Robert Pearl Starks

Robert Pearl Starks

Location: phoenix, arizona

About me

As Vice President of Product Development, I lead cross-functional teams of designers, developers, QA testers and product stakeholders to develop, launch, and improve products customers need and love. 

Previously, I've worked in a variety of leadership roles in education / learning & professional development. Through my experience, I've become accustomed to working across departmental silos and with various stakeholders (executives, end-users, faculty, staff, students / learners, alumni, parents, regulatory agencies, partners and employers) to facilitate collaboration and advance common goals. In my previous roles, I've advocated for student needs and driven organizational change that helped educators do their best work, students thrive in their careers, and employers connect with quality talent.

Despite different contexts, a common theme in my career journey has been to do work that contributes to a mission which improves people's lives. It's also always been important for me to work with an organization whose values align with my own. I'm a listener, empathizer, customer advocate, servant leader, and lifelong learner. I'm never satisfied with status quo, I constantly strive for "better," and I'm driven by genuine curiosity to solve complex problems.

“Work to become; not to acquire.” -Elbert Hubbard

Interests

social media, career development, training, higher education, web 2.0/3.0, career services, leadership, marketing

Skills

social media, marketing, training, consulting, management, strategic planning

Activity

Employee retention is important to organizations for many reasons. There are well-known costs associated with employee turnover including financial costs attributed to acquiring new talent, the loss of intellectual capital when an experienced, highly-skilled employee leaves and diminished company morale which has an impact on customer service and performance. Although managers tend to know the importance of employee retention, there are 3 myths managers tend to have that must be busted. Those myths are...

 

Myth 1: Employee Retention Means Holding on to Employees Forever - Employee retention means keeping good employees for the most appropriate amount of time for… >>>

Editor Kevin Kevin presents the third video in a four-part series of interviews with Diana Oblinger, President and CEO of EDUCAUSE. Diana talks with Kevin about our education system and whether or not it's open for change. 

California's Lt. Govornor Gavin Newsom and Udacity's Sebastian Thrun discuss the future of higher education at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013.

Watch the Discussion Here:

Chip Cutter, Editor for LinkedIn Today, spoke with Gavin Newsom,  Lieutenant Governor of California, at TechCrunch Disrupt SF about how technology can help fix broken education systems in the US.  

In his weekly address published in late August, President Obama notes that while college education has never been more important, it has also never been more expensive, which is why he proposed major new reforms to make college more affordable for middle class families and those fighting to get into the middle class.

Watch President Obama's Weekly Address:

Identify additional strategies that your institution already uses to improve relations with students, employers, alumni, or the community.
What are some new opportunities for improved partnerships you believe your institution should adopt to move forward?
Does your institution currently consider how enrollment management plans impact employment rates, or is there often a discrepancy between the goals of admissions and the goals of career services? How would you recommend this gap be closed, and/or what strategies has your organization successfully implemented?
Does your institution’s career services department assess student employability skills and barriers to success prior to offering interventions? If so, what assessment is used and how are interventions applied? If not, how does the staff personalize interventions to ensure that the best approach is applied to each student?
Which of the following experiential learning opportunities mentioned in the course does your institution implement (Service Learning, Internships, Externships, Co-ops, Interdisciplinary Projects, Work-Study), and how would you evaluate the success of each?

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