The Leadership Studies Qualifying Assessment Portfolio Defense

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The Leadership StudiesQualifying
AssessmentPortfolio Defense

• Danny Cantrell
• LS Doctoral Student
• October 11, 2005

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I. Scholarship

• A. Co-author/submit an article for publication
  in a peer-reviewed publication,
• in collaboration with a faculty member.
• Dr. Jerry Jones and I co-authored an article
  entitled Motivating the Motivators, which was
  submitted to the Journal of Teacher Education in
  September of 2004.

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Description
Our article examined motivation studies from
education and industry that reveal the importance
of creating conditions that intrinsically and
extrinsically motivate and provide quality
communication and clearly defined employee roles.
The article concluded that perhaps the most
essential element in motivation is a
consideration of the ways that teachers/employees
perceive themselves.
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Reflections

• The article grew out of a term paper I was
  working on for Dr. Woods Organizational
  Communication class. The manuscript went through
  multiple drafts as Dr. Jones asked several
  editors to review drafts. Finally, there were two
  versions of the article, one which addressed
  teacher efficacy, and the original, which
  addressed motivation in both business and
  education.

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• In October of 2004, I received notification that
  the article did not meet the publications
  current needs. I anticipated this might be their
  response their focus on education apparently did
  not allow discussion of related motivation
  studies from business. I believe educational
  publications would benefit from an expanded focus
  that encompasses other disciplines.

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II. Other professional/academic pursuits

• Co-teaching a course with a faculty member.
• I developed two PowerPoint presentations for
  Dr. Toths Leadership class which covered the
  main points of two books by renown leadership
  theorists, Peter B. Vaill and Margaret J.
  Wheatley.
• The presentations were placed on the class WebCt
  site, and I presented and discussed both
  presentations during one of the monthly sessions
  of the class.

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LEARNING AS A WAY OF BEING

• Strategies for Survival in a
• World of Permanent White Water
• By Peter B. Vaill

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Leadership and the New Science

• Discovering Order in a Chaotic World
• By Margaret J. Wheatley

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II. Other professional/academic pursuits

• D. Collaborate with a faculty member in another
  activity.
• Tri-County YMCA Phase One Capital Campaign
• Email solicitation of donations with
• Dr. Dennis Prisk

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Description

• Dr. Prisk was asked by the YMCA Director,
• Ms. Cathy Stark, to develop a proposal to
• solicit funds for physical plant expansion via
• email solicitation in a four-county service
• region.

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• The project entailed researching the
• options for hiring a firm for bulk emailing,
• choosing a method of obtaining credit card
• donations securely online, and creating an
• interactive CD for the YMCA Board of
• Trustees which would demonstrate the
• project process from email to web site
• donation.

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Reflections

• After formulating a plan, I had to explain the
• options to Ms. Stark in a brief meeting. I
• found my teaching background and years of
• Internet experience most beneficial during
• this process.

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• The greatest challenge was creating an
• interactive CD for presentation to the YMCAs
• Board of Trustees.
• I had to call upon long-unused knowledge of
• web page design to create a mock web site for
  the
• demo CD.
• In the process of working on this project, I
• became aware of a new paradigm for the use of
• local/regional email business.

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Beyond this portfolio

• As mentioned in my approved proposal for
• this portfolio, I stated that I would be open to
• working on additional projects with faculty
• members if the opportunity arose. This year,
• Dr. Jerry Jones offered me the opportunity
• to work with him on two articles that review
• the effectiveness of a popular academic
• software.

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• Drafts of these articles-in-progress are
• included. I will be working closely with Dr.
  Securro on the writing of these two research
  reports, which will provide valuable experience
  that I will use in the near future for my
  dissertation.
• As the lead author on these articles, I will
  gain valuable research and writing experience
  that will benefit me in any position I might hold
  in the future, inside or outside of higher
  education.

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Capstone Summary

• Working on these projects has
• given me the opportunity to
• expand my knowledge in areas both familiar and
  new
• again experience the pleasures
• of teaching, and of consulting with a non-
• profit organization.

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• As a result of these projects, I
• learned the value that networking plays in
• both academic writing and consulting.
• sharpened my research and
• record keeping skills, while discovering new
  interests and rekindling old passions.
• experienced the joys and frustrations that
  accompany venturing into unknown territories.

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• To paraphrase theorist Peter Vaill, we are
• living in a world of constant white water,
• and must learn to navigate uncharted
• waters daily to survive.
• The portfolio projects have given me
• strategies to chart my personal and
• professional paths.

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