Faculty members are being increasingly challenged by the need to balance their pedagogical goals and requirements with the institution's need to move forward with technological innovations. The very institutions planning and crafting the college or university of the 21st Century are training and evaluating faculty using a set of norms grounded in 13th Century Europe. In the meantime, the new learning paradigm requires faculty to bid farewell to the "sage on the stage" approach and addres the many and diverse needs of "the client" (i.e., the learner) who is often more technology savvy than the faculty members.

As a part-time Political Science instructor in the 1970s, I recall - with some fondness, I might add - the joy of pontificating before a classroom filled with 18-20 year olds writing down every word I said as though I were some prophet spreading the gospel. I also recall - with a great deal less fondness - the publish-or-perish rule and my failure to meet the "quota" as the reason for not obtaining tenure and leaving academia for what I thought was forever. Oh, well. If I couldn't mold young minds, I could at least apply my research skills and abilities to the commercial world. So off I went to join Corporate America and become a greedy capitalist which, I am proud to say, I remain to this day.

However, the path I chose is not the answer for today's new Ph.D.s seeking employment in a competitive academic marketplace. Regardless of how much they publish (or not), they must still acquire the skills to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's learners, many of whom are non-traditional students committed to lifelong learning. To achieve this, they need to have tools at their disposal that will allow them to produce interactive, learner-centered course materials without having to learn programming or be completely dependent on programmers, software developers, or the institution's Webmaster. The seamless integration of technology into instruction is the watchword of the product line currently in development at my company. As Academic Product Manager at Datatel, Inc., it is my job to bring that product line to market and make sure that it does meet faculty workflow needs.

In order to do my job well, I need an in-depth understanding of how faculty are being trained. At the same time, I also need to have a solid foundation in learning theory and get some hands-on time with software other than that produced by Datatel. For these reasons, I have elected to pursue a second Doctorate, this time in Education, with a concentration in Instructional Technology. This program - along with my upcoming experience of teaching a Web-based course in Market Research for the University of Phoenix Online Campus - will provide me with the right balance and blend of experience to not only do my job, but to build strategies for the development of products and services that will help faculty be as comfortable with evolving technology as I was with the chalkboard. I look forward to a positive learning experience.