February 3, 2025 • 40 mins
In this episode of Curiosity at Work, Dr. Julie Pham interviews Dr. Amy Morrison, President of Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech), to explore how curiosity shapes leadership in higher education. A first-generation college graduate and passionate advocate for workforce education, Dr. Morrison shares insights on fostering collaboration, navigating generational diversity, and building a learner-focused culture. She discusses how LWTech has prioritized equity, innovation, and well-being to meet the evolving needs of students and employees. Tune in to learn how curiosity drives growth and connection in education and leadership.
Connect with Dr. Julie Pham:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliepham2/
- Website: https://curiositybased.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliephamphd/
Connect with Dr. Amy Morrison:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-morrison-ed-d-11761560/
- Website: https://www.lwtech.edu/about-us/executive-staff/index.aspx
#AmyMorrison #LWTech #CuriosityAtWork #HigherEducation #Leadership #WorkforceEducation #GenerationalDiversity #EquityInEducation #ContinuousLearning #StudentSuccess
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
I'm Dr. Julie Pham, founder of CuriosityBased.
We help people practice curiosity in the world, starting in the workplace, because that is where we spend most of our waking hours.
Curiosity as a practice boils down to self-awareness, relationship building, and clear communication.
So join us as we interview leaders to see how they use curiosity at work.
Hello, welcome to the Curiosity at Work podcast today.
(00:26):
I am excited to get to have a conversation with Dr. Amy Morrison, who is the president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
And Dr. Morrison has been the president there since 2013, and also a first generation college graduate, right?
Correct.
Yeah.
Yes.
And also the author of the Survival Guide for Gen X Leaders as well.
(00:52):
So really looking forward to this conversation today.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me, Julie.
It's great to see you.
Happy New Year.
And you know, I'm a big fan of your work and have had the privilege of knowing you now for a number of years.
And so I'm just such a fan of your leadership and entrepreneurial success.
(01:17):
And it's just really been a genuine pleasure to have the opportunity to know you through the years.
So thanks for inviting me.
Thank you so much.
And I can call you Amy on this?
Please, please.
Yeah.
Thank you.
And I tell my students, I say, you can call me President Amy, Dr. Amy.
(01:38):
I even answer to, hey, in the hallways.
And yeah.
And I was honored to get to be interviewed in your book.
And so I'm excited that we'll get to hear about curiosity and how it's practiced in higher ed, as well as with the generations, because I know that that comes up a lot, too, that generational difference.
(02:00):
So, Amy, could you first just tell us, like Washington Institute of Tech, which you also just call ELWIT, right, is how many people, how many people are employed there?
And I know there's staff and there's faculty, students.
Just give us a sense of the school.
Yeah.
And I just back up for a moment.
(02:22):
And thank you for allowing me to interview you for my book.
I really do appreciate it.
So so, Amy Morrison, as you said, I've had the good fortune of serving as president here at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
We have rebranded a bit.
And so we refer to ourselves as Elwtech.
(02:43):
And so I've been here for the past 12 years and in the community and technical college system in Washington state for the past 25 years.
And our college is situated in Totem Lake, North Rose Hill area of Kirkland.
And we have about 3000 full time students come to our campus every year.
(03:10):
They range from 16 to 60 plus.
Our mission is to prepare students for today's careers and tomorrow's opportunities.
So students come here for a variety of reasons.
They come here to take high school programs and actually we have a high school within the college so they can complete their high school diploma and also earn college credits toward an associate's degree.
(03:45):
A number of our students obviously come here to earn an associate's degree in a variety of professional technical fields, primarily clustered around health care and IT, our main and early childhood education.
Those are our primary areas with a number of specialty programs within that.
(04:07):
And then we also have a number of students come to take one of our 12 applied bachelor's degree programs.
So anywhere from public health to gaming, we have a number of applied degrees.
And the commonality is all of our degrees, certificates, high school associates, bachelors are all very much focused on ensuring that our students are preparing for a meaningful career.
(04:39):
And while some of our students go on to additional education, a number of them are adults, they're working already, they're raising families, they have very adult responsibilities.
So our students are very focused, very pragmatic, and very much preparing for their future careers.
(05:06):
So we are open, our early programs start somewhere between 6 and 7 a.m. and classes go through 10 p.m. And we have gone through like every organization, especially in higher education, a number of iterations through the pandemic.
(05:30):
If you would have told me in January of 2020, that my college would go completely online within less than two weeks, I would have said you're crazy, respectfully, but I would have said you're crazy.
But that's exactly what we did.
And then we were closed, you know, winter 2020 and last couple weeks of winter 2020 and then spring of 2020.
(06:02):
And then we partially reopened and have remained open since June of 2020.
Because as you can appreciate, it's very hard to learn welding online, dental hygiene online.
And so, you know, we were very careful in scaling those in-person learning opportunities to the point where now we are very much open to students, offices are open, you know, five days a week, campus is open on the weekend.
(06:37):
And with that said, you know, we have 200, about 500 total employees, about half of those are full time and the other half are adjunct faculty.
So they are experts in their field.
They teach one or two classes, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes not every other quarter to meet the real technical needs of our programs.
(07:06):
And, you know, we try to be as understanding as much as we can about the work-life balance needs of our employees.
And for those employees for whom they can telework, you know, part of the week, we really try to accommodate those needs as much as possible.
(07:27):
So we're, you know, I look outside my window, the parking lot is full.
Students are here and yet we're still trying to meet the, you know, evolving demands of students and employees as well.
So, Amy, when you say that of those 500 employees, half of them are adjunct instructors, professors, does that mean the other half, they are staffed, they are the ones who are making, taking care of the, making sure that the college runs?
(07:59):
Yeah, a combination of full-time faculty, full-time classified, full-time administration.
And so I know that in academia, there can be a lot of hierarchy between faculty and staff.
