UGA gained a great deal when Watkins joined its Department of Adult Education as associate professor, having previously directed the human resources program at Texas. Watkins was brought to UGA to create and direct the Human Resource and Organizational Development degree program for the School of Leadership and Lifelong Learning, which she modeled after the one she managed in Texas. The goal of the program is to provide graduate education to human resource professionals.
Watkins, now professor, is also the Certificate Program coordinator, and in 1995, in collaboration with the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, developed the Certification in Training and Human Resource Development Program. The highly successful program completed its spring sessions in May.
Finding Human Resource Development and Adult Education
In the early 1970s, while teaching English at Miami-Dade Community College and experimenting with new ways of teaching, Watkins led a group of other faculty to explore teaching innovative and organizational development. She elected to focus her dissertation on organizational change, and was a consultant to help found the HRD graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin before joining the University of Texas faculty.
Since youth, Watkins said she has always enjoyed working with others. In fact, she said that her younger siblings still recall their days of playing school and being "taught" by their older sister. She added that she has always been interested in teamwork and collaboration.
Watkins' father once enrolled in a certificate program in agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, which she said was significant to her interest in certificate programs. "Through this course, he received a briefing ... a 'what's new in the field' type of information." She said she realized how the course provided useful information to her father and so many more, offering practical instruction in a flexible manner to adults.
Certification in Training and Human Resource Development
A major strength of the Certification in Training and Human Resource Development Program is the participation of a number of faculty within the School of Leadership and Lifelong Learning. In addition to Watkins, who leads the effort, instructors are Ronald M. Cervero, whose expertise includes continuing professional education and program planning; Talmadge C. Guy, whose research interests include diversity and multiculturalism; Margaret E. Holt, whose research focus includes adult learning theory and evaluation, and John Schell, whose research interest emphasizes situated cognition. Susan Dougherty, a consultant who helped develop the program, offers her expertise on topics of teams and organizational power issues.
The program consists of five weekend sessions held over a span of three months. With sessions titled "Introduction to the Human Resource Development Field," "Adult Learning and Training," "Facilitating Team Learning," "The Learning Organization," and "Evaluating Training and Graduation," the curriculum is designed for trainers, managers, and HRD professionals in business, industry, health care, government, and nonprofit organizations.
Additionally, the certificate program may serve as an introduction to the graduate programs in the School of Leadership and Lifelong Learning for some participants, providing information on core coursework. "The certificate program offers a chance to see what the graduate program is like by providing an overview of the program. It's a way to reach folks that adds value, whether the participants go to graduate school or not. There's no other program like it in the State of Georgia," Watkins said.
Watkins said that the field of human resource training is receiving an increasing amount of interest, and that the training programs in this field have gained a "certain level of professionalism."
In general, there is more interest in studying how adults learn. "Unlike the graduate program, the certificate program is more likely to attract professionals who have training as only one part of their assignment," she said.
HRD/OD Degree Programs
Among their many courses of study, the departments within the School of Leadership and Lifelong Learning (Adult Education, Educational Leadership, and Occupational Studies) offer graduate degree programs in HRD/OD (human resource development/ organization development) leading to the master of education degree (M.Ed.); the doctor of education degree (Ed.D.), with a concentration in HRD/OD; and the philosophy of education degree (Ph.D.), with a concentration in HRD/OD. According to the promotional literature, the coursework for all three degrees "provides students with an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills focusing on learning within the work environment, career development, organizational development, group facilitation, globalization, and technology."
Teaching, Research, and Service
Watkins' publications include Sculpting the Learning Organization: Lessons in the Art and Science of Systematic Change (1993) and Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace: A New Challenge for Human Resource Developers (1990), both of which she co-authored with Victoria J. Marsick. She served as co-editor of In Action: Creating the Learning Organization (1996, with Marsick) and The Emerging Power of Action Inquiry Technologies (1994, with Ann Brooks). She has also written, co-written, edited, or co-edited numerous book chapters, monographs, journal articles, bulletins and reports, and grant proposals.
Watkins has served in various public service capacities to national organizations such as the Academy of Human Resource Development, where she served as president; the American Society for Training and Development; the Human Resource Development Professors' Network; the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education; and the National Council for Staff, Program, and Organizational Development. Watkins often provides consultation and technical assistance to state and university organizations.
Watkins said that since she has a lot in common with her students, she can understand when life's challenges contend with their desire to further their education. The graduate program is offered on weekends and evenings in Athens and in Gwinnett, which gives students flexible course offerings and locations. She also expressed that she enjoys working with all of her students. "Many are close to my age. They teach me. I teach them," she said.
Web administrator: webmaster@gactr.uga.edu All contents copyright © 1998 University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. All rights reserved. Last revised: August 4, 1998 URL: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/GCQ/gcqspr98/watkins.html