Linn State Technical College

Advisory Council Member Survey

Donald M. Claycomb, President

Report

March 1, 2006

Need

Concern is commonly expressed today about job attendance and issues related to work ethic and attitude.  A visiting team member of a program accreditation body described a positive experience with a separate grade being issued for attendance.

Question

A research question that arose is, “Should Linn State Technical College (LSTC) explore the possibilities of awarding a separate grade in the two areas of 1) attendance, and 2) work ethic and attitude in addition to a grade on academic accomplishment?”

Survey and Results

In February 2006 a survey was e-mailed to the list used to invite individuals to advisory council meetings.  The maximum number of surveys delivered would have been 310.  Due to mail errors it is believed this number was as low as 282.  The total number of respondents was 165 for a response rate of 54 to 59 percent.  One hundred fifty-four respondents were advisory committee members and eleven respondents are classified as individuals with a stake in the college who are invited to attend advisory council meetings however are not a member of a committee.  Included in this category are members of the Board of Regents, representatives of the Missouri Department of Higher Education, representatives of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and selected elected officials.

Eighty percent of the member respondents indicated a separate grade for attendance should be explored while eighty-four percent of the member respondents indicated a separate grade for work ethic and attitude should be explored.  In the stakeholder category, seventy-eight percent of those who responded directly to the question indicated a separate grade should be explored for attendance while sixty-seven percent of the respondents indicated a separate grade for work ethic and attitude should be explored. 

Conclusion

Based on the survey results, staff of LSTC will explore the possibilities of awarding a separate grade in each of the two areas of 1) attendance and 2) work ethic and attitude.

Contents

Need, Question, Survey and Results, Conclusion

Member Results and Comments

Stakeholder Results and Comments

Acknowledgements

Linn State Technical College
Advisory Council Member Survey
Donald M. Claycomb, President

Instructions:

Please complete this survey by doing the following:

1.  Hit “Reply”

2.  Type in “Y” for yes or “N” for no

3.  Hit “Send”

4.  Please respond by February 23, 2006

No.  I think teachers should award points for perfect attendance and over attitude and factor that into class grade – but not separate grade.

I would be interested in what criteria you would use for work ethic/attitude.  Attendance is very objective, but for the other…?

Safety first!

Absolutely.

Yes, I thought that while I was in school it is very important (attendance).  I would have to say no because of the stress and people attitude changes with age (work ethic and attitude).

Yes to both.  Thank you for asking.

I don’t believe there should be a grade assigned, however I do believe it needs to be continually stressed to the students about the importance of attendance, dress, cleanliness, work ethic and attitude.  It’s easier to teach someone a skill than try to correct a bad attitude and habit.

Classes should be sufficiently challenging that a person with poor attendance should not be able to pass the course.  If a student can pass a course without being there, then the instructor is not doing his/her job.

Assessment of work ethic and attitude is too subjective for a college degree program.  College grades should be wholly objective.  Grades should be an indication of the student’s willingness to put forth the effort to succeed.

I suggest you evaluate the things that Bruce Meffert is doing in his MNT program and replicate it in your other programs.  He begins on day one to instill high work ethics and professionalism in his students.  His current cohort of 2^nd year students are incredible.  I would be happy to discuss it with you.

Work ethic and attitude are too subjective and difficult to measure.  They are open to interpretation.  Attendance is objective and measurable.

Both attendance and work ethic/attitude are extremely important.  I monitor both closely and are a part of employee evaluations.

Attendance – Let me get this straight.  They won’t show up when they are paying? What will they do when I am paying?

Work ethic and attitude – If they have a poor attitude, poor work ethic, and are not well groomed, I personally will give them change for the phone call to advise someone as to the doubts of their employment.

I find that all of the St. Louis technical colleges are providing grades for both of these.  However, I would hope that Linn Tech would provide a grading system that reflects the true attendance and work ethic of the student.

One grade per class.  Should include work ethic, attitude and attendance.

Greetings!  Thank you greatly for the opportunity to respond to this question.  I am very impressed that Linn State is considering these characteristics.  As an employer I find these character traits equally (if not more) valuable than a student’s technical abilities.

I feel that attendance should have an impact on a student’s grade.  Work ethic and attitude are more a matter of opinion and could vary widely between instructors.  A strong work ethic and a good attitude are very important to a potential employer.  Both can be learned and developed but would be difficult to measure.  Please call me if you have questions or you wish to discuss.  Thank you.

Yes for attendance (bonus points).

No for work ethic and attendance (too much of a judgment call).

Attendance – No.  This should be reflected in the overall grade for the class.