And what does that look like in a community and technical college?
(08:20):
Is there still that really strict divide or is it more loose?
Yeah, we really do pride ourselves on not having that hierarchy.
That goes back to call me Amy or I respond to hey, hey, because, you know, we are kind of in the scheme of community and technical colleges, about a medium-sized technical college.
(08:50):
And we do not have, you know, we're publicly funded, state funded.
We don't have the finances for multiple layers of administration.
So we have a very flat organization.
And, you know, we're talking to each other kind of up and down the organizational charts very regularly.
(09:17):
I interview all full-time faculty finalists.
So, you know, I work with faculty and certainly work with the instructional administration that works directly with them, you know, on a daily basis.
So we're, you know, we're pretty flat and very collaborative.
(09:41):
And so the 250, where they're the staff and the full-time faculty, I assume that they actually they know each other a lot better than that 250 worth adjunct.
Do they have much of a relationship with the school aside from teaching?
Yeah, they have a very close working relationship with full-time faculty.
(10:01):
As well as the instructional administration.
And then we do try to provide opportunities throughout the year for all employees to get together.
Because I can imagine that is this added layer of complexity where you have this.
I don't want like a pair of another layer of of employees who are not this is not their full-time job.
(10:28):
And yet you still want them to feel that they are part of this community of LW Tech.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we're, you know, always working to make sure that we're on the same page with adjunct faculty, that they're always, you know, welcomed.
We do orientations with them, include them in professional development opportunities where appropriate.
(10:52):
And we see that as really one of the strengths of the college and that we're able to access, you know, an incredibly talented external community.
The broader East Side is, you know, chock full of exceptionally bright people.
And we're able to welcome them into the campus to teach a class, to help serve on one of our advisory committees that are connected to our instructional programs, guest lecture, you know, potentially help students with internship opportunities.
(11:31):
So that connectivity on the adjunct is, you know, something that we see is very much one of our strengths.
Because it keeps us close, keeps us closely connected to industry, which is essential to realizing our mission of preparing students for meaningful careers.
Mm hmm.
(11:52):
And so what I'm hearing is I know that at some universities, colleges, adjunct could almost be considered second class professors.
And yet here it's just actually a way to make sure that you are providing instructors who are in industry and they are just doing this as to serve, to keep their minds fresh with students.
(12:13):
And it's not just, oh, it's because you couldn't get a full time job here.
It's just they want to keep, they want to be able to do both to work professionally in industry and also to teach.
Yeah.
And it, you know, the the, you know, different programs have different needs.
And so, you know, it is a little fluid.
But yes, generally, you know, we see the adjunct faculty is really one of our secrets to success because they do help us keep very current in multiple changing professions, as you can imagine, in I.T. and in health care especially.
(12:53):
Yeah.
So let's talk about curiosity.
OK.
Talk about curiosity in the workforce and in the workplace.
We hire in education, it's always, oh, curiosity is so important.
And yet there can be times where it's actually really hard to practice.
It's hard to do.
(13:14):
And so could you share when is it difficult for you to practice curiosity in the workplace?
I think that so I will just say that we are obviously a community of learners.
Being an educational institution, we, you know, obviously are focused very much on the learners, our students whom we serve and making sure that their needs are being met and that they're achieving.
(13:46):
And in doing so, as faculty and staff, we often come together multiple times throughout the year to learn ourselves about the evolving needs of students, how we can best serve them, what are best practices at other institutions to serve them.
So there is an immense amount of professional development built into our organization.
(14:12):
And in fact, one of our values, we went through a yearlong strategic planning exercise this past year, and one of the values is continuously learning.
So we are a very curious group.
And I think that one of the times in which that, you know, may become more challenging is really in times of overwork.
(14:42):
You know, we are a publicly funded institution.
You know, finances are finite and and yet the needs of students or the demands of the legislature or, you know, increasing technology, you know, impacts workload.
(15:09):
And so oftentimes, what I see kind of with faculty and staff, when there may be fatigue or kind of, you know, kind of resist, not resistance, but just not embracing of new initiatives or just, you know, kind of like there's a hesitance there is, I think, really times of high workload and, you know, continuous change.
(15:46):
Amy, you said because you're a publicly funded school, do you feel that because you're publicly funded, it's more inconsistent than if you were a private school or how does that, could you elaborate on how that your funding source affects the ability to practice curiosity and the workload?
(16:08):
I would say probably if you ask my private college presidents, they would say, you know, their funds aren't infinite either.
So that that's not really what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that, you know, I don't have an endless supply to meet the growing workload demands of funds.
So we often have to meet those increasing demands with our existing resources.
(16:35):
And in doing so, you know, at times that creates workload pressures on our existing staff and faculty.
So, for example, we had a brand new system-wide IT enterprise resource system and learning a completely new ERP and new processes, you know, put an immense workload on our staff and faculty.
(17:06):
And it was, you know, an incredible change curve that they had to meet.
And, you know, we weren't really able to hire any new full-time permanent staff to meet those needs.
So those types of things, as they come, you know, come to the college, I think run the risk of just fatigue and, you know, a hesitance around trying new things or, you know, trying new initiatives or, you know, excitement about it.
(17:43):
So we really have to be mindful of that as leaders.
And plus, I would say too, I mean, just on, I would think in the organization, you know, the past four years have not been easy on anyone.
And, you know, the impacts of the pandemic as a leader, some may be known and some may be unknown.
(18:09):
And so we just have had to be very mindful of that, you know, as we go forward, just because we're, you know, well out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, it doesn't mean that the impacts of the pandemic don't continue.
And we shouldn't be mindful of that when we talk about new initiatives or talk about potentially new job demands.
(18:37):
So that's why we really try to, you know, keep telework options where feasible, you know, flexible and kind of empathetic of where people are at as much as possible.
So thinking there are the constraints on just terms of resources.
