-- 30 --

Sitting in the college office awaiting the last videos being submitted for the final in Public Speaking. This semester the final was to do a simulated video job interview. More and more preliminary interviews are being held on google chat or skype and so I decided that this semester that would be the final project.  For nearly all of the time I have been teaching public speaking I have started the class by telling students improving the skill of public speaking would have a direct, positive impact on their personal bottom lines. That was my W-I-I-F-M (what's in it for me) statement to get them a reason for doing all of the speaking assignments that were part of the class. Closing with the video interview is something I should of thought of earlier but teaching here on the Coker College campus has been a constant learning experience and the idea just came this semester. The fact that it is my last semester as a college professor just underlines why there has been so much joy in this "job." Life-long learning is a concept we discuss all the time in this liberal arts academy and my experience as a professor has been my concrete example -- semester after semester.

 One of the major elements that I have focused on sharing with students throughout the 16 years I have been doing this job full time is the relevance of the classroom to the real world. One way of making that happen has been professionals in the field of communication who have shared their time in our classrooms.. There were many over the years who made instant positive impacts with their stories and they made a difference to our Coker students learning. I don't think anyone every said no. The photos here show only two examples.

For much of my life I  have had a penchant for sharing what I have been thinking, reading, studying and doing and the classroom has been a fertile ground for some of that kind of discussion. Dr. George Lellis gave me my first opportunity to teach and for years I was an adjunct in the Coker evening program teaching Public Speaking. Back in the days when I was working at Sonoco and also serving on the School Board, the classroom offered such a different experience that it was one I looked to for rejuvenation. Fortunately, that feeling continued once Dr. Lellis and the search committee gave me an opportunity to teach full time back in 2000.  It has been an enjoyable, fulfilling time of watching students grow while feeling my own growth at the same time. The colleagues with whom I have been fortunate to serve Coker and Coker students are among the smartest and most caring people with whom I have worked. They sure helped me grow year after year.

The Coker Community is such a vital part of my personal journey and my personal story that it is a bit difficult to be writing -30- in the headline instead of at the bottom of the story as is the old journalistic sign for THE END. But for college teaching it is -30-, which I really believe is just the transition to another headline of activity that will include all of the memories, experiences and relationships that were my identity as Professor Puff Daddy.
                                                        -30-

Coker College Semester at an End

A few minutes until there is a celebration/Holiday lunch to say good bye to the semester. One of the great things about working as a faculty member on a college campus is the ability to begin again in a new semester.

SPECIALTY SPEECHES
One of the highlights of the public speaking class (for the instructor) is the Specialty Speech, presented this year during the final exam period.
1 -- This speech directly relates to the use of public speaking skills in the students' real or imaginary lives.
2 -- It provides the opportunity for real fun or real-life speaking.

For example --
 a) one student was leaving the exam period to actually deliver the toast to her brother and his new bride later that afternoon.
b) another student, with a love of poetry, did a tribute to Poetry and the exhalted place it has in her life.
c) a golfer accepted the Green Jacket of the Masters and baseball player accepted a golf glove and one of the music majors accepted a grammy.  Fun stuff
d) had a really meaningful tribute to a mother by one of the students and lots more that made it a fun sort of assignment to review.

This testing period I also enjoyed having students pretend they were spokespeople for companies who were facing a crisis.  Admittedly, if it had been real some company lawyers would be scrambling right now but getting in front of a camera with a communication purpose is a good thing to have done, even if it becomes an aggravating part of a final exam.

Music Students Getting some solo time at Coker College

This Monday some of the voice and piano students at Coker College are going to be doing some end of semester solo performances. The concert is just one of many highlights of living on or near this dynamic liberal arts campus.  You can read more about the concert from SCNOW.com. You may also be surprised to read about a Hartsville-based program allowing high school students to participate in some accelerated learning opportunities in the arts on this college campus. It is an innovative and impressive program that gives unusual opportunities to high schoolers from both Hartsville High and the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.

Radio: The Port In The Storm - On The Media

Radio: The Port In The Storm - On The Media

One resource I try to ensure that my Coker College Introduction to Mass Communication students know is the radio program ON THE MEDIA.  Whether an undergraduate communication major, a communication instructor or a citizen needing to know more about the how/why/what of media -- this is a valuable resouce.  One of our book chapters was on radio and here is a great story showing how radio, an often forgotten medium, can come to the rescue in difficult times.  I think everyone thinking of themselves as life-long learners will want to know about this resource -- and maybe even contribute to its existence.

