Staff Development Officers Meeting

Sunday, June 24, 2001

Monday, June 25, 2001

Facilitator: Carol Holmes

Recorder: Karen Anderson

Key problems/issues relating to staff development based upon morning session

· Training in Learning College values/principles

· GAP between seasoned and new faculty

· Credibility gap between desired behaviors and actual behaviors

· Some faculty/staff are not embracing the Vanguard/Learning College entity (not our idea)

· Good may be the enemy of the best. Some of the colleges may be complacent based upon their good reputation

· Some faculty feel threatened (believe we have been doing this already)

· Training selection committees is important

· Lack of clarity about the meaning of being a learning-centered college

· Need shared definition of and examples of being learning centered.

Strategies staff development can share for building a Learning College

· Need to help teachers focus on students developing learning skills, assessment skills and self-assessment skills

· How to build acceptable language without betraying underlying principles.

· Create opportunities for dialogues about important concepts

· Need to develop and analyze data to support the learning concept

· Educate staff about Learning College principles and approaches

· Give faculty the opportunity to study various concepts/ideas as learners

· Assist all staff to view all staff as facilitators of learning

· We are all learners, we are all staff (vs. faculty first)

· Each individual understands role in Learning College; staff development needs a presence within the selection process

§ Meetings of selection committees

§ Needs of staff identified

How are staff development members doing as models for facilitators of learning?

· Not a come and do it (from a vacuum); involve participants in program design (participants)

· Act as consultant, a linkage to learning rather than being a content expert/or a direct deliverer

· How staff development roles need to change

§ Become less of a doer and more of a manager

§ More development related to leadership

¨ Manager setting expectations

¨ Assessing performance

§ Become more of a change agent-impact on various college systems, e.g., hiring process