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Antonio Drommi, the Instructional Technology Coordinator and Instructor of Computer and Information Systems at the University of Detroit Mercy's College of Business Administration, sits nested at his computer in his tiny office amidst an impressive array of information. Thick books on computer programs from C++ to HTML 4 line the sagging bookshelves on the wall above his desk. All types of computer oriented books, magazines and literature litter every available space around him. He looks more like a web monk than a webmaster. He could have been a dutiful scribe in another lifetime, but instead of quill and ink stained hands, his adept fingers confidently maneuver the keyboard in front of him as he scrolls through the mysteries and knowledge of the Internet.
Antonio Drommi's flexible nature and adaptive personality were evident as he made time (and space) to speak with my partner, Ronda Perkins, and me about his 'wired' responsibilities at the University. Although we wedged into his cluttered cell, we couldn't help but feel as if we were truly in a creative space. It was tiny but, like the web itself, it held an infinite resource in its knowledgeable occupant.
It wasn't too many years ago that Antonio Drommi was out in the real-life world of corporate management. His educational background at Wayne State University was proven, and his management skills were honed in the trenches of Service Industry Management -- a job he still misses. It was this experience that taught him the value of the individual person in the world of business. People provide the way to the future of technology, and communication and interaction is their way of getting there. What better way of teaching this philosophy than to live it? By being student-focused, and sincerely interested in each student's success, Antonio Drommi passes along this valuable lesson.
There is a technological revolution taking place these days in business: a "virtual" paradigm shift. Technology has taken hold of the work place and has changed it forever. The challenge now is to teach the human beings who are part of the evolving technology. Part of this teaching is to remember that there are actual, live humans who must work behind these machines each day.
In the near future, businesses and corporations will place emphasis on the 'soft' skills of a more compassionate work force than on the hard line management of the past. The College of Business Administration at the University of Detroit Mercy is dedicated to preparing students for this future business world. Its goal is to provide organizations and society with competent, compassionate and conscientious individuals who are prepared for the challenges in business that lie ahead. This is a challenge that Antonio Drommi takes personally.
The way to meet this challenge is to 'upgrade' the education available to students in today's university classrooms. The same revolution that's changing the way we do business is also changing the way we learn. Antonio Drommi is one of the pioneers effecting this new way of learning and teaching. Technology offers us the opportunity to change forever the process involved in teaching future business graduates. The only way to survive this paradigm shift is to change with it. The change starts on the campuses of the nation's universities – this shift begins with people of vision like Antonio Drommi.
We spoke with Antonio Drommi about the role he plays
in helping students achieve their business and educational goals in a dynamic
technological environment.
RP: What is the most important thing you would like people to know about you?
AD: Actually, I try to keep my life private, personal. I don't like people to know too much about me. That's just the way I am. It's personal. So, even though I may have some successes, I don't really share that with anybody, 'cause it's really not who I am.
As far as being around here, being student centered is probably my biggest asset – I'm more of a student advocate, so I help my students as much as I can. I believe in doing as much as I can for our customers, more or less, so sticking your neck out on the line sometimes helps – and I've done that.
RP: What are your greatest strengths and strongest abilities?
AD: My strengths? Probably that I'm people centered – a communicator. Not that I'm a great communicator, but I seem to be more and more effective as time goes on. You evolve in this business, and I see some effectiveness in my classroom. This is probably my biggest strength.
RP: What are your three greatest accomplishments?
AD: Oh that's a tough one. Academically, I guess it's being at this level. I never thought I'd reach this point. I'm going towards the final stretch of my Doctoral program and that's a huge accomplishment for me. As I'm close to qualifying exams now, I never thought I'd reach that point.
I worked in the service industry for ten years, went back to school and got my undergrad, so I've been there. I was one of those ten-year plans: an undergraduate student who graduated later in life, and still continued. So that's probably one of my biggest accomplishments.
LP: So, you were ten years out 'in the world' and then ...
AD: I quit college back in '81 or '82, then went back about '86 or '87 and didn't finish until '96 with earning a second masters degree.
