Edison Community College has taken the bold step of integrating the roles of Information Technology practitioners and faculty into a new organizational structure that creates synergy and a more positive relationship between the IT practitioners and learning leaders. Practitioners graduate from the various programs and, while performing their jobs, teach as adjunct instructors, bringing valuable on-the-job insights into the classroom environment. The practitioners also offer internal training on tools that are used in the classroom and administrative offices such as Blackboard, Web Advisor, VoIP phones, administrative software and the IT infrastructure used by the institution. Faculty combine their knowledge of teaching, learning styles, classroom management, assessment and content with IT practitioners who are implementing state of the art teaching tools. Students of information technology perform valuable help desk and student support roles while learning their specialty areas. The college finds that the new organization creates an atmosphere of emphasis on improvement that fits perfectly with its Continuous Quality Improvement and Servant Leadership initiatives.
