-: Hi, my name is Kathy Wesley.
I'm an assistant professor of practice
here at the University,
and the Educational Administration Department,
and I teach in the masters program
and the doctoral programs.
I'm the coordinator of the masters program.
I'm also the executive director
of the National Council of Instructional Administrators,
which is housed here in our department.
NCIA is an affiliate
of the American Association of the Community Colleges.
So that's what my focus is here at the university.
I went into my graduate studies
with the goal of becoming a community college president,
because that's where I started, and I wanted to give back.
And as the executive director,
I have a national reach to other, to members.
So right now we have about 55 institutions
that are our community colleges that are members of NCIA,
and I work with their executive leaders,
and we support the work of instructional administrators
at community colleges.
So that's my way of giving back.
So I kind of get the best of both worlds.
I came from business, actually,
I came from a lawyer's office.
I worked for 22 years as a paralegal,
and ultimately, I had thought about pursuing law school
when we arrived in Lincoln,
but chose this path instead.
So my dissertation is focused on women
in non-traditional occupations.
And I wanted to get at what motivates them, right?
So when we think of women in non-traditional occupations,
which also ties in to community college work
in terms of an associate's degree or certificates
to work in environments
that don't require a four-year degree.
That's a certain type of woman who can work among men
in a production line.
So I studied at Lincoln Industries here in town,
which is a Lean Six Sigma organization,
very, very popular, very successful company in town,
and I looked at those women who worked
from eight to five every day dipping metal
in a production line setting.
And I was amazed at what it was that made those women
able to sustain themselves in that type of work.
So that's where my research started,
and from that point, it went into motivation,
and now I have moved into becoming a Gallup Strengths coach.
So I'm a certified Gallup Strengths coach,
and we integrate, we're working to integrate
that work with developing masters students
around their innate abilities.
And what makes students successful
in an online environment is discipline.
And you have to treat your work like a job.
And I know that's hard to do
because most of our students already have jobs.
They have jobs, they have families, it's a very busy time,
but this graduate-level education.
It requires a step-up in your game.
So when I talk with my advisees,
I talk with them about the importance
of not cutting corners,
following all of the instruction.
If you have an assignment that says,
asks you three questions, don't answer just two.
That really is the sign of someone
who cares about their work, who takes it seriously,
and it comes through in your assignments.
Your professors realize,
or you're highlighted amongst the group
when you are thorough and thoughtful and write well.
You know, pay attention to how you're writing.
Pay attention to your grammar.
Pay attention to your APA citation.
And I know we all wanna die about APA citation,
but it really is important,
and the more you concentrate on that,
the easier it's gonna be.
You know, this is gonna sound, you know, cliched,
but it really is the people, and, you know,
I'm not from Nebraska, I've lived here now nine or 10 years.
We chose Nebraska, and, you know,
I know the motto is "There's no place like Nebraska",
but having come from a military family
and traveling all over and living every three years
in a different place and then landing here in Nebraska,
there really is no place like Nebraska,
and it's the people.
It's, the people are great!
Their sincerity here and their genuineness here
within the University itself,
within my colleagues in my department, and the students.
It's just a really, really great place to be.