(19:01):
I know that sometimes when I talk to those who are working in public institutions, they get this pressure from the elected officials.
They're just like, we have this new policy.
We want this.
We're going to promise all these new jobs.
And then it's up to the technical colleges to help deliver on that.
Do you ever, do you feel that?
Do you feel the pressures of just changing?
(19:24):
Sometimes there are policies and sometimes there's just campaigns that people, the public gets excited about.
Well, I mean, a part of my job is to have good, strong working relationships with our elected officials at all levels.
And so when there are, and then we work also, you know, that's my job locally.
(19:51):
And then as a statewide agent organization of community and technical colleges, we advocate in Olympia with one legislative message.
So we all speak off the same sheet of music, sing off the same sheet of music, so to speak.
And when it comes to the legislature.
(20:13):
So we really try to be engaged in conversation about if there are needs, retraining needs, training needs, education needs for the state of Washington, that it's a collaborative developmental process and not so much, you know, this is what we're going to do and go do it.
(20:38):
You know, through the years, there may have been some of that, but we have, you know, I feel very, very fortunate here on the east side.
We have a number of local elected officials and, you know, state elected officials who are very supportive.
You know, they often ask how legislation could potentially impact the colleges.
(21:05):
And so that, I think that prevents some of that.
Thank you.
And just to clarify, Amy's referring to Olympia.
That's actually the state capital for Washington State.
And then the east side, that's in the east side of Seattle.
So there's Seattle on the east side.
And Amy, you wrote this about generational differences and leadership for gender.
(21:28):
Do you see generational differences getting in the way of or making practicing curiosity difficult at times?
I don't know that it is an impediment, quite honestly, because, you know, I am a Gen Xer.
(21:48):
You know, we share that, you know, kind of situation in life, generational situation in life.
And I have a Gen Z son.
And, you know, and we have Gen Z employees, certainly Gen Z students.
So, you know, I now lead an organization, and I think you do as well, that has multiple generations working side by side.
(22:17):
Certainly boomers, certainly Gen Xers, certainly millennials, and now Gen Z.
And actually, one of our professional development days, last calendar year, I led a Gen Z employee panel.
And it was so much fun.
(22:40):
You know, part of it is my own curiosity, just about kind of how, you know, generations sit and different needs and different contexts in which they, you know, came of age.
I just think it's kind of fascinating.
But I was at a conference, and there were probably 12, multiple day conference, and there were probably 12 employees.
(23:03):
And a couple of them were Gen Z.
And the, let's just say the proportional enthusiasm was very clear of Gen Z employees.
And, you know, they had a lot of energy, and they were, you know, really excited about the college and their future and their careers.
(23:26):
And I thought, you know, I need to make sure the rest of the college is aware that, you know, before Gen Z kind of gets a bad rap, like all generations seem to do, that we really hear from them about what's on their mind, you know, what are their priorities as young employees?
(23:50):
What do, and many of them work directly with students.
So what are they hearing from students about what their needs are, what their concerns?
What are they excited about?
Why does this college work best for them?
And so it was fantastic.
It was definitely a highlight of that professional in-service of hearing directly from, you know, some of our youngest employees.
(24:16):
But I think that, and I, you know, I suspect that hopefully maybe fostered some curiosity about what this generation is all about and how we can set them up for success.
Mm-hmm.
I, so what I'm hearing is that it doesn't have to be this impediment if you're intentional about including the different generations in that conversation.
(24:41):
Because I actually talked to, oh, this generation or that generation, and maybe that's because are they actually in conversation with, are we having cross-generational conversations so that we can actually practice curiosity with each other?
Are we actually, are we just having assumptions and having those silos across the generations?
(25:03):
And I think, you know, I think my, maybe sensitivity to all this is because,
and I suspect you may be in a similar situation where we were never, maybe with the exception
of like college era, but there was in school, like with the exception of growing up through
(25:29):
school and maybe some college, once we got into the workplace, there was never a time
where we were completely surrounded by only our contemporaries.
We were always, you know, the youngest and they were all boomers.
And we were like, you know, one or two Gen Xers.
(25:49):
And then after a while, which was really the impetus for my book when all the boomers retired en masse in 2022, seemingly, then, you know, we were, there were a few of us and millennials and then some Gen Z coming in.
And so I think I've always been super curious about that because I've always, to some degree kind of had to be, because I was never completely surrounded by people my own age, if that makes sense.
(26:24):
And I always had to be aware of different generations because there were so few Gen X in the room and so many, you know, other generations.
So I don't know.
I think, I think like diversity and inclusion in broad terms, you know, age differences and diversity overall is a strength and to come at it with humility and curiosity can really lead to the strengthening of an organization.
(27:10):
So at least that's been my approach.
And so, Amy, you talked about one way to foster curiosity is by having these, by including different communities in that conversation, in this case, with the generations.
Is there anything, another example you want to share about fostering curiosity in the workplace that's particular to this, to your community college, technical college setting?
(27:39):
I do work very hard to try to get a sense of kind of the pulse of the college community.
And this year I'm the chair of the community technical college president's association.
So I'm always trying to keep kind of a pulse on where my colleagues are at too.
(28:02):
And so that comes by, you know, kind of a continual engagement, you know, this, I'm in a very highly relational job.
So it is my job to, you know, at the beginning to get to know my colleagues, you know, learn about what their jobs are, learn about who they are, and then continue to build on that.
(28:29):
And then also to try to get to know new employees and, you know, new presidents and, you know, new colleagues.
And that continual listening and conversation and empathy has, you know, certainly evolved over my 12 years here.
(28:52):
And when, and that ongoing curiosity about how people are genuinely doing is essential to my job because when I need those relationships the most, like COVID breaking out on my campus before any other campus in the country, I had seven years of that, of those ongoing relationships to rely upon.
