Professional Development Day

Friday, September 18th 2009

Our tradition of having a professional development day after Back-to-School night makes sense for many reasons, and one of the best is simply a matter of fatigue – switching gears from summer to school time always takes more energy and focus than it would seem. So by the time our students, parents and faculty get to the morning after a late Thursday night, everyone looks forward to the day – students for what seems like a gift day off, parents because they too have been struggling with the change, and faculty because the opportunity for a different pace after several weeks of start-up comes at a fine time.

Mary Carter, our Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs, designs the day with consultation from colleagues. While we have spent the entire day on one theme in the past, we tend to balance group or department time with the need for individuals to simply connect with one another as needed. For example, the first part of the day we worked in small groups on how we can use technology for distance learning – whether because we have to (if swine flu forces us to close for a few weeks, for instance) or simply because we want to keep improving how we leverage the internet. Later on in the day we provided time for departments to catch-up, for smaller gatherings, or simply to catch our breath.