Community and Technical College faculty - whether from academia or industry – are often rightly focused on deepening their teaching and classroom management skills as a means to ensure student success.  Not to be overlooked are many other opportunities for faculty to grow their skills and advance their careers while also contributing to the advancement of the institution.   These series of workshop modules described below provide knowledge on how to take advantage of such opportunities. They will be available from September 2021 thru May 2022 virtually through a grant provided  by the National Science Foundation.   

Eligible participants will receive a stipend of $500 for attending and fully participating in 2 of these workshops, with additional compensation for others if space is available.  

Next Session:

May 06, 2022: 1:00pm EST :  The Art & Practice of Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities

(registration below!)

1.  New Faculty Accelerator: Surviving & Thriving as a Community/Technical College Educator

Date/Time:                  Thursday September 23, 1-3pm EDT via Zoom

Format:                       Zoom-based "collegial conversation"  (sharing experiences, insights, tips)

Target Audience:        New faculty & New from industry, 25 participants max

Phenomenal Presenters:  Roger Ebbage, Mary Slowinski, Thomas Tubon, Ken Walz

Newly-hired Community and Technical College faculty - whether from academia or industry – are often rightly focused on deepening their teaching and classroom management skills as a means to ensure student success.  Not to be overlooked, are many other opportunities for faculty to grow their skills and advance their careers while also contributing to the advancement of the institution.   This workshop prepares new faculty for careers within the commu nity and technical college environment by providing insights from seasoned faculty leaders on the structure of these institutions and the advancement opportunities for faculty, including programmatic and departmental leadership, student-focused initiatives, and institutional governance.  The leveraging of professional development opportunities external to the college will also be discussed.

2. Career Exploration and Advancement through Persuasive Communication and Negotiation Techniques     

December 2, 2021 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Eastern Time) via Zoom

Presenter: Pushpa Murthy

Negotiations occur every day in the scientific laboratory and workplace and often involve issues that are key to research success and career advancement.  This workshop module teaches the fundamentals of negotiation relevant to a variety of one-on-one conversations and group settings.  Topics include the importance of negotiation to advance research and career objectives, identification of negotiables for research and career advancement, elements of a successful negotiation, the importance of developing alternatives to an agreement, techniques for handling difficult people and conversations, the importance of listening and appreciating different viewpoints and identification of short and long-term negotiation goals.

3.  Faculty Career Development: Initiating & Leveraging External Opportunities for Advancement

March 16th 2022, 10am PST

Target Audience: Existing faculty, program or department leads, interested faculty

Presenters:  Roger Ebbage, Mary Slowinski, Ken Walz

While almost all community and technical colleges offer some type of faculty professional development pathways or programs, a range of rich and varied opportunities for faculty career advancement also lie outside the institution. Join this trio of experienced community college educators for an exploration of professional activities that can advance your academic career,including the development of educator-industry partnerships, participating with professional associations and societies, securing grant funding for new initiatives, serving as an institutional representative, and more.   Participants will discuss career building activities, explore opportunities, and consider utilizing a strategic plan for pursuing and achieving career success. Networking with other faculty to share best practices and job-related challenges, and for possible future collaborative projects will also be an important element of this workshop.*

4.  The Art and Practice of Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities

May 9th 2022, 1:00pm  EST

Presenters: Rebecca White, Mary Wirth

While every opportunity begins with an idea, an opportunity is much more than a conceptional combination of thoughts. It is a unique combination of the thinker (often referred to as the entrepreneur) and the context (their relevant environment). Entrepreneurial opportunities, are those situations in which innovations can be introduced and sold, at greater than the cost of production. Those worth pursuing are a complex mix of timing, combined with personal experience and goals. An opportunity that might have worked well last year, may very well not succeed today. Similarly, an opportunity that is right for me may not work for you. Opportunities emerge at the intersection of the entrepreneur and their environment.

Every new endeavor starts with opportunity recognition.  In this session, participants will learn the four essential qualities of an entrepreneurial opportunity and will take away a process that can be applied in virtually any context to increase the quantity and quality of entrepreneurial opportunities.

May 9th, 2022 1:00pm EST

Register Now: 

5.  Weathering Change and Sustainability

Presenters: Roger Ebbage, Celeste Rohlfing

Have you experienced the threat of Career/Technical Education (CTE) program cuts due to college general fund deficits? Pretty scary, isn’t it? Community and Technical colleges across the United States are seeing a huge drop in “first-time”enrollment with numbers as high as 21% that is a result of many factors including the Coronavirus. Prior to all online classes taught in 2020-2021, community colleges were “leaking” students for a variety of reasons. Consequently, general funds become limited and lower enrolled CTE programs get axed! This workshop will focus on CTE program survival or how to keep your CTE program alive by creating a funding source through grants, partnerships, and other entrepreneurial opportunities.   

Date and time TBD.

This material is based upon work supported, in part, by the. National Science Foundation. under Grant Award DUE 1903498.  Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.