(29:27):
And, you know, the speed of trust at that point was lightning fast and essential to us getting through that time.
And so I see that relationship building and the trust building and the caring for colleagues and students as, you know, an ongoing key practice as a college leader.
(29:57):
And that is just 12 years of hallway conversations, checking in with people when, you know, they have a celebration in the family, when they have a death in the family, you know, seeing people in the, you know, engaging with the broader community.
(30:22):
So to me, I think just another example of curiosity practice is just that continual engagement and trying to really get a sense as to where people are.
And then once I kind of have a sense of that, you know, crafting learning opportunities or professional development opportunities to try to meet those needs as much as I can.
(30:51):
I appreciate how you're saying that the practice of curiosity is focusing on relationship building because we think of that as the second element of the practice of curiosity, the self-awareness, relationship building, and clear communication.
And how you even as college president, I think, oh, college president, you make time to have those hallway conversations to remember those seemingly small yet important details about people's lives because those relationships, they're a part of how you're able to actually do your work and to create this learning environment.
(31:26):
So thank you because it just, it's a reminder of, look, it doesn't matter how high your title, how big your title is.
You've got to actually, relationships do matter.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I don't know if they're everything, but I mean, in my line of work, they are essential.
(31:49):
And I, and then that parlays to my executive team, many of whom I've worked with, you know, the entire time that I've been here.
I have a very long-term stable team and we practice that, you know, we're a very tight team.
(32:09):
And then they practice that with their teams.
So when we talk about, you know, how people are feeling, we don't just rely on an annual survey.
I mean, this is like a weekly conversation.
And, you know, there's probably not a week that goes by that someone will say, well, someone's, you know, parent may have passed away.
(32:32):
And we'll talk about how they're doing and what they might need and, and, you know, how I could reach out and be supportive.
So it is an essential part.
And I think often maybe an overlooked part of, you know, being a leader.
Yeah.
So Amy, now I want to get to recruiting and I'm going to ask, I actually asked about a particular, all these adjunct professors.
(33:00):
Sure.
What advice would you give?
Because this is a special, it's they, you know, that they've got an, this is a part-time job.
So how do you interview for curiosity with adjunct professors?
Well, many of our adjunct professors, you know, have a relationship with the college and many, and then some of them reach out.
(33:24):
They reach out to our existing faculty.
They reach out to human resources and many of them are learners.
I mean, they're educators.
So therefore they're learners and, you know, they're very passionate about their specific field and they want to talk about it and they want to show how they are engaged and how they want to ensure students succeed in their chosen profession.
(33:59):
And so it's often pretty evident how engaged faculty, to some degree, and staff as well, but especially faculty by, you know, their teaching experience, by their research experience, their publication experience, their community engagement experience.
(34:22):
So that enthusiasm for their work and energy, you know, really does come through pretty clearly.
So what I'm hearing you say is they're actually self-selecting and that they already, they love, they already love learning.
Then, because this is a very particular sort of employee, right?
(34:43):
Because you know, they have another job and usually you want them to have another job because it helps them with the job that you're doing here.
Is there another just, is there another question that you like to ask to then just make sure that they maybe even understand what they're getting to or that this will be a right fit for them?
Yeah, I do ask all of the faculty, especially why this college?
(35:11):
And, you know, the answers vary as you can imagine.
And some are very specific about the technical program, our DEI commitments.
They're specific about a variety of things.
(35:32):
And some aren't, so it's kind of interesting.
We'll answer the question.
Yeah, and so that question can translate to why this, why this workplace?
You could do this function anywhere, but why here?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so last question for you, Amy, is what is inspiring curiosity for you in your own life right now?
(35:56):
Well, not surprisingly, one of my StrengthsFinder strengths is learner.
I'm sure you're shocked by that.
So I was thinking about, you know, what, how do I most practice curiosity and ongoing learning, learning?
(36:21):
And I don't want this to be too on the nose, given you're interviewing me for a podcast.
But I am, I enter, I listen to a lot of podcasts.
I think at this point I follow 80 shows.
(36:45):
Yes.
So I am always, and it's a variety of topics.
I mean, and it, I think podcasts are a gift because, you know, you have your podcasts that you follow for professional reasons, to be current in the world, to, you know, certainly in the field of higher education, there are podcasts, there are, you know, health and wellness podcasts, working parent podcasts, you name it.
(37:13):
But anything that I have ever been curious about or have wanted to know more about, you know, there is a podcast for that.
There is a podcast for curiosity.
I mean, it's amazing just what is out there in the, you know, the podcast universe.
So is there a podcast that people might be surprised that you listen to?
(37:42):
That's a good question.
Well, probably who people who know me better would not be surprised that I do try to pay attention to podcasts around happiness and well-being and just, because that is something that I really try to pay attention to, especially for my, you know, personally, obviously, I'm an optimistic person and, you know, try to foster happiness in my own life and those that I care about.
(38:20):
And also as a leader, I mean, this is work that I feel incredibly privileged to do.
I have felt at home in the technical colleges, you know, as my mother was a barber, my father was a machinist.
So when I came to the technical colleges, I felt like this is home.
(38:45):
And so it's important to me that people spend a lot of time here.
And I want them to be happy in their work, ultimately, and, you know, whatever that looks like for them.
So I'm always trying to be mindful about fostering, you know, well-being and wellness in the work, especially in the hopes that, you know, this college can be a real respite for my employees and for students in times of, you know, change that we live in right now.
(39:19):
So I don't know if that's a surprise or not, but they're, you know, that's maybe one of them that comes to mind.
Well, and I can see that having worked with you over the years and worked with your colleagues that you really, there's a sense of this care for well-being and that it's not just about the work or about the students or about having the things that we are going to get to brag about.
(39:43):
People really do feel cared for.
And I think that that's obvious in the way that they interact and treat one another.
And ultimately our students.
Yeah.
