by Michael Mahaffey
Sonnice Estill is an OU College of Professional and Continuing Studies faculty member, leading the college’s healthcare management degree completion program. She joined OU in 2020.
How long have you worked for PACS and OU?
I started working for the university and PACS college about three years ago as an adjunct teaching in the organizational leadership master’s degree program. I was hired as the lead faculty for the healthcare management degree completion program when it was created. I’ve been in that role for almost a year.
Tell us a little more about your education, professional background and experience, as well as what you do outside of teaching for PACS.
I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, an MBA with a concentration in finance and a doctorate in health administration from a management and leadership perspective.
I’ve worked in corporate healthcare for more than 20 years, working in the finance department, working with budgets, working in leadership roles. I was a senior consultant for Premier Healthcare Systems out of Charlotte, N.C. They contract with hospitals around the U.S. to re-engineer their clinical and financial benchmarks — anything from looking at payroll to trying to reduce FTEs, to trying to figure out why there was so much overtime and trying to make the business lean. We also checked to make sure clients were meeting their KPIs (key performance indicators) on the financial side and the clinical side.
I joke that I fell into academia. I taught a class at a university here in Houston, and the lightbulb went off. I felt like I found my home in teaching. I went into teaching in a health administration program and being the director of a graduate program.
I believe that having been in the practical side of the industry and being in academia makes me a better professor. It’s one thing to have the textbook knowledge, but it’s a whole different ball game when you’re actually in the field and you know how the jargon changes. In the textbook, finances or clinical directives may be one way, but when you’re actually in the position in the hospital there are some choices or options that sometimes come up that you can use.
Outside of teaching, I’ve served on scholarship committees and on the committee for reviewing and setting the standard for how we hire adjuncts in PACS. I’m a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the College of Healthcare Executives. We meet once a year in Chicago to go over standards for what the industry needs and what people are looking for in healthcare. We try to curate curriculums based on what people in the industry say our students are missing. I also represent the college by making sure people see me in the community. Since I have a background in finance and accounting, I often do webinars on how to be financially literate. As a faculty member, I feel like it helps me not only touch the students, but also the Norman community, especially when you’re talking about finances and budgeting and how to pay back your student loans.
On a personal note, I play tennis, I am a bookworm and I jog most mornings. I live pretty close to a park, so I run about 3-6 miles every morning. I have a big family, so I’m usually the babysitter for my nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews.
What is your favorite thing about being an instructor for OU?
My favorite thing is when the students have that lightbulb moment, when they really get a financial model or some method or concept that we’ve covered that we use in health care.
I tell people all the time that in healthcare, there are three financial documents — income statement, balance sheet and cash flow. I think sometimes when we’re looking a spreadsheets, people see numbers with several commas and zeroes in them, and it’s daunting. What I try to get students to see is if you remove some of the commas and zeroes, it looks like my checkbook or your checkbook. Once they relax, and that lightbulb comes on, that’s the most rewarding for me.
What is your favorite course to teach?
There is a course we have on healthcare ethics, Legal and Ethical Issues. I like that course because it allows students to really think outside the box, not only about the law, but in the ethical decisions that we make.
I remember reading a memo from OU’s president that the goal of the university is to create and foster an environment where students can learn and have civil discourse and open-minded conversations about how they approach the same ethical decision or ethical issue from their perspective and from the legal perspective, and how that could vary. Being able to see how another person is thinking and then have that conversation in a healthy environment in the classroom prepares them for having those same experiences in the real world.
Is there a student or class that has influenced you or made an impact on your life in any way?
Absolutely. I teach the ELCP1, the Experiential Leadership Residency Program that they have. It’s a 5-day, intensive online program on Zoom. In this course, the students really do a lot of leadership scenarios and exercises and a lot of collaboration and group projects. Working with the students over the five days completely changes your whole idea of the way that we teach courses. The students bring to the table experience from military, private sector and public sector careers. Being able to gauge not only what they’re learned from the program but also hearing their experiences and seeing them add knowledge not only to each other, but also to me, it’s a mutual benefit course, and I look forward to it every time. I always learn something new from the students.
I’ve also had students who have sent me a physical thank you card in the mail, and that changes you, too. It’s touching that no matter how far you are from them, you still make a difference for that student. I have walked across the OU campus and had someone call out, “Dr. E!” It was one of my students, and that’s special, too, because sometimes you wonder when teaching online if you’re making that kind of connection. But if you can see me across campus and yell out my name because you’re excited to see me, that’s awesome.
What advice do you have for adult students who are returning to school?
Don’t let age be a deterrent to pursuing your degree. The things we think may be obstacles to returning to school, like your work, or you have a spouse and kids and other responsibilities, can also serve as the incentive to complete your education and get your degree.
On the practical side, make sure you read the syllabus for the class, make sure you start assignments early in case there are hiccups with technology, and carve out some time for yourself. I know that may be contrary to people saying study, study, study, but I think as adults, when we start back to school, it takes us a minute to get back into our study habits. Carve out some time to study, but also carve out some personal time to exhale and relax and not get too overwhelmed with assignments. And make time for your family, too. I had a professor tell me this when I was going through my doctoral program, and it’s something I share with my students. You have to find that balance because when you start your educational journey, your family doesn’t always want to look at the back your head while you’re looking at a computer screen.
What is your favorite thing about teaching adults?
The experience that they bring into the classroom, and that they are very focused and determined. They know that are coming back to get their education, and they are not afraid to ask questions.
What are the challenges and opportunities that come with teaching courses online?
Some of the challenges with adult learners often is the technology piece of the class. Moving and navigating through Canvas or how to attach videos or add the caption to it. The opportunities are that it gives the students an opportunity to network with each other and share career opportunities with each other and serve as a sounding board for each other.
What kind of experience do you want students to have in your courses?
When they leave the program, I want them to be career ready. I want them to finish the healthcare management program not only with their degree, but also with additional certifications that can help them in the healthcare industry. In some of the programs, I have embedded things like the patient safety certification that you get from the Department of Health so, as part of the course, you have to complete that certification. I think it makes them more competitive in their career and more savvy.
In the course, they are some directives to seek out certifications. I embed seeking those options into the course for them to continue to be knowledge seekers and lifelong learners. I try to give them just enough of a nudge, so they know they need to proactively look for these things.
What do you do to encourage students to engage with each other? How important is it that they develop a sense of camaraderie/community with each other?
It’s very important for them to feel a sense of camaraderie with members of their cohort and with the university, as well. I’m typically a bit more animated with my intro discussion board, and it makes students relax. I ask students to introduce themselves and I ask, “What’s your favorite food? Do you have a pet? Post a picture of your pet!” I get this whole influx of cats, dogs, birds, at the beginning of the course. Then, as we go back and forth discussing topics throughout the semester, somebody may make a joke back to something we had in the initial discussion board.
I also have optional live sessions where I meet with students, and I have found they like that interaction because they really get to connect with each other and with me. I also create community groups for students to join, so if they graduate in 2024, more people will be added to that group in 2025 and 2026. Then you can still network with that group and stay connected even after you graduate. With healthcare, there are so many remote work possibilities. If you’re working in management or as an analyst working with data, you can work remotely, and it gives students who don’t live in the same state the opportunity to network and provide opportunities for their colleagues.
OU Online loves to showcase the exceptional instructors who teach our online master’s and bachelor’s degree courses. If you know an instructor who would make an interesting feature, please email us at online@ou.edu.
