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Broadening Perspectives on Professional Development

December 20, 2016 Brandie Lowe

You don’t have to go to a conference.

If nobody has said those words to you before, please let them sink in. Student affairs conferences have great benefits that I do not intend to discount, but this article is really about finding and pursuing valuable alternatives.

I was fortunate to receive funding to attend a number of conferences as an undergraduate and graduate student. Yet, in my first year as a post-graduate professional, I did not attend a single one. Some of my mentors and friends from other institutions gave me a hard time about "skipping out", knowing it was likely the only time we would connect personally or professionally, but I decided to pursue something different. I wrote a couple of specific goals for my professional development, discussed them with my supervisor, and sought out opportunities to learn and grow in ways that would make me successful in my role as an online leadership educator.

Here are a few things that I did and additional thoughts on how you could find comparable opportunities for yourself.

1. I looked internally at the university.

The division that my department is housed in offers an Assessment Institute, free of charge, for division staff. I applied with the support of my supervisors and completed an 8-week workshop series with a “capstone” project that helped move our department’s assessment efforts forward. Additionally, part of my role is to teach online classes, which was a new responsibility for me when I started the job.

A colleague shared with me that we have an Office of Instruction and Assessment that offers professional development for faculty and course instructors. I was able to take online “mini-courses” that lasted 10-20 days and helped me develop skills in online discussion facilitation and developing clear assignments. Both of these internal opportunities were free for me. The first was put forward within the student affairs division, but the second required some searching. It was outside my comfort zone to seek professional development in a “faculty” space, but it broadened my perspective and network, and dramatically improved my online instruction.

2. I pursued online education.

Our department does a lot of work with StrengthsQuest, a tool I understood well enough to use for myself but not quite enough to present to others. I used the majority of my professional development funds to pay for two online classes administered by Gallup, Inc., designed to help educators improve their understanding and use of Strengths in educational contexts.  I also used my funds to pay for a 1-year membership to Lynda.com, a LinkedIn company that offers high-quality training on various technology. My goal was to improve my graphic design skills and learn new software programs for the workplace: familiarity with these programs was not essential to my job, but would be beneficial, and also interesting to me. These online programs had non-negotiable costs, I appreciated that I also had tangible outcomes including certificates that verified the work that I completed. Online education options exist at a variety of price points, and are feasible even for a smaller professional development budget.

 3. I presented my work at a local level.

In my newly established role, I created a couple of tools and pieces of curriculum that could be utilized by others across our division and even in other classrooms. My supervisor encouraged me to host a presentation on how others could access and use these tools. Rather than taking my "new concept" to a national or regional conference, I presented a DIY workshop that increased the impact of my work on campus and provided something that would prevent colleagues from having to "reinvent the wheel." 

Each of these pathways made me a stronger professional. I learned from other experts at the university, received certification for my training and skills, and I shared my own knowledge with peers on campus. I have heard many times that it takes a whole year to learn a job: by applying this concept to my professional development plan and spending the first year learning to be better at my job, I now feel more confident when I speak to external colleagues and stakeholders about my work. As a new professional or graduate student, you should have a plan for your own professional development. It should absolutely involve learning and networking: just remember that you have multiple pathways to reach your goals.

 Do you have thoughts on this blog post? Share them with us on Facebook @NPGSKC, on Twitter @npgs_kc, or on Instagram @npgs_kc!

Brandie Lowe is a Senior Coordinator for Leadership and Career Education at the University of Arizona, where she translates experiential leadership and career programs into online and hybrid contexts. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @brandielynell.