Nov./Dec. 2007

Current Issue

Past Issues

Wellness Lunch and Learn Workshops

A series of Lunch and Learn workshops will be offered through the wellnessprogram beginning in November. At each event, a medical doctor will present health information about a specific subject. Lunch will be provided.

Nutrition and Weight Loss
11/28/2007, 12:00pm-1:00pm, HBC 411
1/23/2008, 12:00pm-1:00pm, RVS TBA

Stress and Your Health
12/3/2007, 12:00pm-1:00pm, SAC 1130

Back and Neck Pain
3/3/2008, 12:00pm-1:00pm, RGC TBA

eStaffing
11/1/2007, 1:00pm-2:00pm, HBC 301.8

Enhancing Student Success
11/2/2007, 5:00pm-7:00pm, HBC 201

Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0: Creating Forms
11/2/2007, 2:00pm-4:00pm, HBC 301.8

Safe Surfing
11/8/2007, 4:00pm-5:00pm, HBC 218
11/9/2007, 3:00pm-4:00pm, HBC 218

Customer Service Excellence Using Servant-Leadership
11/9/2007, 1:00pm-3:00pm, RVS G 8131
12/14/2007, 1:00pm-3:00pm, SAC 1130

Experience the Life-Enhancing Effects of Meditation
11/9/2007, 9:00am-10:00am, EVC 9109

Sexual Harassment Prevention
11/9/2007, 10:45am-11:45am, HBC 410
11/20/2007, 2:45pm-3:45pm, HBC 410
12/12/2007, 2:45pm-3:45pm, HBC 410

ADA Awareness
11/9/2007, 9:30am-10:30am, HBC 410
11/20/2007, 1:30pm-2:30pm, HBC 410
12/12/2007, 1:30pm-2:30pm, HBC 410

Services for Students with Disabilities and Accessibility at ACC
11/14/2007, 9:30am-11:00am, HBC 411
11/15/2007, 9:30am-11:00am, HBC 411

Crime Prevention in the Workplace
11/14/2007, 3:00pm-3:30pm, CYP 2206
11/15/2007, 3:00pm-3:30pm, RVS G9117
11/26/2007, 3:00pm-3:30pm, RGC 341
12/6/2007, 3:00pm-3:30pm, SVC 168
12/4/2007, 3:00pm-3:30pm, PIN 1013

Photoshop Elements
11/15/2007, 2:00pm-4:00pm, RVS 1119

Critical Thinking 2: Identify the Problem
11/16/2007, 9:30am-11:30am, HBC 103.6

Critical Thinking 3: Decision - Making Strategies
12/13/2007, 9:30am-11:30am, HBC 103.6

Getting Organized=Saving Time and Stress at Work and at Home
11/27/2007, 9:00am-11:00am, HBC 411

Public Speaking in the Workplace: dos, don'ts, and how-tos
11/29/2007, 10:30am-12:00pm, HBC TBA

A series of Blackboard workshops has been scheduled throughout the year. Click on the one you are interested in to find out locations and times.

IDS: Blackboard Getting Started
IDS: Blackboard 2 - Adding Content
IDS: Blackboard 3 - Communication and Student Management
IDS: Blackboard 4 - Creating Online Assessments
IDS: Blackboard 5 - Creating an Online Gradebook
IDS: Blackboard Advanced Testing Options for PCM classes

Supervisor Series: Effective Listening - A Servant-Leadership Approach
11/6/2007, 1:00pm-2:30pm, HBC 301.0

Supervisor Series: Facilities and Operations
11/8/2007, 9:00am-10:00am, HBC 301.0

Lara Niles Joins Professional Development Staff

To understand Lara Niles you have to know that she once had a four-and-a-half foot iguana, a snake that ate fish, some frogs that ate mice, and a pet tarantula. In other words, she is a cross between Mother Teresa and Steve Irwin. Of course, since then she's culled the herd down to two dogs, three cats, and a husband named Brandon. This past summer, in the heat of July, Lara and her “family” moved to Austin from Iowa; on top of that she made the trek in a car without any air conditioning.

Part-techie, part-Care Bear, Lara is a very positive addition to the PD&EP staff. She has earned her Ph.D. in Education from Iowa State University. Her doctorate specialized in Curriculum and Instructional Technology and her dissertation research examined the relationship between faculty members’ espoused beliefs and their classroom practices using technology. Lara replaces Jennifer Gray as the Professional Development Specialist. She will be developing the technology training for the department, maintaining the website, and handling other duties. Welcome Lara!

Mark your Calendar

Spring General Assembly will take place at the Hyatt Regency Austin on January 11, 2008. The keynote speaker, Kelly McMichael, will focus on Course Redesign and all ACC employees are invited to have breakfast and attend the morning session as well as the afternoon workshops.

Faculty Evaluation Time

It’s evaluation time. Don’t forget to conduct your class evaluations. Faculty members teaching 16-week classes should have received their pink evaluation packets and need to have evaluations completed by November 21st.

WANTED!

Have you caught anyone being a true Servant-Leader?  If you’re not sure, check out the characteristics at http://www.austincc.edu/servant/. If you see someone modeling this ACC leadership concept, please let us know who it is and how the characteristics were exhibited!  Contact Terry Stewart Mouchayleh at tstewart@austincc.edu. 

Sabbatical Application Deadline is December 3

Sabbatical leave is available to those staffing table employees who wish to pursue personal and/or professional improvement through such activities as formal and informal study, acquisition of new skills, or keeping abreast of new technologies, research, and community service.  The course of study must of course be of benefit to the College as well as to the individual.

At least one month prior to the December 3 application deadline, the staff member wishing to apply for sabbatical leave should thoroughly review the Sabbatical Leave Administrative Rule, application process and timeline, and Sabbatical Application Form. This information may be found on Human Resources’ Professional Development website at http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/sabbaticals.php. If you have questions about the process, please contact Susan Hamende at shamende@austincc.edu or 223-7564.

Periodic Explorations into Andragogy for ACC Faculty

By P J Caporusso,
Professional Development & Evaluation Programs
Questions and comments are welcome and may be directed to pjcapor@austincc.edu.

In the last Classroom Corner, I sponsored a little contest in an effort to get faculty to visit our library resources, especially NetLibrary. Winners would receive a copy of Classroom Assessment Techniques by Angelo & Cross.  I’m pleased to announce a four-way tie: adjunct faculty winners are Jane Thorne, English Department, and Margaret Woodruff-Wieding, Humanities.  Full-time faculty winners are Devorah Feldman, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and Tobin Quereau, Human Development. Congratulations all!

Two issues back, I raised the topic of liberal thought and/or teacher bias, most notably political bias, becoming a problem in some classrooms, and prompting at least one state to consider legislation on the matter.  The American Association of University Professors has taken up the gauntlet in the spirit of “freedom in the classroom” and academic rights.  You can check out the controversy further at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/comm/rep/A/class.htm and a response at Inside Higher Ed at http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/09/11/berube. After you check it out, send me your thoughts or post them to the ACC listserv.