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Part IIIB: Professional Interview Edna J. Jones is the director of Education at the ATI Training Institution. My goal in interviewing her is to better understand her intentions in improving the instructors’ and the educational department’s effectiveness in facilitating a learning environment and also to operate in compliance with company and state regulations. It is my intention to comprehend what new strategies she plans to implement to initiate overall improvement in that regard. The role of the ATI Training Institute instructors’ is to facilitate a learning environment in that, utilizing innovative and creative teaching abilities, and strong motivational skills to inspire students. They were also expected to participate and supervise school affairs such as sports/cultural fest and handle departmental issues. Instructors scheduled, coordinated, and conducted student tutorials and also interpreted, analyzed and advocated school policies to students. At this time based on continuous audits from both the corporate office and the Department of Education, instructors are left apprehensive of their status. The schools’ educational department’s role is to provide administrative support to both the students and the instructors. The responsibility of that department is record keeping, in that the office maintains records of student's grades to form transcripts. Another responsibility entails the distribution of resources such as books uniforms, etc. The department also provides necessary documentation to the instructors, such as student rosters, class schedules, updates about students when applicable and assists in accessing and distributing teaching apparatus. Mrs. Jones works as the Regional Director of Education. She has been working with ATI for over 10 years. Initially as an instructor at the ATI Training Center, Texas for 5 years and then was promoted into Director of Education (DOE) at that location. Her current job takes her to different ATI campuses from Texas to Florida. She is responsible to train and support all new DOE’s, evaluating the effectiveness, compliance and productivity of the DOE and their office, ensuring that it is aligned with the goals of the company. Recently the DOE who worked at that my location, Campus 140 in Florida recently resigned thus Mrs. Jones has to assume position as acting DOE until a new manager is hired. According to Mr. Jones her plans are to rectify the issues she has identified with both the instructors and the educational department. While working in her present position, she will work towards getting all involved compliant with both corporate and government policies. (E. Jones, personal communication, February 19, 2011). The school will be audited within the next 2 months by the corporate office and also by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology, ACCSC. It is very important that this school passes this audit with both parties because they have authority to close down operations on the campus if they identify too many discrepancies. Mrs. Jones goes on to say that this can be avoided by implementing strategies to quickly and effectively improve the overall operations of the school. I have met on several occasions with both the instructors and the educational department in establishing the seriousness of the situation and making them aware of their role in bettering the situation. (E. Jones, personal communication, February 19, 2011) I have been here now for four weeks and I am happy to say that after implementing several changes such as ensuring that all instructors have the necessary documentations (student performance forms, attendance logs, lesson plans, guidelines in managing the classrooms,etc), and also acquiring tools to better execute their lesson plans in class. I have seen some improvement. I have also been working with the Educational Department whereas I have personally evaluated the operations of the department so as to know which areas to focus on. The maintenance of the files was a big concern to me, thus I coordinated with the staff in getting the files in compliance. We have also implemented a system where as going forward all file contents will be noted in a system I have designed. I have also provided added training for all staff so as to ensure that everyone is aware of the correct procedures in carrying out their job duties. (E. Jones, personal communication, February 19, 2011). It was disappointed when I came to the campus four weeks prior to find the overall operations of the campus the way it was. Many of the procedures were not in compliance. The Ft. Lauderdale campus was always the campus that we would send our new DOE’s to be trained at because of the effectiveness of the campus operations. However, I guess, having a high turnover in leadership (DOE) and the lack of accountability, and training throughout the educational department and the instructors the quality of the performance gradually deteriorated. (E. Jones, personal communication, February 19, 2011). Nonetheless I am very impressed with the cooperation I have received from both parties involved. It is as if they are willing to do the job effectively but with no constant leadership there was no direction in operating competently. Mrs. Jones states that she is confident in turning around the Ft. Lauderdale educational department, within her deadline. Most of that assurance is based on the willingness she has observes from all staff involved. She hopes to pass on an efficient operated department to the new DOE, who will be trained to lead in accordance to the school’s goal. (E. Jones, personal communication, February 19, 2011). Due to the fact that at this point Mrs. Jones is my immediate supervisor, it was important for me to utilize this opportunity to better understand her overall plan of action for our school to operate in compliance. Her input during this interview lends insight to the direction she gives me on a daily basis. This interview also unveils a lot of answers as far as what the school’s status is in regards to being audited also the job status for both me and my co-workers. Mrs. Jones has stressed the importance of working hard to cohesively facilitating the schools mission statement. References American Society of Quality. (2008). Six Sigma Black Belt certification. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://www.asq.org/certification/six-sigma/index.html Carter, R. L. (2008, Fall). President’s letter. The Johnson C. Smith University Bulletin, 2. Duke, J. B. (1924, December 11). Indenture and deed of trust of personalty establishing The Duke Endowment. 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