An EI Discovery Story: Fanshawe College

The following article has been submitted by Dana Copeland, Student Success Advisor at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business at Fanshawe College. The article details Dana’s discovery of emotional intelligence and her subsequent success in implementing EI-based programs for first-year students.

In July of 2006, I attended a presentation by Dr. James Parker during the 20^th International Conference on the First Year Experience. Dr. Parker discussed the results of his recent research, which demonstrated the correlation between EQ-i scores and students’ academic success and persistence. I knew right away that I was hearing something significant. The following May, when I heard Dr. Parker make a similar presentation at the College Counselors’ Conference, I knew I had to do something with it.

A couple of weeks later, I attended an EQ-i Certification Workshop in Kingston, Ontario; our trainers were Catherine Anderson and Bill Moses from Gallaudet University. They demonstrated how they were using EQ to help their students increase their emotional awareness and develop emotional skills. It was a model that fit for us. When I got back to my campus, I started putting together a proposal to pilot an EQ-based version of my Strategies for Success course. 

In the winter of 2008, we launched a small pilot-program so that we could start familiarizing ourselves with the use of the tool and get some feedback on our approach to teaching emotional competencies. In the fall of 2008, we expanded the pilot and tried the new EQ-i Higher-Ed Report. The feedback from professors and students indicated that our course had become more relevant and interactive. 

This fall, we are rolling out a full implementation of the EQ-infused Strategies for Success course to our Business and Information Technology students.  The students will complete the EQ-i Higher-Ed, we will review the results as a group, they will set goals around their two areas for enrichment, and they will participate in class-based activities that foster a better understanding of the 15 emotional skills. We anticipate that we will see an increase in our institution’s retention of students, and in their academic success. 

I am grateful for the support that this project has received from within the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business, from other partners here at Fanshawe College, and from MHS – and I am excited about the potential of our EQ-infused Strategies for Success course. We are open to learning more and to sharing our experiences.

Infusing Emotional Intelligence into FYE Courses at Peace College

The following article has been submitted by Korrel Kanoy, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychology at Peace College. In it she details how her campus has had great success applying Emotional Intelligence with their first year students, and she provides advice for other campuses who are considering incorporating emotional and social topics into their first year curriculum.

Peace College, a private, liberal arts college for women, began infusing emotional intelligence (EI) concepts into our First Year Experience (FYE) class during the fall 2008 semester.  Our class is designed to help students make a successful transition to college and what better way to do that than to equip students with EI knowledge and skills?  We found it easy to infuse EI concepts throughout our FYE curriculum and would expect most colleges to have the same experience. 

Consideration of the value of a liberal arts education becomes meaningful to 18 year olds when contextualized in terms of their goals and ambitions (self actualization) or even the level  of understanding related to why they came to college (self awareness). A discussion of study skills becomes even more relevant if impulse control (study first, party later) also becomes a meaningful part of the conversation.  Discussions about roommate issues and changing relationships with family members become more meaningful when independence, empathy and interpersonal relationship constructs are added to the discussion.  The list goes on. 

In fact, we found it so easy to incorporate EI into our FYE curriculum that it became difficult to know where to stop.  By the end of the semester, my students were drawing connections to EI even when I wasn’t doing so. When we were covering identity development related to career choice, A particularly astute student commented that it would be hard to develop a meaningful career identity without first having well developed self awareness and a certain level of independence from parents who might try to influence choices.

To initiate this program, we trained 21 faculty and staff members to interpret the EQ-i® and each first-year student met with a trained interpreter for 30 minutes.  After completing the interpretation, each student designed a self-development plan based on two EI areas she wanted to improve.  Development plans were shared and discussed with instructors and students began making the connections between EI and their personal and academic success.  For example, one student in my FYE class made the connection that she needed to listen more and talk less during class (her empathy and interpersonal relationship scores were low), and as a result, her relationships with her peers improved noticeably.

One word of caution though – before implementing required EQ-i testing, be sure your Counseling Center staff understands the EQ-i and is prepared for a possible increase in requests for meetings.  Our staff noticed about a 30% increase in appointments right after EQ-i interpretations were completed.  Apparently, students’ self awareness or the desire to get more structured help improving EI led students to seek out our counselors.  And, in a few cases, a score or scores (e.g., self regard)were so low that faculty referred the student for counseling.

One final note – our preliminary analysis of data from these entering first-year students showed that EI skills were predictive in two areas.  First, higher optimism, along with better high school grades and higher verbal SAT score were predictive of better academic performance by mid-term of the first semester.  By the end of the term, two EI subscales emerged as predictors of first to second semester retention.  Higher optimism and better impulse control predicted retention better than any academic measure.   As a result of this preliminary data, we plan to infuse more programming related to developing impulse control and optimism in our first-year orientation programs, our residence life programming and our FYE curriculum.