LP: What were you doing during those ten years when you were out in the world?
AD: I was managing restaurants and in the service industry and enjoyed it, and I was actually quite good at it. And, I still miss it today. You just get into that business and become nocturnal and I still miss it. One of these days I'd like to open up my own place. But, still, it burned me out physically. I went to Wayne State and I took a job on campus and I changed my whole life. You know, I took a huge pay cut, worked on campus ...
Academically, probably another major achievement was becoming computer literate at that time. I was of that generation where we were transitioning from punch cards to PCs, and there was a huge learning curve for me. That university saved my life, basically. It got me into a field that was interesting and gave me more and more responsibility.
LP: It's exciting to see all the changes taking place ...
AD: Yeah, I saw the transition. I was actually on the Internet back in the 80's when there were just these black screens. People chatted that way or uploaded different stuff, so it's amazing to see how things evolved. I hadn't seen a chat line in ten years. Then I come back and I see this GUI screen. Its completely different.
LP: That was the late 80's?
AD: Well, I was basically working for C&IT, which was the Computer Information Technology area at Wayne. That's where I really got started: working on a business degree in Accounting. And, then I went to work for a Pharmaceutical Company -- well, it's actually their agricultural division -- for a couple of years. Then, I came here to get my MBA and that's how I got involved with the CIS degree plan. When I left Wayne I went to work full time so that I could get my MBA.
LP: So, you didn't really care for that job too much?
AD: No, that company did a downsizing and laid off a whole bunch of us. For me, I was burned out by then, and I'd already started a CIS degree, partially. You know, they gave me a Fellowship and that's how I got involved in the degree plan and sort of fell into it. Once you get involved in the computing, no matter where it went on campus, I was stuck in it. (smiling) You know, even as an Accountant Comptroller, I'd still manage Information Systems there.
So teaching just became very natural for me, and I taught 100's and stuff. They offered me a position to stay on so ... It's just that, I knew I was going to go for my Doctoral sooner or later, it's just that I didn't expect it this soon. I thought I'd retire and then go teach. But that's the way life is. (smiling)
LP: That's pretty cool. So you really enjoy teaching?
AD: Yeah, I kind of wish to go back into it full time eventually. Right now I'm more of an Administrator of Instructional Technology and am only called to teach half the time. That's OK 'cause it buys me more time to get my credentials, and apply for tenureship later on.
RP: What have you done that you consider creative?
AD: Creative? I don't know. Hm, nothing lately. (laughing) I do tend to be creative at times. Not with physical stuff, but with programs ... like the International Studies Program. I'm sort of indirectly involved. I'm not in charge of it, but that's probably another achievement of mine, resurrecting that program: the Studies Abroad.
The Beijing visit that we did last year was more or less my effort to try to get that back, and we got it back. So I'm very proud of that contact that we made. We were one of the first groups to go to Beijing. I'll never forget the experience.
LP: And didn't they just go again not too long ago?
AD: We went to Brazil this past summer. We went to Oxford two years in a row, we had one in Monterey (Mexico) ... Yeah, the Brazil one was a pretty big success this past summer. So, that's another achievement. You know, trying to organize something like this can be a difficult thing. But I find it's a pretty good value-added program for our students.
You know, visiting companies like Compuware in San Palo (Brazil) is a wonderful opportunity for students to see how these companies operate, even if they're different from us. That's probably bringing in my emphasis on student-centeredness -- trying to bring the world to them. So the Beijing one was a very successful trip.
LP: That works really well too because if you have that student interaction, that comes across in your work, and that's basically what a web influence is all about.
AD: Plus, you also become more globally sensitive, internationally sensitive. Our students learned a lot last year from our trip to Beijing. I mean, you have to have a Visa just to be on the Internet over there. You've got to go down to the post office and apply for an account, then get approval from the government officials -- little things like that.
There's a lot that my students wrote about this trip that were pretty interesting. And our hosts are wonderful: Mr. and Mrs. Wang. Mr. Wang remembered me from six years ago, seven years ago.