SGA at Coke College puts on a fun Celebrate Democracy Event

 Students enjoyed some food, snacks, lots of post-election results coverage and time with each other on Tuesday at the Coker College Student gathering area. SGA came up with the idea and did a nice job of putting the event together. And, they called it right when they decided they might get a crowd if they had some food. Pizza and tacos were the staples with some celebratory cake to add to the mix.

Hartsvillian Michael Baxley joined the students for a couple of hours duirng the viewing. Judge Baxley, he is a State Circuit Court Judge, said he was interested in getting a student perspective on the presidential race and said he enjoyed his time around the younger people.  Several students in the 8 a.m. speech class said they had stayed up for the results though several did admit to falling asleep before the election was called. A couple, however, had seen the concession speech and the victory speech and they still stayed awake for our review of the informative speaking process.  We did view clips of those two speeches because they did such a great job in demonstrating the power of a well presented talk.

Starting with the end in mind

Teaching a class in Coker College 101 this semester. It is a class whose objective is to help new students get off on the right track in their college lives.

Deanne Frye of the Coker Career Services center gives Coker 101 students the overview of services they can take advantage to get a jump start on life after four years in college.

 SERENDIPITY
We got very lucky for our first class as Devin Jennings, a May grad, was on campus and she agreed to come in and talk with the new Coker students about her college career and her life after Coker. She is a busy person and was a busy person as a student. I know her observations hit home with at least a couple of students in the class. Devin spent a busy summer dancing in Los Angeles and in Richmond and she is now heading for NYC for more dance study with the Joffrey Ballet.  The students heard from one like them what it takes to succeed. Devin's thoughts are helping them start with the end in mind. Again, thank you Devin.

 
CAREER CENTER
Keeping with the theme of starting with the end in mind, Deanne Frye of the Coker College Career Center is talking with my group today about the assessments and tools that her department has to help students find their focus. I have not doubt they are going to both enjoy and learn from this presentation. This past summer I read a book, "The Unemployed Grad and What Parents Can Do about it", which is about helping students connect their thinking to the work place they will be entering in four years. A basic premise of the author's message was that students NEED to know and USE the career center. After today the students will have a solid ideas about the services offered. (Way back when I took some of the assessments provided by the career center at SUNY Cortland. The assessment said I should look toward a job in public relations. Turned out to be a place I spent a great deal of my work life.)

College is about a lot more than the first real-world job, but that is often a good place to begin the focus on you might use your next four years -- if you are a first-year college student.  Thank you Deanne!

I enjoyed the interview assignment in Mass Communication

"Interview an older person, maybe a parent and most especially a grandparent, if you can," was the basic assignment. The subject of the interview was to be the changes in mass media the interviewee had noticed over the years and also what that person thought of these changes.

PEDAGOGICAL VIEW
From a pedagogical view, this was one of my attempts to take the spotlight from the class instructor and put some of the learning on the class. One of my reasons for enjoying the assignment was that the pedagogy worked in this case. Most of the students got into the assignment and they came in with lots of material on the changes in mass media over the years.

Certainly, I could have lectured on these changes from my point of view. I am older. I have seen a lot of decades of change in mass communication. I might have even kept them awake with my recitation of the first Rome, NY - Healy Avenue phone number I remember 3-0-1-7-J. That was the party line in our house before we got the 7-0-4-8 phone number for the private line -- meaning others in the neighborhood could not pick up the phone and listen in on the conversation. (Note, you could not keep your same numbers as technology or service providers changed.)  And, while I might have kept them awake, I think they got a lot more out of hearing these experiences from their grand parents and maybe even a parent or friend.  Those interviewed did have some keen memories and interesting ideas.

Further, this way of approaching a quick bit of media history also helped us focus again on culture, a major part of this course. One interviewee, for example, talked of the importance of radio weather in Iceland and then we heard from a S. C. farmer who also mentioned the key role weather news from the radio played in their early years of farming. And, we got to hear of growing up in a small village of Mexico as well as a life in a big city in the North.

LOTS OF KEY LEARNING HAPPENED
A major reason I enjoyed the assignment was that it is a great introduction to the history of specific mediums that we will be getting into. For example, the idea of only one or three television channels was mentioned in several interviews. The idea that people actually wrote each other REAL letters was also a common theme.