So, you know, if I can care, show care and foster well-being in the employees of the college, they will then foster that in our students that we serve.
(40:09):
And obviously we do a lot directly to foster that well-being, mental health, physical health, you know, intellectual success in our students as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today, Dr. Morrison.
How do people get in touch with you?
(40:30):
So I'm on LinkedIn.
They can send me a note there.
That's probably the best way.
Yeah.
But thank you so much, Julie.
It has truly been a joy to know you all these years.
And thank you so much for the invitation.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
And the joy is mine too.
I'm Dr. Julie Pham, founder of CuriosityBased.
We help people practice curiosity in the world, starting in the workplace, because that is where we spend most of our waking hours.
Curiosity as a practice boils down to self-awareness, relationship building, and clear communication.
So join us as we interview leaders to see how they use curiosity at work.
Hello, welcome to the Curiosity at Work podcast today.
(00:26):
I am excited to get to have a conversation with Dr. Amy Morrison, who is the president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
And Dr. Morrison has been the president there since 2013, and also a first generation college graduate, right?
Correct.
Yeah.
Yes.
And also the author of the Survival Guide for Gen X Leaders as well.
(00:52):
So really looking forward to this conversation today.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me, Julie.
It's great to see you.
Happy New Year.
And you know, I'm a big fan of your work and have had the privilege of knowing you now for a number of years.
And so I'm just such a fan of your leadership and entrepreneurial success.
(01:17):
And it's just really been a genuine pleasure to have the opportunity to know you through the years.
So thanks for inviting me.
Thank you so much.
And I can call you Amy on this?
Please, please.
Yeah.
Thank you.
And I tell my students, I say, you can call me President Amy, Dr. Amy.
(01:38):
I even answer to, hey, in the hallways.
And yeah.
And I was honored to get to be interviewed in your book.
And so I'm excited that we'll get to hear about curiosity and how it's practiced in higher ed, as well as with the generations, because I know that that comes up a lot, too, that generational difference.
(02:00):
So, Amy, could you first just tell us, like Washington Institute of Tech, which you also just call ELWIT, right, is how many people, how many people are employed there?
And I know there's staff and there's faculty, students.
Just give us a sense of the school.
Yeah.
And I just back up for a moment.
(02:22):
And thank you for allowing me to interview you for my book.
I really do appreciate it.
So so, Amy Morrison, as you said, I've had the good fortune of serving as president here at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
We have rebranded a bit.
And so we refer to ourselves as Elwtech.
(02:43):
And so I've been here for the past 12 years and in the community and technical college system in Washington state for the past 25 years.
And our college is situated in Totem Lake, North Rose Hill area of Kirkland.
And we have about 3000 full time students come to our campus every year.
(03:10):
They range from 16 to 60 plus.
Our mission is to prepare students for today's careers and tomorrow's opportunities.
So students come here for a variety of reasons.
They come here to take high school programs and actually we have a high school within the college so they can complete their high school diploma and also earn college credits toward an associate's degree.
(03:45):
A number of our students obviously come here to earn an associate's degree in a variety of professional technical fields, primarily clustered around health care and IT, our main and early childhood education.
Those are our primary areas with a number of specialty programs within that.
(04:07):
And then we also have a number of students come to take one of our 12 applied bachelor's degree programs.
So anywhere from public health to gaming, we have a number of applied degrees.
And the commonality is all of our degrees, certificates, high school associates, bachelors are all very much focused on ensuring that our students are preparing for a meaningful career.
(04:39):
And while some of our students go on to additional education, a number of them are adults, they're working already, they're raising families, they have very adult responsibilities.
So our students are very focused, very pragmatic, and very much preparing for their future careers.
(05:06):
So we are open, our early programs start somewhere between 6 and 7 a.m. and classes go through 10 p.m. And we have gone through like every organization, especially in higher education, a number of iterations through the pandemic.
(05:30):
If you would have told me in January of 2020, that my college would go completely online within less than two weeks, I would have said you're crazy, respectfully, but I would have said you're crazy.
But that's exactly what we did.
And then we were closed, you know, winter 2020 and last couple weeks of winter 2020 and then spring of 2020.
(06:02):
And then we partially reopened and have remained open since June of 2020.
Because as you can appreciate, it's very hard to learn welding online, dental hygiene online.
And so, you know, we were very careful in scaling those in-person learning opportunities to the point where now we are very much open to students, offices are open, you know, five days a week, campus is open on the weekend.
(06:37):
And with that said, you know, we have 200, about 500 total employees, about half of those are full time and the other half are adjunct faculty.
So they are experts in their field.
They teach one or two classes, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes not every other quarter to meet the real technical needs of our programs.
(07:06):
And, you know, we try to be as understanding as much as we can about the work-life balance needs of our employees.
And for those employees for whom they can telework, you know, part of the week, we really try to accommodate those needs as much as possible.
(07:27):
So we're, you know, I look outside my window, the parking lot is full.
Students are here and yet we're still trying to meet the, you know, evolving demands of students and employees as well.
So, Amy, when you say that of those 500 employees, half of them are adjunct instructors, professors, does that mean the other half, they are staffed, they are the ones who are making, taking care of the, making sure that the college runs?
(07:59):
Yeah, a combination of full-time faculty, full-time classified, full-time administration.
And so I know that in academia, there can be a lot of hierarchy between faculty and staff.
And what does that look like in a community and technical college?
(08:20):
Is there still that really strict divide or is it more loose?
Yeah, we really do pride ourselves on not having that hierarchy.
That goes back to call me Amy or I respond to hey, hey, because, you know, we are kind of in the scheme of community and technical colleges, about a medium-sized technical college.
(08:50):
And we do not have, you know, we're publicly funded, state funded.
We don't have the finances for multiple layers of administration.
So we have a very flat organization.
And, you know, we're talking to each other kind of up and down the organizational charts very regularly.
