Presidents
of Texas A&M-Kingsville & Galveston College
Headline
The
2006 Institute for Emotional Intelligence
(Appeared in the Kingsville Record and Bishop News, March 8, 2006
- By Jason Marton)
Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez,
president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and Dr. Elva LeBlanc, the
president of Galveston College, made up the spotlight panel session at the
2006 Institute for Emotional Intelligence. The event took place at Galveston
College and was convened during the first week in February.
Drs. Gary Low and Darwin
Nelson, psychologists, human science scholars and faculty members in Texas
A&M-Kingsville’s College of Education, used their 20-plus years of emotional
intelligence research and experience to form the Institute for Emotional
Intelligence in 2002. The institute’s purpose was and is to provide a forum
for sharing and disseminating research and best practices in education based
on a model for teaching and improving EQ as described in their text titled
Emotional Intelligence: Achieving Academic and Career Excellence
(2003).
The
2006 Institute was held away from its normal location of Texas A&M-Kingsville
to showcase Galveston College’s full integration of emotional intelligence
(EI) for improving student success and institutional effectiveness. Nelson
and Low’s model of EI has played a pivotal role in the success of Galveston
College as evidenced in the college’s 2004 Quality Enhancement Plan. Data
from Galveston College are suggesting that EI is contributing significantly to
student success, instructor satisfaction, and institutional effectiveness.
When
asked about past contributions of emotional intelligence at A&M-Kingsville,
Juarez acknowledged the university’s nationally recognized Javelina EI Program
(2001 – 2004), which sought to develop personal skills necessary for achieving
academic success in first-year college students. By incorporating emotional
intelligence into approximately 90% of 1201 and 1301 course curricula, Juarez
noted that students learned about assertive communication, drive strength,
time management, commitment ethic and stress management, as well as other EI
skills based in the areas of interpersonal communications, personal
leadership, self-management and intrapersonal development.
Although the Javelina EI Program was funded for only three years, the institute generated a data base in excess of 3,000 respondent records that graduate students and others utilize. Currently, EI serves as a centerpiece in two graduate courses within the College of Education. Juarez expressed his desire to have EI expanded to 100% of the first-year courses, infused within some of the upper division courses, and increasingly integrated into the graduate curricula. “We have the data that already demonstrates the impact of this program on retention,” said Juarez. “It’s not rocket science. When you compare the people who went through the program to those who did not or refused it, the impact on student success is clear.”
This year’s two-day conference was preceded by a one-day certification workshop facilitated by Low and Nelson. The workshop was attended by 19 education, counseling, corporate training and medical professionals from as far away as Washington, D.C. and California. All participants were certified to utilize emotional intelligence materials within a variety of disciplines.
Persons interested in learning more about emotional intelligence or the Institute for Emotional Intelligence, should visit the EI web site, http://www.tamuk.edu/edu/kwei000/.