HUMAN CONNECTION
I am hoping that the students also remember one of the refrains that came from many of the papers. The regret in the words of the interviewees that in the old days they interacted face to face a lot more than they see or feel happening today. One of our BIG questions as we continue exploring mass communication and media over the next several months will be this question of connection and the question of how you get people engaged.

I got to read all the papers and enjoyed the approaches the interviewers and interviewees took with this assignment. (We used small groups so everyone's paper got read but we only used about six of the papers in the full class.) I will be hoping that seeing and feeling the connection with their own past will give them a feeling of the significance of studying the history of the media so they will be better prepared to mange the future of the media.

Should be a really interesting semester because the students are deeply involved!

Coker's Dance concert theme is Vantage Points

The Coker College Dance Department will open their Spring Concert called Vantage Points at 7:15 on Thursday evening. Here is an announcement that was recently distributed by Erin Leigh, assistant professor - dance.:

Vantage Points Opens Thursday
The Dance Program is proud to present Vantage Points, the 2012 Spring Dance Concert, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The show begins with a pre-performance show and photo exhibit at 7:15 in Dance Studio 119 followed by the formal concert in the Watson Theater.

Dance Concert includes three Senior Thesis Projects

The concert is composed of works by Coker College dance faculty, Erin Leigh and Ashley Suttlar Martin, guest artists David Dorfman and Terrance Henderson, and senior thesis projects from Devin Jenning, Ali Nelson, and Meagan Stone. The evening provides an eclectic blend of perspectives or “vantage points” such as a 10 X10 cage or an 8’ tall platform, both designed and constructed by theater professor, David Lynn Dawson. A photo exhibit from Coker College alum John Shearer, video projections, and story telling complete this exciting evening.

Dancers would love to see you there
Please come out and support the dancers and choreographers who have worked so hard to put this great show together. We look forward to seeing you!

Coker College hears from David Shribman

This has been quite a week (only Wednesday) from the perspective of a communication professor. Monday there was a presentation of "Enoch Arden" that featured art video by Seth Johnson, a senior who is majoring in both communication and art. He combined his artistic video talents with the Piano presentation by Dr. Jun Sato and the narration of Dr. Graham Wood to bring "Art" alive on stage. Seth worked closely with Dr. George Lellis, Professor of Communication, who advised through the creation of the piece.

Then on Tuesday night Sean Clark and his mother spoke to more than 200 students in the Watson Theater about the difference a decision (or lack of a decision) can make in your life. When I say that Sean spoke, that gets right to the interest of the presentation. Sean's computer spoke for him, since an alcohol-involved CRASH has left Sean without use of his voice or much of the right side of his body. But, today's technology and the fighting spirit of Sean and his mother combine for a strong presentation about thinking before drinking. The students in attendance gave Sean and his mother a heart-felt standing ovation. This was a great example for speech students and also a great example for my Persuasion students, as they got to see a real-life example of persuasive appeals toward basic human needs (exactly the chapter we happen to be looking at this week).

And, tonight the Coker campus hears from the Executive Editor of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, David Shribman, about the architecture of American Politics. After last night's wins by former Senator Santorum, this architecture should be of particular interest to all of us. This lecture is part of the Lois Walters Coker Lecture Series of Coker College.

For those interested, the news release announcing the lecture follows:




Pulitzer-Prize Winner David Shribman to Present Lois Walters Coker Lecture

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – March 7, 2012 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Executive Editor David Shribman will present the 2012 Lois Walters Coker Lecture at 7:30 p.m. March 14 in the Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Shribman to campus this month,” said Coker College President Robert Wyatt. “He has built a career that is founded in the highest standards of a liberal education – ideals that have always been at the heart of the Lois Walters Coker Lecture Series.

“Day in and day out, his readers benefit from lessons learned through classical training in the arts and sciences – from literature and history to fine art, mathematics and science – coherently applied to complex issues of public policy and citizenship.”

“David Shribman represents everything that’s good about journalism, and none of the flaws that frustrate so many Americans,” said Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr.

“He’s driven by a thirst for understanding, a hunger for getting the facts right and in context, a passion for fairness, and a devotion to journalism’s essential role in making democracy work. With the depth and breadth of his knowledge about American history, he could win a contest with the very best American historians. And he is a thoroughly engaging human being. Coker is in for a great treat.”

Shribman, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1995 for his coverage of Washington and the American political scene, will speak on “The New Architecture of American Politics.” His lecture will explore the presidential campaign, considering, in particular, the way it reflects – and causes – changes in the way we conduct our politics.