So that was a huge success last year and I'm very proud of being able to bring that back. I'm very proud that the Jesuit community kind of followed that recommendation.
LP: Do you have this planned again for next year?
AD: Well, no we still have to talk about this. I mean we can go to Beijing any time. We already have that set up, it's a very organized place. I'm pretty proud of that program.
RP: Ok, what does "success" mean to you?
AD: Oh, well, if you'd asked me that ten years ago it would have been getting off early, lots of money, having a nice car. (smiling) But, that doesn't matter to me any more. I was physically burned out. I'd rather be happy and have a decent paying job with good vacation time now to enjoy my life. My whole value system about life has changed completely in the last ten years. I prefer to work like this (he opens his arms to call attention to his workspace) and still have a life.
So it depends on how you're defining success. I think just being successful on your job and making things work is important to me. So, I'm making things work because I can. You know, if my class goes well, then that's a success. If it doesn't then I feel bad.
RP: What does "failure" mean to you?
AD: Oh, I don't know, that could be almost anything. What does it mean to me? I don't know. I guess it would be just the opposite of what I just said. If you're ... if I don't communicate well in my classroom, if my students just aren't getting it, then I've failed at my attempt to teach them. But, if I'm able to get them to re-evaluate and improve, it's in a successful way.
So, you're never going to be correct every time -- there's no such thing as a perfect course. That's the way I approach my classes. I even tell my students that we keep building on this -- that this isn't the way it's going to be all the time; that I'm going to keep changing it, changing it, changing it, there's never going to be an end to it.
I never see the ultimate goal because it's ongoing.
That's the way you have to approach life now, you just can't expect that
it's going to be set. The failure is when you just don't do that and you
think you're going to end up being complacent, and you try not to be complacent.
If I start doing that, then I'm becoming a failure.
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RP: Ok, who do you admire and why? AD: Who? Could that be anybody? Hm, I don't know. (pause) Trudeau, it would have to be Trudeau. I'm a Canadian citizen, so Trudeau was one of my heroes. He passed away a couple of weeks ago and I hadn't thought about that guy in ten or twelve years. But, I realized how much of an impact he made in my life, even as a kid, because of what he did during his lifetime. It made me realize too that he'd traveled all over the world and so had I, unconsciously I sort of modeled my life on his. I thought he was a pretty interesting person. If you ever get a chance, you should read his memoirs. He was a fascinating individual. He really was an incredible guy. |
As far as Trudeau being a political person, it's not political, I just found him a fascinating person. I mean, that didn't even occur to me until I was watching this news program about his death. It was then that I realized how much of an impact he had made on a lot of people.
LP: ISO9000 (1). What is that?
AD: That's another big program I'm quite proud of. It's our Lead Auditor course -- which is open to anyone, by the way. Quality systems, quality assurance. You know, you see those signs everywhere. We offer class credit for a CIS 500 course. We also have an undergraduate course. You pay tuition plus the course.
LP: What are your current job responsibilities?
AD: Well, Administrator. I'm an instructor: grad and undergrad, mostly undergrad courses. So, that's most of my responsibility as Instructional Technology Coordinator, and classes for the CIS department, even though I do some outside work like the Blackboard.com (2)seminar for faculty outside of the college of business.
Yeah, I remember I was a guest speaker last October for the G.I.F.T. (Great Ideas For Teaching) and other presenters presented their courses with the Instructional Design Studio, so I said, 'Well, here's Blackboard." I presented the course I developed the previous summer, I guess introducing Blackboard would be another achievement. My presentation of it really swayed a lot of people. And I thought, "Wow, that's great that I can encourage faculty to use Blackboard!" And now they've got that grant to help this along. So, I'm really proud that I was involved in these sessions.
You have to realize that before I got here a lot of people here were using DOS or Windows 3.1, so we've come a long way since those days. There's been a tremendous improvement in their skill level.
RP: What changes do you anticipate in the business world as a result of technology?
