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

 

When an employee's job performance does not meet your expectations, training may or may not help.  It is important to analyze the discrepancy between desired performance and actual performance before taking action.  Analysis may show that training can help.  However, poor performance may be due to many other causes. One factor that has a significant effect on performance is how you manage your employees.  Even experienced managers can forget the basic do’s and don’ts of management. For example, here is a fundamental managerial technique that seems to be ignored by many supervisors and managers when managing inexperienced employees.

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C-Span featured a discussion about massive open online courses or MOOCs increasingly used as alternative classrooms at colleges and universities. The discussion focuses on the operation of the programs, how they might change access to higher education, and the future of higher education. 


The president of the Ontario College of Art & Design University said schools must develop more integrated relationships with the communities around them, both local and global.  

Robert Luke talks about the traditional approach to career counseling that tends to wait for students to graduate before starting the career counseling process.  He suggests that academic and occupational skills are different from employability skills, requiring earlier intervention.  Do you agree?

List of Conferences and events in the Career College Sector for 2012

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) recently celebrated its Centennial Anniversary.  The institution has 1,000 member schools serving 1,000,000 students.  This video provides an important historical view of the growth of career education and its role in the higher education landscape.  This video is featured here to recognize ACICS as an institutional leader that has influenced the career college sector of higher education for 100 years.

 

Stacey Childress of the Gates Foundation Monday said that we should not expect government and philanthropy to get it right and that clear metrics to measure performance and outcomes, including graduation rates, are needed to distinguish between schools and private enterprise. For-profit practitioners joined AEI’s Frederick Hess in a discussion on the role of private enterprise in public education. In addition, panelists considered Obama Administration’s approach as they look to 2013. 

Additional speakers included Innosight Institute Co-founder Michael Horn; LearnZillion Co-Founder Eric Westendorf; Raquel Gilmer at Learn It Systems; and assistant deputy education secretary for innovation and improvement Jim Shelton.

 

For-Profit College Regulations Are Needed, Concede Some Industry Presidents

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