If time permits, Shribman will entertain audience questions following the lecture.

Shribman became executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2003. He came to Pittsburgh from The Boston Globe where he was assistant managing editor, columnist and Washington bureau chief.

A regular panelist on the Public Broadcasting Service show "Washington Week in Review," Shribman is a frequent analyst for BBC radio. His "I Remember My Teacher," a tribute to the nation’s great educators, was published in April 2002. Mr. Shribman also edited, with Edward Connery Lathem, the book “Miraculously Builded in Our Hearts: A Dartmouth Reader,” published in 1999. He has lectured at universities and colleges around the country.

Shribman joined The Boston Globe after serving as national political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Prior to that, he covered Congress and national politics for The New York Times and was a member of the national staff of The Washington Star. A native of Salem, Massachusetts, he began his career at The Buffalo Evening News, where he worked on the city staff before being assigned to the paper's Washington bureau.

Shribman is an emeritus member of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and of the Board of Visitors of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences at Dartmouth. Graduating summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, Shribman was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He did graduate work as a James Reynolds Scholar at Cambridge University in England.


About the 2011-2012 Lois Walters Coker Lecture Series

The annual Lois Walters Coker Lecture Series is a program established in 2000 to bring internationally recognized experts in science, history and public affairs to campus. Among those who have given the lecture are U.S. Senator Elizabeth H. Dole; Holmes Rolston, III, winner of the 2003 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion; Lucille Clifton, former Poet Laureate of the State of Maryland; and Yale University Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies James Gustave Speth.

Walters Coker, now deceased, was the daughter of the late Theodore A. Walters, former Idaho Attorney General and Assistant Secretary of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She came to Hartsville in 1936 when she married Robert R. Coker, a leading agriculturist and businessman, who for many years headed Coker Pedigreed Seed Company. Robert Coker was the grandson of Major James Lide Coker, founder of Coker College and Sonoco Products Company.

Walters Coker loved and supported learning throughout her life. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Idaho and a Master of Arts in American History from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Idaho, at a college in Washington, D.C., and in Hartsville’s public schools. In addition to researching and writing a history of Hartsville, Walters Coker served as the national director of the Tamassee D.A.R. School near Greenville and on the Darlington County School Board.

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Coker College readies undergraduates for personal and professional success through a distinctive four-year program that emphasizes a practical application of the liberal arts as well as hands-on and discussion-based learning within and beyond the classroom. Coker is ranked among the “Best Colleges” in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review. Located in Hartsville, S.C., Coker is within two hours of the cultural, financial and recreational resources of Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.



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Barb Steadman
Director of College Relations
Coker College

Freshmen work hard to win Coker Cow Days; Juniors Prevail

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Saturday morning I had the opportunity to be the "sponsor" of the Freshmen class for the Coker Olympic of Winter (COW) competitive events. The Juniors won but the first-year students were close in the competition.

The college was fortunate to have a John Galvin from the MORNING NEWS in Florence covering some of the activities and it looked like he had almost as good a time as the Coker students. He had some good coverage in the paper and online.

Ardie Arvidson of the Hartsville Messenger, also a Media General property, had a great story about the origins of the event and Professor Fred Edinger, who was one of the 1976 founders, in the Friday edition of the Messenger.

For those students participating, it was a fun time in connecting to a long-time Coker College tradition.

Today opens the Spring 2012 Semester

For Seniors, the opening of a new Spring semester means they are about 16 weeks from graduation. Jessica graduated a couple of years ago and is now in Grad School.


Lacrosse will face off for the first time at Coker College this spring as Coach Tony Smith enters Conference Carolinas play with the first Coker Lacrosse team.


...and there is a great deal going on at Coker in these early days of the semester.

The Classroom is where much of the action begins this morning. Dr. Lellis just arrived, he is teaching a video production class that starts at 8 a.m. I have just about 20 students in a Public Relations Writing Class that begins at 9:30 and I am looking forward to helping guide students in an area that I believe will provide them an opportunity to build a strong work-place skill. Dr. Glantz (Coach)starts a new class this afternoon called Argumentation and Debate. He is going to be coaching Coker's new debate team and will be using this class a core for that team. Okay, there are other disciplines on the Coker campus, but these are some of the Tuesday/Thursday offerings for Communication.