Announcing the New EQ Leader Training DVD

Training for the EQ Leader Program is now available on DVD, so you can learn when you want, where you want without traveling, and at a great price!

The EQ Leader Program is a turnkey EI training program for building leaders’ EQ skills. Dr. Ackley is a psychologist with three decades of experience coaching leaders. When creating the EQ Leader Program, Dr. Ackley incorporated all 22 best practices identified as essential for building emotional skills by EI experts Cary Cherniss, Ph.D., and Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.. This approach maximizes the potential for your clients to achieve sustained behavior change. Users report that the EQ Leader Program builds lasting value for clients and repeat business for trainers, consultants and coaches.

EQ practitioners asked for training to master this comprehensive and innovative approach to building client EQ skills. In response, author Dr. Dana Ackley presented a training webinar in 2008, attended by EQ-i® users in six countries. The content of this program has now been edited to remove extraneous material and recorded to DVD to grant even more individuals access to the training.
 
This new format allows you to watch at your own pace and on your own schedule. For the cost of one or two of your consulting hours, you will save many more in learning how to take this effective program to your clients. All of this with no travel costs or loss of billing time.

Background on EQ Leader Program
The 336 page EQ Leader Program Manual, published by MHS (2006), is used by consultants and coaches around the world. The manual contains:

• A fifty-eight page Keynote outline plus PowerPoint, handouts, and references
• An advanced EQ assessment process, including interview protocols to identify motivational factors for leaders
• How-to guides for writing personalized reports that stimulate clients to action
• A developmental planning seminar outline, complete with PowerPoint and handouts
• Menus of exercises for each of the fifteen skills measured by the EQ-i®
• Coaching processes
• Suggestions for marketing EQ development services to clients

The EQ Leader Program Manual comes with a CD that contains all forms, outlines, PowerPoints, handouts, etc., in a format that can be edited to fit your style and approach.

Earn 6 CE’s: Complete the DVD, which runs about six hours. Then request and pass an exam from Dr. Ackley. Training is co-sponsored by MHS, an approved provider of continuing education by the American Psychological Association.

Endorsements
Coaches and Trainers:

“The EQ Leader package is the best value-adding component you can add to your consulting and training repertoire.  Emotional intelligence is one of the single biggest contributors to leadership success (or the lack thereof), and the combination of the EQi instrument and the EQ Leader Program is by far the best set of tools for the consultant/trainer to use helping coach others to develop their EQ.  The combination of robust psychometrics and thoughtful consultation is simply without peer.” 
Marc T. Frankel, Ph.D.
Triangle Associates
 
“I read Dana Ackley’s The EQ Leader Program cover to cover and have found it a rich resource of extremely practical material on emotional intelligence development for coaching, training, and consulting. One of the most helpful resources included in the manual are the Strategies for Building EQ exercise handouts. My executive coaching clients love the brief explanation of the EQ competency that they have chosen to develop, and the clearly explained exercises that they can easily incorporate into an action plan. 

“I teach for the College of Executive Coaching and am a member of numerous professional associations. If I were asked by my colleagues for one EQ resource, Dr. Ackley’s EQ Leader Program would be my highest recommendation.” 
Maynard Brusman, Ph.D.
Consulting Psychologist and Executive Coach
Founder, Working Resources

“The comprehensive nature of the CD and toolkit is very helpful for putting together presentations and handout packets with less effort on my part to create from scratch. Rather, I can focus on customization for clients.”
Joanne Schultz, MS, CCC-SLP, CCM
Principal, Joanne M. Schultz Consulting, Training & Coaching Services
Client Organization

“EQ Leader’s approach to developing the emotional intelligence of our key leaders has provided Bronson Healthcare Group with an opportunity to secure our continued success for the future and cultivate our internal high performers.”
Frank Sardone, President and CEO
Bronson Healthcare Group
(Bronson Healthcare is a major healthcare system and winner of the prestigious Baldrige Award.)

Webinar Attendee:

“The online training completed by Dana was extremely informative, well organised and the content excellent. Dana has succeeded in producing a course that is both fantastic value for the money and a comprehensive resource for any business, without the hassle of travel. The “lecture room” can come straight to you!”
Tracy O’Conner
Dynamic Coaching, Dublin, Ireland

To review contents of the Training DVD and for ordering information, visit Dr. Ackley’s site.

Release Date: May 1, 2009. Pre-orders accepted.

ICEI Update: Conference Certification Workshops Announced

We have received many ICEI presentation submissions, and conference organizers are in the midst of finalizing the speakers list. Individuals who submitted presentations can expect to hear back about the status of their submissions in the coming days, and we will be publishing the list of presenters on the ICEI site in March.

