members. One of my strategies for navigating the learning curve in my early days in this role is to intentionally reach out to the community to create opportunities for me to listen and learn. In the long term, that opportunity to learn is the most exciting part of the job. Every time I have moderated a webinar or reviewed a blog submission or attended a conference session, I have learned so much. I am eager to continue learning and serving the community by shining a light on the excellent work happening on campuses and building on the powerful community that already exists through your work, Malcolm.

Malcolm: What in your background has prepared you for the unique challenges that the teaching and learning community faces?

Kathe: I believe the experiences I have gained in my twenty-year career serving in a variety of roles that are directly involved with higher education teaching and learning and technology—as well as my natural tendencies as a connector of ideas, people, and systems—have prepared me for this new opportunity.

In many of my previous positions, my role was explicitly formulated to serve as a bridge between the academic side of the house and the more technical side. Many of the successes in my higher education endeavors were due in large part to my ability to bring together diverse roles and perspectives and facilitate a shared vision and collaborative, inclusive plans. I won't bore the community with the details of my résumé, but I'll offer a quick list of the roles I've held: academic advisor, director of academic support, director of curriculum, assistant vice president of academic quality and innovation, and associate vice president of competency-based education.

I have held a variety of positions over the last twenty years, and all of those roles have been at institutions with a long history of providing online education. Although technology is at the heart of the delivery model at each of my previous institutions (you can't teach or support students in an online learning environment without technology), I didn't really view myself as a "technology person." I respected and admired my IT counterparts, and I'd like to think we collaborated well toward the common objectives of helping students gain knowledge, skills, and credentials, and reach their goals while creating a smooth experience for faculty to do what they do best—teach.

I will be a fierce advocate for teaching and learning professionals in the higher education IT space and within EDUCAUSE. I understand the fine line that the community may be walking—leveraging technology to serve students in unique or innovative ways while also acknowledging the human element behind the teaching and learning process. I get that, and I won't allow that nuance to be lost in the broader EDUCAUSE community.

I also think that I have a lot to offer the community during this unique time when so many campuses are facing the need to more fully deploy online or hybrid delivery models. While working at an institution that is transitioning to remote delivery during the pandemic is different than working at an institution that built online programs from the ground up, I believe that my familiarity with online learning research—both academic and practical—as well as my practitioner experience will go a long way toward maintaining and building on the value of EDUCAUSE resources for our members.

Malcolm: What was the most impactful professional experience you have had and how has it affected your outlook and professional directions?

Kathe: My most impactful professional experience has to be conducting research for my dissertation. Not to get too nerdy, but my dissertation was an action research project with the goal of increasing collaboration between a curriculum team and a course-development team. I used an approach called appreciative inquiry, or AI (not to be confused with artificial intelligence!), a process that builds on what's working well to create a shared vision and action plan for the future. While there wasn't overt animosity between these two departments at the time, there was definitely a lack of trust, and we were spending a lot of time redoing work because we didn't have the structure, process, or communication channels to collaborate well. As a result, the faculty experience and the student experience were suffering. This was impactful because I got to experience the process of individuals realizing they had more in common with each other than they had previously thought—namely a shared passion for serving students—which brought them together and allowed them to enthusiastically co-create and get behind the new structures we established across departments. And in the long term, I was able to see the positive impact those structural and process changes made on the quality of the curriculum and courses.

Malcolm: What's happening with student success?

Kathe: I'm so glad you asked about student success. As some in the community may be aware, I've served as the EDUCAUSE director of student success for two years before stepping into this role. I really appreciated collaborating with you, Malcolm, as we explored the ways in which teaching and learning and student success intersect. It was that work that actually led me—and other members and EDUCAUSE staff—to realize that student success intersects with ALL of our audiences but in different ways. CIOs care about student success, but their needs are different than a director of a center for teaching and learning or an instructional designer, for example. EDUCAUSE will now be integrating student success across all of our programming in a more intentional way, much like the way we are addressing digital transformation and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). 

Malcolm: What are the ways you plan to connect with members?

Kathe: In short, I want members to know that I plan to listen, learn, and connect with them.

To that end, I have scheduled a Member QuickTalk on Friday, August 7, as an open forum for folks to share their hopes and dreams for teaching and learning. I'm also meeting with the teaching and learning advisory board as a group on Tuesday, August 4, and I'm in the process of scheduling one-on-one and small group calls with key members of the community to listen and learn.

In addition to meeting with folks, I am better acquainting myself with the publications and resources in the teaching and learning portfolio. I have a bit of a leg up on this since I've worked so closely with you over the past two years as co-editor of the Transforming Higher Ed blog, and as a partner in planning and running the ELI Annual Meeting and our online courses and webinars, for example, but I know there is still a lot to learn. I thrive on learning new things, and I'm excited about this opportunity to continue my learning journey.

In terms of connecting with the community, through my collaboration with you, Malcolm, I have met many teaching and learning community members who have attended the ELI Annual Meeting, participated in webinars and courses, served on advisory committees, and authored content for the Transforming Higher Education blog. I'm really excited to continue to get to know more of our amazing members and learn about the innovative and creative work happening on campuses. I'd love the opportunity to continue getting to know the community and welcome emails with ideas or questions, no matter how big or small. I invite anyone to contact me directly at [email protected] to share their questions, concerns, or creative ideas for teaching and learning at EDUCAUSE!

Malcolm: Tell us a little bit about your life outside of EDUCAUSE.

Kathe: Just like many others, I'm trying to balance being a parent to three kids, working from home, being a professional, and just being a human—and feeling stretched in all arenas. One thing that has surprised me over the last few months is that it's actually been kind of a blessing to be stuck at home. As a family, we've slowed the pace of our lives and have started really cherishing the little blessings, like noticing the butterflies in the back yard or the joy of circling the block on scooters. I've rediscovered some latent hobbies like knitting and gardening. Summer in St. Paul is pretty magnificent, so we're soaking in the sun and enjoying the bike paths and the lakes—all things that are safe to do at a distance.

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It's been a privilege and a pleasure for me to have worked with the teaching and learning community while I was with EDUCAUSE. I'm pleased that my connection with the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community will continue this year through my work on the 2020 Horizon Report. This community rocks! And it's an additional pleasure to leave the EDUCAUSE leadership for this community in Kathe's hands. She brings a great deal of dedication and experience to the teaching and learning mission, and I have enjoyed working with her for the past two years. Stay safe and well!

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Malcolm Brown is an EDUCAUSE Alumni.

Kathe Pelletier is the Director of the Teaching and Learning Program at EDUCAUSE.