AD: I see more and more web applications. Then again, there are different schools of thought; there may be different methodologies. Right now, everybody's jumping on the bandwagon with the web. The use of technology is really pushing that web casting. To just see the interactive component in technology where you can communicate with your peers in Beijing, for instance. Like that commercial with the guy watching his kid playing soccer. I don't know how real that is today, but it's out there. That's what we're probably going to see in corporations. I saw it in Brazil, so it's a worldwide trend.
LP: Let's see, describe your typical day.
AD: OK, let's see, well... This is the first time, since I started teaching here, that I actually have all the courses I teach on the same days. 'cause up to this point, I was practically teaching every day. I was the guy that they plugged holes with. So, I was stuck having three day a week sessions and two day a week sessions and taking every day.
So this is really the first time I've had all my classes on the same days. And so it gives me Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays free to focus on the faculty development, to redesign our web site. It's one I'm not proud of, by the way. It was put together fast, it was just a quick fix, but, the information is out there, but I'm still not happy with it. I don't like calling myself the webmaster. I'm not proud of the way our site looks.
LP: It seems a challenge because of navigation.
AD: No, it's because it was designed two years ago and they don't give you any tools.
I didn't have a PC then at work, so I actually bought this PC (points to
a laptop computer on the desk behind him). That's how bad it was during that
time. People say that at that point I should have quit, but I said, "If you
want me to build a web site ... " I did it over the holidays without frames,
put our catalogue in it, our information, ... We were getting a lot of hits
regardless. It's not a fancy looking site, but it's more linear in the sense
of information. The text information is what people wanted to know who would
contact us. Well, it was working, believe it or not, 'though it's not a very
pretty site. (smiling)
 | LP: Well, you know, that's good because the school's success becomes your success. AD: Yeah, but now I'm at that point where I realize some things about that site. So, now, I'm talking to Rhonda in Marketing. It's going to look like our top-level site. And I think we're going to be the first hopefully in this college to migrate to this template so that the Index has the same look and feel. And in five years, hopefully, the rest of the colleges will as well, and then our entire university's sites will be consistent in look and feel. Right now, we look like a bunch of ... But, that's OK, we're getting there. I think Rhonda did a nice job. And that firm that they hired to design that did a fairly decent job. And it looks attractive and hopefully that's where we'll be. I've even got CIS 102 students creating logos. (smiling) The logo is probably the one thing in my life that I don't feel good about. That's going to be my Christmas holiday project. So, I'm going to hurry up and learn PhotoShop and see what I can do with it. Create the site and index and migrate hopefully by spring. That's like a long period 'cause I'm living like two or three lives right now. |
That's my typical day. I come here, and I don't have a planned agenda any more 'cause it's so difficult. You know, Tuesdays and Thursdays I know I have to teach mornings so I get that out of the way. In the afternoons – every two weeks we have a staff meeting, and every 30th we have a faculty meeting, it's either Monday or Tuesday, so I attend that meeting. Then I'm off to Wayne State to teach two or three nights a week. And Wednesday mornings I teach at Wayne, then come straight here, so my afternoons are flex. I keep them open for people like yourselves, or my door is open for students.
I also work at home. I can't prep here, I do all that at home. As time went by, the more exposure I got, the more interactive I got with people around here. And, I could be in the lab down the hall checking on something, or I could be upstairs with Bruce, or having lunch with one of the deans. That's important to me. It's good to get off campus and they appreciate this sort of thing. That's where I've become more interactive, I don't do much prep, I can't even study here or research here any more.
So that's how all my personal time at home is spent. There are nights I stay up until 2 just trying to get a lesson plan finished, or putting together a Power Point presentation for my morning class. I teach on the fly. That's my term. I use the hockey analogy: changing on the fly.