There is a lot more happening today as the home basketball conference games open at 5:30 with the Women and the Men will follow about 8 p.m. They are playing Barton today and both teams are planning to bounce back from close losses on Tuesday night at Mt. Olive.

As basketball continues, many of the Spring sports will be opening practice over the next couple of days. As a former lacrosse player, I am excited about Coker's first-ever lacrosse team. Coach Smith said the team will open official practice on Saturday at the Byerly Park fields in Hartsville. Coach Dave will have the baseball team on the diamond and Coach Baker said his golf teams (Men and Women) will be opening practice on Friday with some focus exercises. Saturday, the tennis coach is hosting a faculty-staff tennis event as he prepares his teams (Men and Women) for their spring seasons.

I have noticed posters advertising a comedian who will entertain and a couple of guys who are going to talk about dating strategies - so I think students are going to find some interesting things to keep them entertained. The entire Hartsville community is in for a Concert treat on Sunday afternoon as former Coker Music Professor Steve Carlson is on stage for a piano concert sponsored by the Hartsville/Coker College Concert Association.

And, not far from the campus this Saturday will be the downtown Marketplace in Hartsville and a lot of Hartsville merchants in their stores wanting to welcome Coker students back for the Spring 2012 semester.

New Semester begins this week - Spring 2012

With some trepidation I am looking forward to this new semester at Coker College. Overall we have a great selection of classes for the Communication majors and minors and I have a personally rich schedule. This semester I have one public speaking class, a public relations writing class, a persuasion class and a marketing communication class. The trepidation is that the last three are especially time intensive for both the students and instructor and all three have changed significantly since my last time teaching them - about two years ago.

Communication has been changing more than just about any facet of human existence over the past few years and keeping up with these changes is challenge for the classroom. You are right, some basic principles never change and we will get to them. The problem is channels, delivery, audience, audience segmentation methods, results, time frames are radically changed from just two years ago. Persuasion is where I might get the biggest argument from others who say how could that change. We are still using principles brought to us so clearly by Aristotle. I am with you on that. Now, two years ago would most of us have thought that channels of communication would have changed so much that an "Arab Spring" would not only be feasible; it would have happened? This is another example of the cliched or proverbial "double-edged sword." The reason I love teaching in the communication field so much is the dynamism of the subject area. The reason it seems such a challenge is the dynamism of the field.

Looking forward to seeing what this next 16 weeks have to offer.

T

Cobra Women playing Coastal Georgia

The Cobra Women's basketball team is back from the Christmas vacation and getting ready for a 7 p.m. game against Coastal Georgia this evening. The Cobra women are playing good basketball but they have not yet been able to jump into the win column. The game tonight could be a great way for them to end that win drought and also ignite some momentum for the conference season, which opens next week with a game against Mount Olive, always a tough conference opponent.

Coker SIFE Working on project for/in Muhuru Bay, Kenya

Children like to get in the picture nearly everywhere and these two arein what is called the CUSTOMS area of Muhuru Bay, what we might call downtown. The village is on the border of Kenya and Tanzania.





Coker College is sending a trio of students and two advisors to Muhuru Bay, Kenya, for some on-the-ground work to help establish a library in this Kenyan village on the shore of Lake Victoria. Neil Sickendick, who directs the Coker SIFE program has been working with a community activist in Muhuru Bay, Dickens Ochiel, and they have the project moving forward with tremendous momentum. Neil used the SIFE contacts to team up with a SIFE program at Maseno University in Nairobi, Kenya, to develop a partnership that is going to make a difference. During the last academic year I was able to use part of my sabbatical to visit Muhuru Bay to observe a research project that was being conducted by Eve Puffer (daughter) as part of the Duke Global Health Initiative and their WISER School for Girls and Research in Muhuru Bay. It is exciting to see more connections being made from Coker.

The Coker contingent (Students are Kaitlynn Jessup, Lindsey Allen and Cody Ellison and advisor is Neil Sickendick and videographer/photographer is Harrison Waters) will travel the first week of January and meet up with the Maseno contingent and head to Muhuru Bay. Here is a short summary of what is happening that was provided by Neil in a recent email:

Coker SIFE

We are working with SIFE Maseno from Maseno University in Nairobi. They have 4 students working on the project with us. They have already traveled to Muhuru Bay last week to begin work on transforming the facility. They have also played a crucial role in finalizing many of our in-country details including hotel and transportation. Additionally, our work with them has allowed secure funding transfers and the ability to acquire books and computers for the facility, which we are calling a Learning Resource Center (LRC).