If you are planning to attend ICEI, you may also be interested in attending one of the pre- or post-conference workshops. Certifications workshops for the EQ-i®, EQ-360®, and MSCEIT™ assessments have been scheduled before and after the conference for the convenience of conference attendees. For more information on the certifications or to register, visit the Registration section of the ICEI site and scroll down to Certifications.

We’d also like to remind you that the special early bird registration rate for ICEI conference registration will only be available until midnight on March 31, 2009. Be sure to register now to receive the lowest rate.

Emotional Intelligence vs. Personality

It seems like the issue that never goes away: the question of whether or not Emotional Intelligence is just another aspect of personality. Well, there are probably studies out there that have linked eye color, shoe size, height, weight, freckles, and countless other human attributes to personality. Maybe they can all be subsumed as personality.

Seriously, though, for the doubters, here’s another study looking at the interrelation of cognitive intelligence, personality, and Emotional Intelligence (as measured by the MSCEIT). The study, by Drs. Eric Rossen and John Kranzler from the University of Florida, looked at academic achievement, psychological well-being, peer attachment, positive relations with others, and alcohol use.

The researchers evaluated 150 undergraduate college students. They were administered a number of measures including the Wonderlic Personnel Test (IQ), International Personality Item Pool (personality), and MSCEIT (Emotional Intelligence).

In most of their analyses the cognitive IQ measure accounted for little of the variance – including GPA (grade point average). The Big Five personality components did account for a moderate amount of the variance of a number of factors. Emotional Intelligence contributed to the prediction of positive relations with others and alcohol use. This was above and beyond the contributions of IQ (which were negligible) and personality.

The authors suggest additional studies like this with children and adolescents. As the youth version of the MSCEIT comes closer to fruition, we hope to see dozens of these studies emerge.

Reference: Rossen, Eric & Kranzler, John (2009). Incremental validity of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test Version 2.0 (MSCEIT) after controlling for personality and intelligence.  Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 60-64.

Promoting Emotional Intelligence at University of the Pacific

University of the Pacific, located in Stockton, CA, has recently taken significant steps to promote Emotional Intelligence on its campus through the creation of the Center for Social and Emotional Competency (SEC). The aim of this center is to provide the strategic direction for University of the Pacific to become a national leader in whole-student learning through social and emotional competency development.

This recent development at University of the Pacific has an MHS connection: Dr. Craig R. Seal, who presented at the recent Higher Education Symposium on Emotional Intelligence, has been chosen as the director for this new center. As director, Dr. Seal will be tasked with providing the vision, guidance, and strategic implementation to help Pacific achieve national recognition as a leader in the evolving research and student development in social and emotional competence.

Last October Dr. Seal impressed Symposium attendees on Georgetown campus with his presentation entitled “MBA EI Development Through Teams and Negotiations.” The session explored an EI development program for MBA students using a skill-based core course as a model, which incorporated team and negotiation exercises, as well as student assessment of EI using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Dr. Seal’s complete presentation has been hosted on the Higher Education Symposium site . Dr. Seal has also submitted a proposal to present again at the upcoming International Conference on Emotional Intelligence in Toronto this June.

We would like to congratulate  Dr. Craig R. Seal on his appointment at University of the Pacific.

Introducing our EI Consultants

We recently added some new expertise to the ranks of our EI consultants, so we thought this would be a good time to introduce EI Insider subscribers to Timothy W. Turner, Dan Ahern, and Jon Duffy.

Timothy W. Turner, Ed.D., comes to MHS after serving 35 years with the US Military, FBI and Home Land Security.  Dr. Turner’s last assignment in the FBI was as a Program Manager for the Leadership Development Institute of the FBI Academy.  After retiring from the FBI he worked with the Law Enforcement Leadership Institute located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where he provided instruction to supervisors from 83 Federal Agencies as well as to the International Law Enforcement Academies. Tim has facilitated numerous presentations for law enforcement, military, and governmental officials throughout the world, including presentations at the 2008 International Conference on Emotional Intelligence (ICEI) and a key note address at the International Association of Women Police 46th Annual Training Conference.  He serves the public sector and continues to provide workshops on incorporating EI into leadership, coaching and personal development programs.

Dan Ahern comes to MHS from as position as Managing Director of training partner Qualifying.org, having served as its  for the past eight years. His work experience comes from direct sales, sales and strategic management, coaching and recruiting in manufacturing, technology, and service industries. He has consulted, trained and coached executives in the defense, manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail, government and services sectors with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.  In his recent role he maintained relationships with six different test publishers, and is certified in the use of the EQ-i and tools assessing personality, interpersonal behavior, conflict, career interest, a number of 360° multi-rater instruments and Lominger’s competency-based model for strategic alignment, assessment, development, and succession planning.

