Professional development activities for the college’s support staff are always hard to plan, design, and implement.  The duties and responsibilities of support staff personnel leave little time to incorporate such activities.  The Wytheville Community College Support Staff Assembly was established in 1996, and one of its main purposes is “to plan, promote, and facilitate a variety of professional development activities among the Support Staff of Wytheville Community College.”  Last spring, the Support Staff Assembly, in conjunction with Dr. Terrance Suarez, former Dean of Instruction and Student Services (now President of Mountain Empire Community College), and Dr. Ann Alexander, WCC President, sponsored a full day of professional development activities on May 15, 2001.  The following recipe is based upon the mixture of the planning and the events from that day. 

One Cup of Planning

The engineering for the professional development day should begin with an organizational meeting between administrative personnel and all support staff.  Ideas and thoughts should be solicited from the projected participants as to what to include to produce an enjoyable, productive day.   All ideas—including topics, speakers, and scheduling—should be taken into consideration.  Subsequently, administrative personnel can then take all suggestions and ideas and begin preparing a detailed schedule for the day.  

If possible, a continental breakfast and catered lunch can be included in the day’s activities so that support staff can have a chance to mingle with other employees that they are not normally associated with on a daily basis.

One Tablespoon of Instruction

Since support staff employees are very varied in job responsibilities, it is important to plan a day that can benefit everyone.  The general consensus of participants at Wytheville Community College was that the instruction portion of their day should benefit all members—male, female, young and younger.   Health, fitness, stress relief, and time management topped the lists for the majority of WCC staff members.  With those recommendations, administrative personnel and Support Staff Assembly members designed the following agenda and then implemented it on May 15, 2001:

• Continental Breakfast
• Dr.  Ed Barnes, “Support Staff: Critical members of the WCC Team”
• Rita Dixon,   “VVV: Vim, Vigor, and Vitality” 
• Bruce Wood, “Dealing with Difficult People”
• Catered Luncheon
• Concurrent Session –Peter Sprano, “Stress Relief”
• Concurrent Session –Mary Jane Umberger, “Time Management” 

One Teaspoon of Humor

Humor leavens most all types of professional development activities.  This was certainly true at WCC.  Each chosen speaker commanded our attention with the valuable information being given but also with the humorous intonation in which it was delivered.  We smiled, snickered, giggled, and laughed out loud as each speaker relayed the informative data for his or her respective topics in his or her own comedic performance.  Each hour passed too quickly as each speaker finished with his or her individual delivery.  We left each session with a smile on our faces and a spring in our step.

A Pinch of Comradery

Not only is it important to plan well and incorporate humor, but it is also important to cultivate a sense of comradery.  The easy, relaxed atmosphere of the day encouraged new friendships to form and old acquaintances to reacquaint.  These feelings reaffirmed the important part that each of us has in being a part of the WCC family.  The jobs that we perform each day help to foster a campus environment where the success of our students is our highest priority.

Secret Ingredient

A professional Support Staff organization and a strong coalition between that organization and the Administrative Staff are invaluable to a college.  An undertaking such as a full day of professional development for support staff takes a lot of planning and ingenious scheduling.  Members of the Support Staff Assembly worked closely with Dr. Alexander and Dr. Suarez to ensure that all requests made by the support staff were honored.

For Extra Flavor

When the activities have concluded, there is one final step in the recipe that adds just a bit of extra flavor—appreciation.  The appreciation of members of the support staff is evident in the following quotes that were received after the May 15 in-service.

It was nice to get together with other classified staff sharing together in thoughts and laughter!!!!

 The in-service was overall a great thing and the speakers were great.  I appreciate all the hard work that everyone did in getting it together.  I think it was a great success and it made me feel more appreciated.

 The speakers and programs were a delight.  And with each one, there was something beneficial for everyone to implement or reflect upon.

 Just as we all like to feel appreciated, we thought it was important to thank the administration for supporting this professional development activity.

Mix all ingredients together and bake for six hours for a rejuvenating nourishment of the body, soul, and mind.