The LRC will be part library and part classroom space to be used for vocational training initiatives. The project started as a desire to construct a facility to be used for these purposes however, upon Dickens's further research, we located a facility that could be purchased and rehabilitated to fit our purposes: a more reliable and accommodating arrangement.

This preexisting facility will be renovated to better fit our intended use. While in-country, SIFE students will work to accomplish the remaining tasks for the building to become functional. Bookshelves will be constructed, the facility cleaned where needed, and other general maintenance issues will be resolved. With any luck, there will be a grand opening of the facility at the end of Coker's trip.

In addition to working on the facility, Coker SIFE plans on meeting with community members to gain a sense of life in Muhuru Bay. They will also spend time working with local teachers and establishing ways to improve educational programming. Perhaps most importantly, Coker SIFE will explore ways in which they can continue to work with Muhuru Bay in the future.

This project is truly a great first step for Coker and Coker SIFE. By partnering with the local SIFE team in Nairobi, we can ensure that the project continues to be sustainable and successful. Our partnership with Dickens ensures this as well, and lends to our credibility with the people of Muhuru Bay. The SIFE network is massive, and though teams compete against one another, our central mission is to benefit communities in the most direct and needed ways. By partnering with other SIFE teams like the one at Maseno University, we have a much higher chance of satisfying our core mission.

UPDATES TO COME
This is a project that will pay dividends in many ways for the student of both colleges, for the people of Muhuru Bay, for Dickens Ochiel and his efforts of building community in Muhuru Bay and for SIFE, which will have a great example of the difference the organization is making.

Coker December Graduation Becomes Tradition

Graduates getting into line to join the procession into graduation.



Graduates on stage awaiting the start of Winter Commencement 2011


Coker College held its second Winter commencement on December 16 at the college's Watson Theater. Approximately 78 students received their degrees at the ceremony. Dr. Robert Wyatt, president of the college, told those gathered that since this was the second Winter graduation it could now be considered a new Coker tradition.

Charles Sullivan a member of the Coker College Board of Trustees since 2002 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters as part of this ceremony. He spoke to the graduates about four concepts to take into their post graduate life -- concepts that have been important to his more than 40 years in industry. Tenacity, Personal Integrity,Passion and Vision are concepts that he noted they had exhibited to achieve their degrees. He said they were concepts that would help them achieve even more in their lives.

How do you know? How do you measure?

People often have to listen to me say that teaching at Coker College is the best job I have had in a career that has been filled with job satisfaction, job challenge and job growth. But, a question I often ask myself is how do you know and how do you measure this amorphous quality of "best."

We are ending final exams for the semester on the Coker campus and that may be one thing giving rise to the questions of 'knowing' and 'measuring.' Another reason the questions are there is a quick text message I received from a colleague.

The colleague is one of my senior colleagues -- a person who has been building community at Coker College over a significant career. As I was grading some "news" stories for the WRITING FOR THE MEDIA class I came across a quote that I thought was especially telling. The 'reporter' had written a personality profile about a person looking forward to graduation and reflecting on her college career. The quote that struck me was something like "He is the hardest professor that I have had at Coker, and he is also the best."

A short time after grading that story I saw that professor and shared the quote with him. He thanked me and a few hours later sent me a text-email thanking me again for sharing the story.

But, that short email did much more. It affirmed again the message we share with our students and with our prospective students and their parents -- that no matter how long we have been on this campus, we measure our worth by our interactions with our students. This is a teaching college and a learning community. A part of his message was "...Confirmation for us is compensation. We know none of us is in it for the money. I'm convinced that we get in return what we expect..."

So, one way I know this is the best job I have had in my career is the way I feel when I get such a genuine response from a veteran colleague who continues to "expect" great things from his students and whose students continue to get great teaching from him - class, after class, after class.

And we will continue to study how we know and how we measure what we know because assessment continues to be a crucial way of telling how we are doing.

It;s READING DAY at Coker College

Today is the day before exams begin.

For professors it is sort of deep breath type of day as we understand the teaching part of the semester is over and now we get to do what they pay us for - Grade. Back in my other job the company pilots would often comment that they flew the planes for free, they were paid for the waiting. On campus, the teaching and learning is the fun part -- grading is the chore.

My celebration of the end of the semester meant that when 5 a.m. came this morning I rolled over and fought to stay in bed and asleep until 6:15 -- so the morning walk was in the daylight for the first time in months. And, I did not get to work until about 8:10 -- no 8 a.m. speech class this morning.

