UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) hosted its annual EXPO on April 27, showcasing curricular, engaged scholarship projects of classes paired with community organizations to address real-world community challenges. For the first time, a faculty award was given out at the Expo to Tom C. Hogan, professor of practice in human resource management and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging officer for the Penn State School of Labor and Employment Relations, for his continued support and contribution to the program.
Hogan has been involved with the SCC since its inception. His class, LHR 460 Ethics in the Workplace, was partnered this year with the Center for Performing Arts, Ethics Games, and State College Borough during the spring 2022 semester. Students worked with these organizations on a number of projects, including helping the Center for Performing Arts develop its goal of becoming an anti-racist institution, working on interviewing for values with Ethics Games, and helping develop the onboarding process of new employees and the development of a sustainability intern position description with State College Borough.
Hogan believes that these practical experiences are crucial for learning, and that universities should incorporate more of these “experiential learning” teaching methods to prepare students for the world of work.
“We in Higher Education need to rethink, reimagine, and reinvent what we do and how we do it,” said Hogan. “The role of faculty needs to evolve. In the past, faculty would be viewed as ‘the sage on the stage.’ We need to move from being ‘the sage on the stage’ to ‘the guide on the side.’”
This engaged scholarship and experiential learning are what the SCC tries to bring to classrooms across the university. Hogan also spoke on May 18 at Penn State’s Career Services Conference on the topic of the changing world of work and navigating new pathways from College to career.
In addition to his work in engaged scholarship, Hogan’s work also focuses on other aspects of sustainability, including ESG (environmental, social, and governance and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). In December 2021, Hogan was selected to serve on the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) strategic advisory group on the environmental, social, and governance ecosystem. He has been recognized for his work in ESG and DEIB throughout his career. In March 2022, he became a founding member of the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Executive Network and he was a finalist for the EdTech Digest 2022 Awards in the Higher Education Technology Leader category. In 2020, he was appointed to the SHRM Blue Ribbon Commission on Racial Equity. Hogan’s continued commitment to ESG, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and DEIB shine through in his ongoing research, scholarship, teaching, and service.
“There is nothing more important than thinking about the UN SDGs,” said Hogan. “These are what we call ‘Grand Challenges,’ very complex problems that can threaten life on planet Earth and require key stakeholders to collaborate to find creative solutions.”
Hogan also believes that these goals can be furthered through creative pursuits including the arts.
“I teach an anti-racist leadership development experience called the VTLD experience [Virtual Transformational Leadership Development Experience],” said Hogan. “I use the arts as a teaching method to help promote the development of emotional intelligence and intercultural intelligence. I want students to be curious, explore, discover, engage, and reflect. One of the teaching methods we use in the VTLD experience is: See, Think, Wonder.”
Hogan’s professional work has shown a dedication to the goals of the Sustainability Institute and SCC. Because of his continued support of the program, SCC has awarded him the first-ever faculty recognition award. To read more about Hogan and his work visit his LinkedIn profile and connect.
Written by Halina Dingo