Work ethic and attitude – No.  Too subjective.

These grades are included in my grades.  I do a quarterly evaluation on each student.  I have attached a copy.  The students first do a self-evaluation on the following traits:  attendance, productivity, craftsmanship and problem solving.  Students are pretty hard on themselves.  I then do an instructor evaluation.  We sit down and discuss each trait.  It is interesting to see improvement as the year progresses.  It does a good job of discovering personal weaknesses as well as how the real world works.  This grade accounts for 20% of the quarterly grade.

As an Aviation Repair Station, we feel all of these attributes are very critical to our industry, as well as our existence within the industry.  A problem in any one of these work areas may not surface in a typical 90 day probation period?  Emphasis definitely needs to be placed on these skills.  We operate as a team, a problem in any of these areas affects everyone on the team!

Yes, I think that is a great idea.

I do believe however that the school should give perfect attendance awards and awards for outstanding citizenship.  Possibly, scholarship certificates to be used at Linn for outstanding attendance and work ethics.

Attendance and work ethic grades should be part of the overall grade that a student receives in a class but I do not feel that a separate grade would be beneficial.

Both attendance and work ethic/attitude are extremely important.  I monitor both closely and are a part of employee evaluations.

To me this is one of those left side of the report card notes…when I was in public school (many years ago) attendance and attitude was noted along with works and plays well with others…your two questions reflect the attitude of the person which is an indicator of how he will apply the skills he or she learns in the program…it is important to be noted but I don’t think it should be part of the students GPA.

Linn State Technical College
Advisory Council Stakeholder Survey
Donald M. Claycomb, President

Instructions:

Please complete this survey by doing the following:

1.  Hit “Reply”

2.  Type in “Y” for yes or “N” for no

3.  Hit “Send”

4.  Please respond by February 23, 2006

Provided comments but did not respond to questions:  2

Comments:
I am not sure how you would grade work ethic and attitude, if I had more information on how it would be evaluated I might say yes.  There seems to be too much influence in this area by the teacher, other students in the class, overall attitude of the program being taught and the attitude of the college.  I just don’t think that there are measurable criteria for this type of grade.  However, work ethic and attitude are VERY important in the workplace and would be to any employer.

Hi!  I don’t think I should vote on the issues.  However, one could predict an attendance policy (if supported by faculty), but how do you plan to measure (criteria) “work ethic and attitude?”  Will the same requirements be placed across the curriculum and apply to all programs?  Will it be course by course or program?  Just some thoughts!  One approach may be through the demonstration of competencies…the ability to demonstrate a level of success/ability to master a task or body of information.

The way the grading is now is good, it motivates the student to go to class because it effects their overall grade.  If they were to get separate grades for each, they might get the work done but still have poor attendance.

I recently received a request to fill out a survey from Nadine Anderson.  I found the idea of giving separate grades for work ethic/attitude and attendance of interest.  Based on the MDHE’s relationship to LSTC, I chose to not formally respond to the survey.  I would, however, be interested in staying informed of the results.  It’s an interesting twist to provide separate grades on attitude/work ethic and attendance, so that the academic grade only represents a student’s ability to master previously agreed-upon competencies associated with the subject of study.  I also note the incentive to students should prospective employers be provided with this additional information.  Are you aware of this practice at other institutions?  I will look forward to hearing the results of your survey and what you ultimately decide to do.

Yes.  I believe we should.  Given the vast number of corporate and academic scandals, I strongly encourage early intervention to ensure our students “model the behavior” at all times.  Ethics and integrity are essential in all aspects of life, and embedded in the core values of leadership and citizenship.  Anything less, is unacceptable, whether on or off the job or in and out of the classroom.  As a business leader, we are placing a much higher level of accountability on our university partners to ensure new entrants (as well as those already in the workplace) understand our core value set and consequences for non-compliance.  Each receives 40 hrs/year of structured training each year and are required to sign a Code of Conduct notification form (pledging our commitment to ethics and integrity) on the first business day of the year.  Other companies are beginning to follow suit by enacting similar policies and practices.  At the academic level, many universities are developing similar programs as well.  Thanks for the opportunity to provide feedback and I look forward to your decision.

Acknowledgements

A number of individuals contributed to this study.  Dr. J. Rick Mihalevich contributed to the survey design.  Nadine Anderson distributed, collected and tabulated preliminary results.  Sue Gove tabulated final results and typed this document.  Most importantly those individuals who took time to respond on a volunteer basis are to be thanked.  Although not to be considered sophisticated, this study does contribute meaningful data for use in further consideration in helping LSTC graduates to be better prepared for profitable employment and a life of learning.