Going beyond the classroom with the School of Advanced Studies Colloquia Series
If you asked, "What is the School of Advanced Studies Colloquia Series?" to any stranger on any corner of Anywhere, U.S.A., how many people do you think would know what it means? 1 in 10? 1 in 100? 1 in a 1,000? Most likely, it would be fewer people than that. In fact, there are 7,500 people who could tell you what the SAS Colloquia Series is, and they are University of Phoenix doctoral faculty, learners and alumni.
In September 2009, the School of Advanced Studies began a series of webinars known as the SAS Colloquia Series to enrich the scholarly experience of doctoral learners, faculty and alumni. Each quarterly SAS Colloquium is aimed at promoting dialogue and propelling learners’ work beyond the conventional scholarship and research to that of academic inquiry and informed action. Another goal is to induce academic interaction at the highest level between doctoral learners, faculty and alumni with esteemed scholars from other universities and organizations.
Although the SAS Colloquia Series are complimentary, they are available only to University of Phoenix doctoral community. After positive feedback and a successful turnout of more than 200 participants for the first SAS Colloquium, the capacity of the webinars has been increased to 500. Nevertheless, these webinars have proved to be quite popular as the limited 500 spots “sell out” quickly.
The colloquium triad
Doctoral learners, faculty and alumni sign up for the SAS Colloquia Series through their eCampus homepage—the web portal for all University of Phoenix students. Each SAS Colloquium includes a webinar/conference call with a prominent speaker, a forum for discussion and in some instances, a symposium around the colloquium published in an academic journal after the event.
At the center of each SAS Colloquium is a webinar with a featured guest speaker who is selected because of his or her leadership and reputation as an expert in education, business or health care in the private, public or nonprofit sectors. In October 2010, the SAS Colloquia Series featured Dr. Warren Bennis who is often considered the “father of leadership studies.” Bennis’ began studying the then emerging field of leadership studies in the 60s. His unique perspective on leadership has been formed by success as a scholar and practitioner.
The typical webinar follows a format beginning with introductions and then continues to a question and answer portion. Some speakers choose to include PowerPoint slides to add a visual component to the presentation. For some webinars, the questions are based on ones posed by students and faculty in the forums prior to the online seminar. In other instances, questions are prepared by SAS faculty. In the past, the SAS Colloquia Series have covered topics such as the Critically Reflexive Scholar-Practitioner-Leader, Phenomenology as a Way of Knowing and the Role of Technology in Transforming Higher Education Media.
The online forum portion allows learners, faculty and alumni to explore the webinar topics in depth before and after the presentation. Faculty members and alumni facilitate each forum, which focuses on discussions bringing research methods and theory into practice.
After some webinars, a symposium of the webinar is published in the Journal of Leadership Studies, which is the quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the School of Advanced Studies. The symposium brings researchers and practitioners together to seek out and build common frameworks for discussion and action.
These SAS Colloquia Series fosters academic enrichment in the School of Advanced Studies by helping doctoral learners, faculty and alumni build a more dynamic community. Although these colloquia are reserved just for members of the doctoral community, the next time a stranger on the street asks you what the School of Advanced Studies Colloquia Series is, you’ll know the answer.
