from Inquiry, Volume 1, Number 2, Fall 1997, 76-77
© Copyright 1997 Virginia Community College System
Abstract
Peer group meetings for VCCS
classified employees are promising avenues for professional
development in the VCCS, as shown by the very successful peer
group “drive-in” conferences held for secretaries to
division chairs and academic directors.
No one can predict to what heights you can
soar.
Even you will not know until you spread your wings.
From “Successories”
Lombard, Illinois
Education is a lifelong process—we can no longer be content solely to perform the duties outlined in our job descriptions. It is our responsibility to cultivate our minds through education. After all, education is our business! To accommodate the diverse and changing trends in our respective positions and in the progress of our institutions, many opportunities have been made available for the purpose of developing professionally.
In May of 1996 the Chancellor established the VCCS Classified Staff Professional Development Committee to analyze the existing plan and to devise a system of utilizing the $25,000 appropriated for professional development for classified employees. The committee chose to offer a series of peer group meetings to four classifications within the classified staff structure; the conferences parallel the peer group workshops conducted for faculty within the various academic disciplines. A planning document (to the year 1999) has been created by the committee in order to extend to all classified categories equivalent opportunities. The committee is proud to say that by the year 2000, all classified employees will have been provided the opportunity to attend their respective peer group meetings.
The peer group for which I was responsible was the secretaries to division chairs and academic directors. Four “drive-in” conferences were planned at strategic locations over the state. By drawing upon the resources of our secretarial support staff, plans were willingly and efficiently developed for each region. No one area chose the same workshop focus; therefore, each uniquely generated a wealth of information. My personal awareness of the untapped talents of our support staff was reinforced in the various workshops. Not only was I proud of the individual developers of each conference, but of the participants. To sit back and watch the secretaries share solutions and make innovative suggestions was heartwarming. By the end of the day’s activities, no one wanted to leave; we starved for more interaction. At each conference, there was a universal, unspoken pact—that this is just the beginning.
However, education/professional development does not have to end with one conference. There are a multitude of avenues available for furthering personal goals, either for career advancement or for continued study in higher education. Because classified staff constitute an integral segment of the VCCS, it is our responsibility to expand our knowledge from as little as attending a workshop/seminar to as much as obtaining a degree. Our contributions are vital and necessary for the success of the programs at individual colleges and to the VCCS collectively. We are a part of the equation for success, and we accept the challenge of significantly utilizing our potential. We look forward to seeing what opportunities lie behind the doors open to us.
Kay Robinson Robertson is Executive Secretary to the Dean of Academic and Student Services at John Tyler Community College. She graduated with honors in the first graduating class of JTCC in 1969 and has remained an employee of the institution ever since. She serves on the Chancellor’s Task Force for Professional Development for Classified Staff and is active in the VCCA.