PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

RESOURCES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

The College currently has many initiatives in place which have professional development components or implications. The Board of Trustees has established a mechanism for distributing a portion of profits from auxiliary services (bookstore, cafeteria, vending machines) to the campuses and to a central system account for professional development purposes. Seminars, workshops and speakers are sponsored by the college wide Council on Innovation and Student Learning (CISL) and the campus based CISLs as well as other groups related to enrollment development, diversity and multiculturalism, and individual academic units or support functions.

With these initiatives and others, we recognize that there is increased scrutiny by budgetary observers and overseers. The College must continue to educate these persons on the necessity of professional development in a learning-centered college. But it also assumes a responsibility to use its limited funds wisely, especially in operating budget allocations dedicated to conferences and meetings. As well, the College needs to creatively seek alternative methods for acquiring resources for professional development in times of limited traditional financial resources.

Untapped or underutilized resources abound, however. College faculty and staff are continuously developing expertise in a number of areas of value to the professional development of others. Doctoral and personal research is ongoing. Partnerships are continuously being developed with outside businesses, agencies, institutions and organizations. College alumni become recognized as experts in their fields. Grants, gifts and donations enable the College to secure new equipment, resources and expertise. All of these many resources are potential sources of benefit to a coordinated professional development program.

Clearly, in order to utilize these many and varied potential resources, coordination is the key. This plan is intended to maximize these various sources of actual and potential resources by a structure which includes a council of collaborative implementers.

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