(09:17):
I interview all full-time faculty finalists.
So, you know, I work with faculty and certainly work with the instructional administration that works directly with them, you know, on a daily basis.
So we're, you know, we're pretty flat and very collaborative.
(09:41):
And so the 250, where they're the staff and the full-time faculty, I assume that they actually they know each other a lot better than that 250 worth adjunct.
Do they have much of a relationship with the school aside from teaching?
Yeah, they have a very close working relationship with full-time faculty.
(10:01):
As well as the instructional administration.
And then we do try to provide opportunities throughout the year for all employees to get together.
Because I can imagine that is this added layer of complexity where you have this.
I don't want like a pair of another layer of of employees who are not this is not their full-time job.
(10:28):
And yet you still want them to feel that they are part of this community of LW Tech.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we're, you know, always working to make sure that we're on the same page with adjunct faculty, that they're always, you know, welcomed.
We do orientations with them, include them in professional development opportunities where appropriate.
(10:52):
And we see that as really one of the strengths of the college and that we're able to access, you know, an incredibly talented external community.
The broader East Side is, you know, chock full of exceptionally bright people.
And we're able to welcome them into the campus to teach a class, to help serve on one of our advisory committees that are connected to our instructional programs, guest lecture, you know, potentially help students with internship opportunities.
(11:31):
So that connectivity on the adjunct is, you know, something that we see is very much one of our strengths.
Because it keeps us close, keeps us closely connected to industry, which is essential to realizing our mission of preparing students for meaningful careers.
Mm hmm.
(11:52):
And so what I'm hearing is I know that at some universities, colleges, adjunct could almost be considered second class professors.
And yet here it's just actually a way to make sure that you are providing instructors who are in industry and they are just doing this as to serve, to keep their minds fresh with students.
(12:13):
And it's not just, oh, it's because you couldn't get a full time job here.
It's just they want to keep, they want to be able to do both to work professionally in industry and also to teach.
Yeah.
And it, you know, the the, you know, different programs have different needs.
And so, you know, it is a little fluid.
But yes, generally, you know, we see the adjunct faculty is really one of our secrets to success because they do help us keep very current in multiple changing professions, as you can imagine, in I.T. and in health care especially.
(12:53):
Yeah.
So let's talk about curiosity.
OK.
Talk about curiosity in the workforce and in the workplace.
We hire in education, it's always, oh, curiosity is so important.
And yet there can be times where it's actually really hard to practice.
It's hard to do.
(13:14):
And so could you share when is it difficult for you to practice curiosity in the workplace?
I think that so I will just say that we are obviously a community of learners.
Being an educational institution, we, you know, obviously are focused very much on the learners, our students whom we serve and making sure that their needs are being met and that they're achieving.
(13:46):
And in doing so, as faculty and staff, we often come together multiple times throughout the year to learn ourselves about the evolving needs of students, how we can best serve them, what are best practices at other institutions to serve them.
So there is an immense amount of professional development built into our organization.
(14:12):
And in fact, one of our values, we went through a yearlong strategic planning exercise this past year, and one of the values is continuously learning.
So we are a very curious group.
And I think that one of the times in which that, you know, may become more challenging is really in times of overwork.
(14:42):
You know, we are a publicly funded institution.
You know, finances are finite and and yet the needs of students or the demands of the legislature or, you know, increasing technology, you know, impacts workload.
(15:09):
And so oftentimes, what I see kind of with faculty and staff, when there may be fatigue or kind of, you know, kind of resist, not resistance, but just not embracing of new initiatives or just, you know, kind of like there's a hesitance there is, I think, really times of high workload and, you know, continuous change.
(15:46):
Amy, you said because you're a publicly funded school, do you feel that because you're publicly funded, it's more inconsistent than if you were a private school or how does that, could you elaborate on how that your funding source affects the ability to practice curiosity and the workload?
(16:08):
I would say probably if you ask my private college presidents, they would say, you know, their funds aren't infinite either.
So that that's not really what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that, you know, I don't have an endless supply to meet the growing workload demands of funds.
So we often have to meet those increasing demands with our existing resources.
(16:35):
And in doing so, you know, at times that creates workload pressures on our existing staff and faculty.
So, for example, we had a brand new system-wide IT enterprise resource system and learning a completely new ERP and new processes, you know, put an immense workload on our staff and faculty.
(17:06):
And it was, you know, an incredible change curve that they had to meet.
And, you know, we weren't really able to hire any new full-time permanent staff to meet those needs.
So those types of things, as they come, you know, come to the college, I think run the risk of just fatigue and, you know, a hesitance around trying new things or, you know, trying new initiatives or, you know, excitement about it.
(17:43):
So we really have to be mindful of that as leaders.
And plus, I would say too, I mean, just on, I would think in the organization, you know, the past four years have not been easy on anyone.
And, you know, the impacts of the pandemic as a leader, some may be known and some may be unknown.
(18:09):
And so we just have had to be very mindful of that, you know, as we go forward, just because we're, you know, well out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, it doesn't mean that the impacts of the pandemic don't continue.
And we shouldn't be mindful of that when we talk about new initiatives or talk about potentially new job demands.
(18:37):
So that's why we really try to, you know, keep telework options where feasible, you know, flexible and kind of empathetic of where people are at as much as possible.
So thinking there are the constraints on just terms of resources.
(19:01):
I know that sometimes when I talk to those who are working in public institutions, they get this pressure from the elected officials.
They're just like, we have this new policy.
We want this.
We're going to promise all these new jobs.
And then it's up to the technical colleges to help deliver on that.
Do you ever, do you feel that?
Do you feel the pressures of just changing?
(19:24):
Sometimes there are policies and sometimes there's just campaigns that people, the public gets excited about.
Well, I mean, a part of my job is to have good, strong working relationships with our elected officials at all levels.