Jon Duffy, M.A., continues in his fourth year with MHS serving the Higher Education market in North America. Prior to coming to MHS in June of 2004, Jon served as a middle school counselor and later as an Education Market Specialist for a US based training firm. His existing role includes supporting EI-based student success and development initiatives on university campuses throughout the United States and Canada. In 2005 he served as co-author of a published research study demonstrating the role of Emotional Intelligence during the transition from high school to college. Jon’s recent work in the higher education market has involved piloting the new Higher Education Report for the EQ-i on twenty college campuses and supporting the 2008 Higher Education Symposium on Emotional Intelligence at Georgetown University. As a certified user and instructor, Jon supports EI certification training for faculty and staff, and has delivered EI presentations to The Annual Conference on the First Year Experience, and The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, in addition to several regional assessment symposiums.

All of our EI consultants are eager to help you to identify ways in which MHS products and services will add to your effectiveness as professionals. Tim is based in Greenville, South Carolina and can be reached directly at 864-879-7118 or at timothy.turner@mhs.com . Dan is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and can be reached directly at 1-800-456-3003 ext. 211 or at  dan.ahern@mhs.com . Jon is based in Charleston, West Virginia and can be reached directly at 1-800-456-3003 ext. 271 or at jon.duffy@mhs.com .

EI, Emotional Self-Efficacy and Academic Success in British Secondary Schools

The significant progress that educators in the United Kingdom have made in recognizing the importance of Emotional Intelligence and integrating it into school curriculums can be seen in the success of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) program, on which we have often reported here in the EI Insider. The following study, submitted by Pamela Qualter, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Lancashire, is further evidence of this dedication to providing students with far more than book smarts.

This study examined the long-term effects of Emotional Intelligence and emotional self-efficacy on scholastic achievement in British adolescents. Participants were 628 male and female secondary school students. They completed the following tests during the first few weeks of secondary school (Year 7): an assessment of EI (MSCEIT YV) and cognitive ability, an assessment of emotional self-efficacy (EQ-i: YV) and personality questionnaires. Academic achievement data were collected at Year 9 and Year 11. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that EI has direct effects on Standard Assessment Tests (SAT) and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) English performance for boys, but not girls.  In contrast, emotional self efficacy directly predicts SAT and GCSE English scores for girls, but not boys.  In science, EI and emotional self-efficacy do not predict SAT or GCSE performance for boys; for girls, EI directly impacts on SAT scores, and indirectly predicts GCSE Science performance via its relationship with SAT performance. 

Further analysis showed that emotional self-efficacy and EI act as moderators of the effects of cognitive ability on academic achievement.  For example, it was found that boys who have high emotional self-efficacy and high cognitive abilities outperform all other males in GCSE English language and English literature; girls high on EI and cognitive ability perform better than girls of a similar cognitive ability, but lower EI, on GCSE maths, English literature, English language and science. It was therefore concluded that opportunities to develop EI and increase emotional self efficacy may offer educators significant opportunities to improve educational achievement.

ICEI Update: Last Chance to Submit Presentations for ICEI® 2009

Over the past few weeks we have received a wide assortment of excellent presentation submissions for ICEI^® 2009. Though these initial submissions are only a small taste of what the conference will have to offer attendees, they are great examples of the breadth of topics that will be covered this year in Toronto. So far we have received submissions examining the interrelation between Emotional Intelligence and nursing, teaching, diversity initiatives, leadership effectiveness, technology adoption, team cohesiveness, and stress resilience.

Additional information on these and many more sessions will be available when the full conference schedule is published mid-March. If you have not yet submitted your presentation but are interested in presenting at ICEI 2009, there is still time. We will be accepting submissions until midnight on Friday January 31, 2009. Submission guidelines can be found on the ICEI 2009 site .

Also, be sure to register for ICEI 2009 soon  as our special early bird registration rate is only available until February 28, 2009.

For those of you who are not yet certified to use MHS EI Assessments, we will soon be opening registration for ICEI pre-conference assessment certification workshops. Watch this space for details.

Upcoming MSCEIT and EI Skills Certification: New Haven, CT

The EI Skills Group will be hosting a MSCEIT and EI Skills certification workshop on March 9, 10, and 11, 2009 in New Haven, Connecticut. This unique workshop offers attendees the opportunity to learn to administer the MSCEIT using a program developed by MSCEIT co-author Dr. David Caruso. The workshop also provides additional Emotional Intelligence coaching specifically for the workshop participants, providing examples of EI skills in action, assisting participants to develop their own skills, and then teaching participants how to better apply their skills in their lives.

For more information on the workshop or to register, visit the EI Skills Group site, or contact David Caruso or Susan Kornacki.