Kathleen Molloy, Santa Barbara City College professor of English/English Skills, has been selected by her peers to present the college’s 34th Annual Faculty Lecture on Wednesday, March 20.
Delivering the lecture is considered the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member each year.
The March 20 presentation, titled “Those Who Can Teach: Those Who Can’t Go into a Less Significant Line of Work,” will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the Garvin Theater on the West Campus, immediately followed by a reception.
The event is free and open to the community.
“The California Community College System is under incredible pressure to be all things to all people,” Molloy said. “The Student Success Task Force has made recommendations, and the California Legislature and Gov. Brown seek to implement these and more in an effort to increase the completion rates of our students, while state and national groups urge us to adopt practices and programs aimed at getting our students through our colleges more quickly and efficiently.
“Many of the recommendations are good ones, some are good in theory if not in practice, and some seem counter to our fundamental belief of open access.
But while not all of our students are seeking to complete a certificate, degree or transfer, the overwhelming majority of our students do have these goals. And most are highly motivated to achieve them. Yet far too many fail to reach their goals in spite of the best of intentions.”
While Molloy says SBCC has clearly done an outstanding job of putting effective programs and practices in place, the real difference is made every day in the classroom.
“That’s what the research tells us, and more importantly, that’s what our students tell us,” Molloy said. ““Nowhere are their voices louder and clearer than in some of the recent studies and surveys that have sought to capture our students’ perceptions of their college experiences, their expectations of us as teachers and of our institutions.”
During her faculty lecture, Molloy will share findings from the research, including student surveys, interviews and classroom observations, which reveal a picture of community college students that both contradicts and reinforces teachers’ perceptions as educators and suggests effective practices and strategies to help students succeed.
— Joan Galvan is a public information officer for SBCC.
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