And so when there are, and then we work also, you know, that's my job locally.
(19:51):
And then as a statewide agent organization of community and technical colleges, we advocate in Olympia with one legislative message.
So we all speak off the same sheet of music, sing off the same sheet of music, so to speak.
And when it comes to the legislature.
(20:13):
So we really try to be engaged in conversation about if there are needs, retraining needs, training needs, education needs for the state of Washington, that it's a collaborative developmental process and not so much, you know, this is what we're going to do and go do it.
(20:38):
You know, through the years, there may have been some of that, but we have, you know, I feel very, very fortunate here on the east side.
We have a number of local elected officials and, you know, state elected officials who are very supportive.
You know, they often ask how legislation could potentially impact the colleges.
(21:05):
And so that, I think that prevents some of that.
Thank you.
And just to clarify, Amy's referring to Olympia.
That's actually the state capital for Washington State.
And then the east side, that's in the east side of Seattle.
So there's Seattle on the east side.
And Amy, you wrote this about generational differences and leadership for gender.
(21:28):
Do you see generational differences getting in the way of or making practicing curiosity difficult at times?
I don't know that it is an impediment, quite honestly, because, you know, I am a Gen Xer.
(21:48):
You know, we share that, you know, kind of situation in life, generational situation in life.
And I have a Gen Z son.
And, you know, and we have Gen Z employees, certainly Gen Z students.
So, you know, I now lead an organization, and I think you do as well, that has multiple generations working side by side.
(22:17):
Certainly boomers, certainly Gen Xers, certainly millennials, and now Gen Z.
And actually, one of our professional development days, last calendar year, I led a Gen Z employee panel.
And it was so much fun.
(22:40):
You know, part of it is my own curiosity, just about kind of how, you know, generations sit and different needs and different contexts in which they, you know, came of age.
I just think it's kind of fascinating.
But I was at a conference, and there were probably 12, multiple day conference, and there were probably 12 employees.
(23:03):
And a couple of them were Gen Z.
And the, let's just say the proportional enthusiasm was very clear of Gen Z employees.
And, you know, they had a lot of energy, and they were, you know, really excited about the college and their future and their careers.
(23:26):
And I thought, you know, I need to make sure the rest of the college is aware that, you know, before Gen Z kind of gets a bad rap, like all generations seem to do, that we really hear from them about what's on their mind, you know, what are their priorities as young employees?
(23:50):
What do, and many of them work directly with students.
So what are they hearing from students about what their needs are, what their concerns?
What are they excited about?
Why does this college work best for them?
And so it was fantastic.
It was definitely a highlight of that professional in-service of hearing directly from, you know, some of our youngest employees.
(24:16):
But I think that, and I, you know, I suspect that hopefully maybe fostered some curiosity about what this generation is all about and how we can set them up for success.
Mm-hmm.
I, so what I'm hearing is that it doesn't have to be this impediment if you're intentional about including the different generations in that conversation.
(24:41):
Because I actually talked to, oh, this generation or that generation, and maybe that's because are they actually in conversation with, are we having cross-generational conversations so that we can actually practice curiosity with each other?
Are we actually, are we just having assumptions and having those silos across the generations?
(25:03):
And I think, you know, I think my, maybe sensitivity to all this is because,
and I suspect you may be in a similar situation where we were never, maybe with the exception
of like college era, but there was in school, like with the exception of growing up through
(25:29):
school and maybe some college, once we got into the workplace, there was never a time
where we were completely surrounded by only our contemporaries.
We were always, you know, the youngest and they were all boomers.
And we were like, you know, one or two Gen Xers.
(25:49):
And then after a while, which was really the impetus for my book when all the boomers retired en masse in 2022, seemingly, then, you know, we were, there were a few of us and millennials and then some Gen Z coming in.
And so I think I've always been super curious about that because I've always, to some degree kind of had to be, because I was never completely surrounded by people my own age, if that makes sense.
(26:24):
And I always had to be aware of different generations because there were so few Gen X in the room and so many, you know, other generations.
So I don't know.
I think, I think like diversity and inclusion in broad terms, you know, age differences and diversity overall is a strength and to come at it with humility and curiosity can really lead to the strengthening of an organization.
(27:10):
So at least that's been my approach.
And so, Amy, you talked about one way to foster curiosity is by having these, by including different communities in that conversation, in this case, with the generations.
Is there anything, another example you want to share about fostering curiosity in the workplace that's particular to this, to your community college, technical college setting?
(27:39):
I do work very hard to try to get a sense of kind of the pulse of the college community.
And this year I'm the chair of the community technical college president's association.
So I'm always trying to keep kind of a pulse on where my colleagues are at too.
(28:02):
And so that comes by, you know, kind of a continual engagement, you know, this, I'm in a very highly relational job.
So it is my job to, you know, at the beginning to get to know my colleagues, you know, learn about what their jobs are, learn about who they are, and then continue to build on that.
(28:29):
And then also to try to get to know new employees and, you know, new presidents and, you know, new colleagues.
And that continual listening and conversation and empathy has, you know, certainly evolved over my 12 years here.
(28:52):
And when, and that ongoing curiosity about how people are genuinely doing is essential to my job because when I need those relationships the most, like COVID breaking out on my campus before any other campus in the country, I had seven years of that, of those ongoing relationships to rely upon.
(29:27):
And, you know, the speed of trust at that point was lightning fast and essential to us getting through that time.
And so I see that relationship building and the trust building and the caring for colleagues and students as, you know, an ongoing key practice as a college leader.
(29:57):
And that is just 12 years of hallway conversations, checking in with people when, you know, they have a celebration in the family, when they have a death in the family, you know, seeing people in the, you know, engaging with the broader community.
(30:22):
So to me, I think just another example of curiosity practice is just that continual engagement and trying to really get a sense as to where people are.
