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Volume III, Issue 3 December 2006 |
Quinsigamond
Community College |
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Development Erica Merrill
Staff Development Room
114 Ahlfors Hall
Upcoming Events
In accordance with the college's strategic initiative to optimize the use of technology for improved and cost-effective communication, this newsletter is being distributed via email as the best means for information-sharing with faculty and staff. |
Editor: Erica Merrill "National Association of Educational Buyers Conference" by Shanna Erickson "Exploring New Frontiers in College Counseling" by Karen Cox
The Impact of ONE: “A Pillar of AUC is Gone.” The headline and accompanying photo in the Lancaster Times & Courier caught my eye. Of course, I already knew that she had recently passed away – one of my English professors from Atlantic Union College had called me – but seeing the official announcement in print only made it feel all the more real. Beyond the personal loss of an inspiring teacher and mentor, I dare say the academic world had just lost a great mind and an innovative educator. Here was a professor who could be as intimidating as a bear, yet was as approachable as a puppy. A teacher who, at the age of 80, could quote the likes of Shakespeare, Dickinson, and Yeats from mere memory and sing the praises of each line, each word, each syllable with such passion and charisma that she could entertain, enthrall, and enchant even the most indifferent students into perking up and paying attention. To her, strict adherence to textbooks, lesson plans, and syllabi were overrated; plays were meant to be performed; poems read aloud with fervor and anticipation; discussions lively and engaging; ideas open to interpretation and deliberation; beliefs and biases challenged and changed. For her, an average day involved pushing and pulling her students to their limits, twisting and turning their ways of thinking, and instilling a love of learning. If I have learned anything from Dr. Ottilie Stafford, it is to always question the status-quo, strive for truth, ponder a poem, wonder a little about the world each day, and never, ever say I am not good at something!
National Association of Educational Buyers Conference From October 18th through the 21st, I attended the Annual Fall 4-day Conference at the Sea Crest Oceanfront Resort and Conference Center, Falmouth, MA. This conference was presented by the National Association of Educational Buyers – New England Region (NAEB-NE), a non-profit professional purchasing association serving colleges, universities, hospitals, and secondary schools in all 6 New England states since 1920. This conference was rich with back-to-back informational segments addressing Procurement Card Programs, RFPs, Technology Issues, Adding Value in Purchasing, Team Work & Customer Service, Contract Management, Outsourcing, Sustainability and Negotiations. Discussion facilitators were Purchasing Directors from colleges and universities across New England and New York and other “experts” in their fields. We also were able to participate in a vendor fair and get some information from various vendors that were at the conference. So much wonderful information came out of this conference, but for the purposes of this writing, I am choosing to focus on one topic which I believe those of you that are reading this can relate to: “Getting a Hold of Time”. Getting a Hold of Time This session was presented by Lisa, who is a management consultant and trainer providing consultation and training services to public and private sector clients. Lisa served as the Training Coordinator at Brandeis University where she conducted, coordinated, and facilitated in-house and outside training for faculty, management, and staff. She conducts seminars and workshops on a variety of staff and management development topics including speed reading, business writing, and team building. Lisa started off by telling everyone the words that usually come to mind when you think of time … not enough and never enough. There isn’t a magical approach to managing time, but there are some different strategies that can be utilized to manage our time more effectively. One of the best suggestions that she had was to use one hour, at the beginning of each week – whether in the morning if you are a morning person or in the afternoon if you think better later in the day – to plan your week. (Doesn’t that sound crazy?!) If you are able to sit in an environment that is nice and quiet so you can concentrate, you will be able to gather your thoughts and better prioritize what you know you need to get done for that week. Remember to always keep some extra time for other things that may unexpectedly pop up. She also discussed some strategies that are supposed to help with big time users such as paper, projects, telephones, e-mail and meetings. She suggested only taking phone calls and answering e-mails during a certain period of time each day. Make sure you post in numerous locations (outside your office, on your voicemail, etc.) your phone/e-mail hours so people will know when they can get a hold of you. Lisa suggested scanning the paperwork that comes across your desk so you get the basic idea of the document and not trying to remember every piece of information. Only schedule yourself into meetings that you will really benefit from and send someone in your place that can give you the highlights of the meeting. (I say, “wouldn’t it be nice if we all had someone to take our place at different events … a lot of departments at QCC are understaffed as it is.”) She also suggested that when people come into your office and you don’t really have time to talk to them, make sure to stand when they come in. This keeps them from making themselves comfortable and staying longer than they need to. She’s even gone as far as taking her side chairs out of her office. Lisa had quite a few different suggestions on how to manage your time, but when she was asked if she follows her own suggestions, she honestly answered that she doesn’t have time to do all of this. (She was just kidding. She said she has used these techniques for years and they seem to work pretty well from what she can tell.) I would definitely attend the Annual Fall Conference Program again in the future if I were given the opportunity. Even if they didn’t offer the various seminars that I mentioned above, the networking alone was worth it. I have never met a group that enjoyed sharing information with someone else just to help them out the way that this group does. I appreciate the possibility to be able to attend this conference.
Exploring New
Frontiers in College Counseling We came ready to work hard, play hard, and learn a lot. This incredible group of conference planners from the American College Counseling Association put together what is rapidly becoming the best professional development conference for college counselors in the country! It is a combination of professionalism, pride, and passion that keeps this group going and growing. We have traveled from St. Simon’s Island, Georgia to Biloxi, Mississippi and now we had arrived in Reno, Nevada. Just as the conferences spanned the country, so did the conference members. It was a special pleasure to greet and honor many of our colleagues from the South, who have courageously stayed and dedicated themselves to the rebuilding efforts after Katrina. Their struggle continues as so much remains to be done. The mental health picture is overwhelming; however it is continually infused by the people’s resilience and ability to hope for a better tomorrow. My conference choices focused on the changing face of our students, their special needs and behaviors that require professional attention and intervention. The severity of mental health problems on campuses has been rising dramatically; many are calling this a “Campus Crisis”. Several workshops were focused on the difficult or disruptive student and called for prepared team work to address these complex issues. At the same time, they addressed the legal concerns, as so many student cases have reached the courts. In response to the complex needs of students, many of the colleges are constructing collaborative partnerships between the counseling services and the student health services. They have successfully provided a service blend which is known as behavioral healthcare. This model of integrated care places emphasis on how counseling services staff can serve in a consultation liaison role, providing brief, quality, and cost-effective services to college students. This presents both challenges and unique opportunities to serve students in a systematic way that also is in tune with the students’ current mode of interaction with professionals. This model is strongly an educational one and appears to be both practical and well utilized by the students. The wealth of knowledge, discussion, presented materials, and resources provided by this conference made me realize how fortunate I was to have had this experience. Whether you were from a small rural institution, a large urban school, a private, public or community college, the experience was one that valued our work and our role in helping college students.
© Staff Development, Quinsigamond Community College 2006. |