Coker's reading day has been introduced by a tradition called the Late Night Breakfast. Photos with today's blog show some of the "breakfast" scenes. Faculty and Staff do the cooking and serving and students do the eating and talking. (if it were not for the great ARAMARK staff help we would not be able to do this.) The breakfast feeds a lot of students, who are trying to get their minds around the papers still due the exams that begin Saturday morning and their hundred-other last minute things to do before semester ends and grades are posted. Not sure this is a perfect analogy but from a student perspective it is a lot like the final meters of the 10K -- a lot of energy still to be expended.

Thanksgiving holidays are upon us at Coker

On Monday I was talking with my Public Relations class about "Marketing YOU -Inc." As part of that discussion I did mention that teaching at Coker College is the best job I have had so far in my life. So -- obviously something for which to be thankful.

In an email message this morning, President Robert Wyatt, shared some of his Thanksgiving thoughts for the Coker College campus. It seems appropriate to share that message as part of the Coker College Experience:

From Dr. Wyatt
Good morning,
As we prepare to gather with friends and family over the holiday break, I am humbled by the blessings that we share as colleagues and by the commitment to excellence you bring to our community.
Indeed, we have much to appreciate. Working together, Coker’s trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and students have developed a strategic plan to guide us through the most ambitious period of growth in Coker’s history. And, owing to your good work, we have made long strides on the path toward becoming the institution of our shared vision. Consider that in the last six months, among other things, we have:
• Welcomed the largest influx of 14 new faculty members in college history, a new provost and numerous staff members;
• Opened Coker’s first downtown loft apartments;
• Established the Joseph L. and Betty C. Wiggins School of Education;
• Created Trans4mations, an innovative four-year academic program to ensure our students are well prepared for the futures they will lead.
• Found ways to expand co-curricular opportunities to challenge and engage students with new programs to begin in 2012 including a competitive debate team, glee club, gospel choir, wind ensemble, and a Coker-Hartsville chorale;
• Added men’s volleyball for 2012;
• Watched our men’s soccer team make history by winning both the regular season and conference tournament championship.
• Received national recognition for academic excellence from organizations including US News & World Report, Washington Monthly, Princeton Review, Colleges of Distinction and, most recently, the National Survey of Student Engagement.
Beyond these myriad accomplishments, I am personally thankful for the friendship and support you have given to Nancy, Lara and me and to each other. It is an exceptional privilege to count you as my family.
May the warmth of this holiday be a special blessing to you.
Thank you, always.
Robert

Coker College Cobras are Soccer Champs

Conference Champions -- The Coker College Cobra Men's Soccer Team





Eric, keeping the ball away...











Noah (21) hit the game winning goal!












Dr. Cathy Cuppett sitting behind her roast of the Bobcats as the game began.





Coker was ranked Number One in the Southeast and fifth in the nation in Division 2 and it looks like they should move up to Number One as the NCAA Regionals take shape. Coker knocked off the only conference team to beat them this year with a 1-nil victory over Lees McRae on Sunday afternoon. Noah Lassell put in the game winner from about thirty yards out in an amazing play.

There is no question that an athletic Conference Championship electrifies the campus. Dr. Robert Wyatt, who is at as many games as he can make, was joined this afternoon by every stakeholder group in the Coker Community from Mayor Mel Pennington to alumni soccer players to Coker staff, Coker faculty, Coker retirees and most importantly STUDENTS and more STUDENTS.

Go Cobras -- Now let's win the NCAA Tournament!!

Seth Godin talks about getting jobs

Students who have been in my Marketing Communication class recognize the name Seth Godin. People who follow marketing and leadership in today's world recognize the Seth Godin brand. His current blog is about "how to get a job with a company." This column struck me today because we are getting close to a section of the Principles of Public Relations class that I call 'Marketing You - Incorporated.' I teach this class section in several of my "professional" classes because I am not sure we can talk enough to students about the need for a thought process that focuses on what you will do after the college years have ended.

Godin takes a little different tack in this post because he talks about the power of personal approaches to finding a job. He talks about the power of personally offering to show what you can do before the person who owns or run the company even has a thought of paying you for what you might do. His ideas are sound though I wish he had backed them up with a couple of case-in-point specifics that people might relate to. But, I am pretty sure this is a blog post I am going to ask students to consider when we start looking at Marketing-You tactics.