That's basically how I teach now because I know now from week to week. I see how my students respond. And if I lock-step myself into it, then, I feel it's going to fail, so I tend to see how the game goes, and then I prepare my Power Point presentation, or whatever I need to do. I haven't prepared my mid-term exam yet and I'm still not sure how I'm going to test. I kind of find it exciting that way. (smiling) There are some people who try to prep months before and I say, "You know, I tried that once and that's boring. You can be a lot more flexible." I like to see how my students are, how they think.
LP: So you take your cues from them?
AD: The "official" cues. I've been getting them. But this Interface Design Class, I teach on the fly. The only one that's more lock-stepped is my C++ 'cause I've taught it for so long, I know what works. I borrowed from the previous C++ instructor, who I had, and who I thought was brilliant. And, you know, what works for others, that offer it, I use it.
This one here, this Interface Design, is going to evolve, and I know my spring course -- based on the results of my current section -- is going to be completely different from what it is now. I'm changing it. I'm bringing in more theory. It's all coming together. I just didn't know at first where I was going and why.
LP: Well, that's creative.
AD: Yeah, I guess so. I never thought of myself as creative. I wish I was. You know, I like the arts. I'm a member of the DIA, and have been for 15 years. But, I can't draw. (laughs) But, that's it.
LP: Obviously it's reflected in the way you create your job and your life.
AD: Well, I don't believe ... like I say, there are certain tasks. There are things on my agenda. Like today, I've got to get in touch with this one girl and find out what's going on with her grant. And there are certain projects that I work on. And there are certain things I stay on top of. Like right now, I've got to find out what's going on with our International Studies Program.
RP: What do you think of the idea of the Virtual Office?
AD: There's nothing wrong with this.
I think in today's world people live many lives juggling family and career.
We do that now. There are a lot of companies who are using programmers in
India, and what do they do? They upload their work. They're working 24 hours,
around the clock. We go to bed, they are working. By the time we get up, they
are uploading their work. It's no different than a publishing area. They
can do the same thing. People can work from home and make their own hours.
LP: What major problems have you encountered
on your job and how have you dealt with them?
AD: Well ... (pause) Most of the problems we encounter are technical in nature. As you're probably well aware ... Like this semester, unfortunately, not having our labs, the two general labs, up and running. Room 3 is a huge problem for us because that's where we butt heads with the computing center. Now, one lab is our responsibility.
Somehow, God bless him, Jason, who's also full time faculty, works full time during the day, comes here on Sunday and manages to get all 15 brand new workstations up and running. Took him a while, but that shows how overstressed and overworked he is. So that was a challenge.
When I was in Brazil, I worried about this place and I kept thinking, "I hope those PCs come in." There's always something in the back of your head, always something you worry about.
So those are the most common problems. Like, this went down on me two weeks ago (points to his computer), so I had no PC for two weeks. So I had to work off my laptop, and Kamal, he's another good example of how dedicated people can be. He doesn't act like it's an imposition, he just got it fixed. Even Ellyssa's pretty good. She takes your call and is helpful. So, I respect the both of them. They do the best they can.
So, those are some of the frustrations. It's just building that communication level that's so important.
After our visit, it was clear that Antonio Drommi's fascination with the infinite possibilities of the web offers our university something unique and valuable in an administrator and teacher. Focusing on the web's potential for both Internet and Intranet applications, students will be better able to meet the challenges of access to supplies and business-related information through online communication.
Tucked away on the bio page for the Business College's web site is a small picture of Antonio Drommi standing near the Great Wall of China. The wall snakes off behind him like the old track of the past. Before him waits the future of business and learning. Although he could very well be mistaken for one of his own students, he is the bridge that connects the past with the future of learning in a real and revolutionary way. He knows how to do this too, and his connection to his students is strong enough to meet the challenges ahead of him.
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(1) The Business College web site tells us that the ISO 9000 Auditor/Lead Auditor (suitable for delegates from the Automotive Industry) is a 4 1/2 day course designed to teach the principles and practices of effective quality assurance auditing in accordance with the ISO 9000 series of standards. Check the web site or school catalogue for more details.
(2) Blackboard
is an online teaching software. UDM's version of Blackboard is called "Knowledge."
