Cogswell College Of Silicon Valley Work Values

Daily Duties at Cogswell College Of Silicon Valley:

When I first arrived at Cogswell, I was asked to teach in an undergraduate entrepreneurship program that was 2 weeks old at a school 60 away from closing for financial reasons. After teaching one semester, the woman in charge of the masters and undergraduate entrepreneurship program left the school. The school management begged me to do them a favor and I took over leadership for the programs with full knowledge that I would have little to no budget given the restructuring problems at the school. On a day to day basis, I was responsible for the development of curriculum, creation of project based capstone courses, assessment of the curriculum, recruitment of faculty, recruitment of industry advisory board, management of student owned businesses, development of program's strategic plan and creation as well as management of program budget. After the second year, it was clear that the management and investors for the school liked the idea of entrepreneurship but did not want to invest the resources into starting large scale student ventures. Therefore, I performed research and repositioned the program from undergraduate entrepreneurship to digital media management which taught students the business side of digital media through the lens of entrepreneurship. This repositioning was all captured in a strategic ten year plan that I submitted to management for approval. Curriculum development consisted of deciding the course name, course number, course learning outcomes and sequencing for the sixteen core courses of the curriculum. Each course required a sixteen page syllabi as well as the research of textbooks, activities and software. In addition, the curriculum required two capstone courses that we were project based and hands-on. I set up a learning laboratory where students could propose business ideas, incubate it and gain funding for it if the project hit agreed upon milestones. These capstone courses led to the establishment of student owned and operated businesses such a student store, a computer repair center, an online record label, a café and an annual convention. In order to staff the program and teach the sixteen core courses, I recruited numerous adjuncts to teach to competency areas in the curriculum such as business modeling, marketing, accounting and leadership. As the program grew in student enrollment, the budget to employ grew and I hired a few faculty as part timers. While instructors use grades to assess if a student is learning the content in a class, there is a system called assessment which gauges if the delivery method of the course is effective or not. I set up the program learning gaols of the entire program so they corresponded with the course learning outcomes. At end of each semester I used rubrics to study signature assignments from students to assess if the course was meeting the program goals in terms of introductory, developmental and mastery levels. At the end of each year, I met with an industry advisory board that I recruited and displayed my findings in order to measure if the content of each course was meeting the needs of employers.

What they like about Cogswell College Of Silicon Valley:

The social vibrance of a hiring firm is very important to you. Your ability to make and maintain friendships there is a critical part of your decision. You would likely be dissatisfied with a workplace that is quiet, cold, or otherwise not particularly social. When you investigate a new hiring company, ask recruiters, managers, and potential co-workers about the social life and opportunities there. This is especially important when you are relocating; moving dramatically alters your social sphere both inside and outside the workplace.

Tags

Berkeley, Microsoft Office Suite, Keynote, Google Docs, Business Modeling, Startups/Turnarounds, Employee Engagement, Needs Assessment, Adult Learners, Experiential Learning, Project Management, Strategic Planning, Presentations, Public Speaking, Team Leadership / Motivation, Training and Development

Skills

Business Development , Change Management , Consulting, Strategic Planning , Team Leadership / Motivation , Process Improvement, Policy Development , Product Marketing , Start Ups / Turnarounds , Employee Engagement, Client Relations, Needs Assessment , Customer Service , Project Management , Communication, P&L , Restructuring, Recruiting Technical Writing , Negotiations, Market Analysis , Presentations, Sales Forecasting , Event Planning , Branding, Internet Marketing , Social Media, Public Relations , Merchandising, Ecommerce, Distribution, Inventory Management , Procurement / Purchasing, Vendor Relations , Cost Reduction , Scheduling, Strategic Sourcing , Business Modeling , Brainstorming, Microsoft Office Suite

These are some of the questions we asked our climbers about their experiences with Cogswell College Of Silicon Valley: