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

 

Nearly 3.2 million students graduate high school annually and 80% of them use social networking sites.  What does this mean for colleges' and universities' enrollment strategies?

 

Recommendation as the New Advertising
Today's student represents the connected consumer.  The connected consumer is savvy and uses their social networks for research, using both public information available on the internet as well as word-of-mouth information gathered from others in their networks and even from strangers.  For example, if a student wants an opinion on a school, they won't necessarily call the school; they may post a question in a social network… >>>

As technology has enabled new ways for jobseekers to market themselves, will the resume be replaced?  Why or why not?  If so, by what?

Congrats on completing these courses.  I love your enthusiasm - I think it is particularly important that all in Higher Educaiton demonstrate the eagerness for continual life-long learning that we want to see in our students.  Thanks for sharing Lisa!

"The Cloud" was a big buzz word in 2012 and will likely continue in 2013 but how have Higher Education institutions responded to cloud-computing?  

34% of Higher Education IT Professionals are working with a cloud computing solution in their school or district according to the information compiled in this interesting infographic here

Among the benefits of cloud computing solutions for Higher Education, the four mentioned include:

  • Greater student accessability to tools through browser-based access
  • Ability to sample technologies easily before deciding which to purchase
  • Flexible subscription-based pricing
  • Savings realized from driving down IT costs

Four Pitfalls include>>>

Infographic: Top reasons employees leave an organization

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