Training and Professional Development
Task Force Members
Co-chairs
Jennifer Brock, Associate Professor, Department of Engineering
Shawnalee Whitney, Director, Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence
Members
Claudia Pearson, Instructional Designer, Academic Technologies, Kenai Peninsula College/Homer
Paul Wasko, ePortfolio AI&e, Academic Affairs
Danica Bryant, Career Exploration and Services
Whitney Brown, Director of Assessment and Strategic Projects, Student Affairs
Bridgett Coffou, Prevention Education Coordinator, Office of Equity & Compliance
Joe Kelley, Desktop Technician, IT Services
Marcie Stavich, HR Systems and Records Manager
Megan Olson, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement
Terry Nelson, Graduate Programs Director & Assoc. Professor, Alaska Resources Library
& Information Services
Rachel Hannah, Asst. Professor, Biology
Tara Smith, Professor of ESL, Community & Technical College
Quentin Simeon, First Year Advisor, First Year Student Advising & Success
About this Task Force
This task force will review the need for more well-planned, coordinated and robust training and professional development at UAA, including equitable access. Due to various compliance problems within the UA System, there has been a strong recent focus on mandatory training. A large number of training and development opportunities do occur throughout the year, but these are scattered across the university and may not be directly related to skill-building or overall mission. The desire for more focused and more systematically organized training and professional development was identified among both faculty and staff. This Task Force is asked to make recommendations on how UAA can develop new and redefine existing training and development programs for faculty and staff.
Charge to the Task Force on Training and Professional Development
- Current state analysis. What is the current state of training and development at UAA? What are the different categories of training and development (e.g., mandatory online training to in-depth leadership programs?) What is offered internally? What is outsourced to consultants?
- Do we “count” conference attendance as training and development?
- Best practice peer review. What do similar institutions do in the area of training and development? Who within the institution oversees such programs? How do they measure effectiveness?
- Needs assessment. What do supervisors want to offer to their employees? What do faculty and staff expect in terms of training and development? (If you conduct any surveys, please work with a social science faculty member with survey expertise to design the survey.)
- Taxonomy of training and development programs. Please develop a list of various types of T&D programs.
- Policies. What policies might be barriers to developing the training and development program needed at UAA?
- Systems. Do technology support systems exist that can help us streamline training and development, particularly tracking this activity?
- Outcome measures. What measures might we use to track progress in training and development?
- Desired future state. Based on answers to questions above, what are options for a more robust and systematic training and development program at UAA? (Be realistic, but do not restrict your thinking due to resource concerns.)
Mission Alignment of this Task Force
There is nothing explicit in our mission, strategic plan or in system mission or priorities (including Strategic Pathways or UA 2025 Goals and Measures) that refer to supporting training and development for faculty or staff. However, we cannot fulfill our mission without highly trained faculty and staff who have opportunities for further professional development.
Timeline
This task force will provide recommendations by March 15, 2019.
After Task Force Final Recommendations
• Chancellor will review recommendations
• Recommendations will be circulated to campus community for input
• Chancellor will review input and further consult with shared governance, cabinet
and others
• Chancellor will announce a decision
• Implementation will begin immediately