And then once I kind of have a sense of that, you know, crafting learning opportunities or professional development opportunities to try to meet those needs as much as I can.
(30:51):
I appreciate how you're saying that the practice of curiosity is focusing on relationship building because we think of that as the second element of the practice of curiosity, the self-awareness, relationship building, and clear communication.
And how you even as college president, I think, oh, college president, you make time to have those hallway conversations to remember those seemingly small yet important details about people's lives because those relationships, they're a part of how you're able to actually do your work and to create this learning environment.
(31:26):
So thank you because it just, it's a reminder of, look, it doesn't matter how high your title, how big your title is.
You've got to actually, relationships do matter.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I don't know if they're everything, but I mean, in my line of work, they are essential.
(31:49):
And I, and then that parlays to my executive team, many of whom I've worked with, you know, the entire time that I've been here.
I have a very long-term stable team and we practice that, you know, we're a very tight team.
(32:09):
And then they practice that with their teams.
So when we talk about, you know, how people are feeling, we don't just rely on an annual survey.
I mean, this is like a weekly conversation.
And, you know, there's probably not a week that goes by that someone will say, well, someone's, you know, parent may have passed away.
(32:32):
And we'll talk about how they're doing and what they might need and, and, you know, how I could reach out and be supportive.
So it is an essential part.
And I think often maybe an overlooked part of, you know, being a leader.
Yeah.
So Amy, now I want to get to recruiting and I'm going to ask, I actually asked about a particular, all these adjunct professors.
(33:00):
Sure.
What advice would you give?
Because this is a special, it's they, you know, that they've got an, this is a part-time job.
So how do you interview for curiosity with adjunct professors?
Well, many of our adjunct professors, you know, have a relationship with the college and many, and then some of them reach out.
(33:24):
They reach out to our existing faculty.
They reach out to human resources and many of them are learners.
I mean, they're educators.
So therefore they're learners and, you know, they're very passionate about their specific field and they want to talk about it and they want to show how they are engaged and how they want to ensure students succeed in their chosen profession.
(33:59):
And so it's often pretty evident how engaged faculty, to some degree, and staff as well, but especially faculty by, you know, their teaching experience, by their research experience, their publication experience, their community engagement experience.
(34:22):
So that enthusiasm for their work and energy, you know, really does come through pretty clearly.
So what I'm hearing you say is they're actually self-selecting and that they already, they love, they already love learning.
Then, because this is a very particular sort of employee, right?
(34:43):
Because you know, they have another job and usually you want them to have another job because it helps them with the job that you're doing here.
Is there another just, is there another question that you like to ask to then just make sure that they maybe even understand what they're getting to or that this will be a right fit for them?
Yeah, I do ask all of the faculty, especially why this college?
(35:11):
And, you know, the answers vary as you can imagine.
And some are very specific about the technical program, our DEI commitments.
They're specific about a variety of things.
(35:32):
And some aren't, so it's kind of interesting.
We'll answer the question.
Yeah, and so that question can translate to why this, why this workplace?
You could do this function anywhere, but why here?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so last question for you, Amy, is what is inspiring curiosity for you in your own life right now?
(35:56):
Well, not surprisingly, one of my StrengthsFinder strengths is learner.
I'm sure you're shocked by that.
So I was thinking about, you know, what, how do I most practice curiosity and ongoing learning, learning?
(36:21):
And I don't want this to be too on the nose, given you're interviewing me for a podcast.
But I am, I enter, I listen to a lot of podcasts.
I think at this point I follow 80 shows.
(36:45):
Yes.
So I am always, and it's a variety of topics.
I mean, and it, I think podcasts are a gift because, you know, you have your podcasts that you follow for professional reasons, to be current in the world, to, you know, certainly in the field of higher education, there are podcasts, there are, you know, health and wellness podcasts, working parent podcasts, you name it.
(37:13):
But anything that I have ever been curious about or have wanted to know more about, you know, there is a podcast for that.
There is a podcast for curiosity.
I mean, it's amazing just what is out there in the, you know, the podcast universe.
So is there a podcast that people might be surprised that you listen to?
(37:42):
That's a good question.
Well, probably who people who know me better would not be surprised that I do try to pay attention to podcasts around happiness and well-being and just, because that is something that I really try to pay attention to, especially for my, you know, personally, obviously, I'm an optimistic person and, you know, try to foster happiness in my own life and those that I care about.
(38:20):
And also as a leader, I mean, this is work that I feel incredibly privileged to do.
I have felt at home in the technical colleges, you know, as my mother was a barber, my father was a machinist.
So when I came to the technical colleges, I felt like this is home.
(38:45):
And so it's important to me that people spend a lot of time here.
And I want them to be happy in their work, ultimately, and, you know, whatever that looks like for them.
So I'm always trying to be mindful about fostering, you know, well-being and wellness in the work, especially in the hopes that, you know, this college can be a real respite for my employees and for students in times of, you know, change that we live in right now.
(39:19):
So I don't know if that's a surprise or not, but they're, you know, that's maybe one of them that comes to mind.
Well, and I can see that having worked with you over the years and worked with your colleagues that you really, there's a sense of this care for well-being and that it's not just about the work or about the students or about having the things that we are going to get to brag about.
(39:43):
People really do feel cared for.
And I think that that's obvious in the way that they interact and treat one another.
And ultimately our students.
Yeah.
So, you know, if I can care, show care and foster well-being in the employees of the college, they will then foster that in our students that we serve.
(40:09):
And obviously we do a lot directly to foster that well-being, mental health, physical health, you know, intellectual success in our students as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today, Dr. Morrison.
How do people get in touch with you?
(40:30):
So I'm on LinkedIn.
They can send me a note there.
That's probably the best way.
Yeah.
But thank you so much, Julie.
It has truly been a joy to know you all these years.
And thank you so much for the invitation.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
And the joy is mine too.
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