For most people summer is a time to spend with family, to rest from busy schedules, or to enhance professional skills. However, finding an event where you can accomplish all three of these objectives is at times difficult. We have an idea that might help! Each year the Academic Senate holds our summer institutes-the Faculty Leadership Institute and the Curriculum Institute. These Institutes are held at recreational venues that accommodate family members, while the Institutes provide faculty an opportunity to rest, and more importantly an opportunity to increase your knowledge in the areas of governance, curriculum, and other senate-related topics. This brief article will highlight these two events and describe their benefits.
The Faculty Leadership Institute this year will be held June 23-25 at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. This Institute is designed to help new local senate presidents and senate officers understand their roles and responsibilities in college governance by discussing such issues as the Brown Act, budget development, senate/union relations, and conflict resolution. Seasoned local senate leaders will also benefit from the Institute through discussions on the 75:25 ratio, the Governor's budget, legislative issues, and current hot topics. Both seasoned and new leaders will benefit through the experience of interaction. The networking opportunity provides seasoned leaders an opportunity to share their experience with new leaders, which in the past has proven invaluable. As we know there are some lessons that are difficult to grasp in theory, but are instead better understood through actual examples. All participants will learn from the many breakouts on a number of pertinent topics. Along with those mentioned above, this year topics will include developing senate leadership, effective communication, noncredit and vocational issues, and a personalized view of your college's budget. The Faculty Leadership Institute has something for everyone. As one attendee said last year, "[The Faculty Leadership Institute was] very helpful to me as a senate officer and faculty member in general;" and another wrote, "While we received a lot of information, the contact I made was probably the most beneficial. Thanks for providing a lot of opportunities for interaction!" All this plus fantastic meals, complete spa facilities, a swimming pool, and beautiful grounds in which to relax. We hope that you will join us this year.
Another summer event that is offered by the Senate is our Curriculum Institute. This year the Curriculum Institute will be held July 14 - 16 in San Diego at the Hyatt Islandia. The goal of this event is to train those most closely connected to the curricular process-administrators, faculty and staff. This team approach has proven very successful in the past. The structure and the topics of this Institute provide all involved in curriculum with an interactive experience that includes development of learning outcomes/objectives, determining and documenting pre-requisites, articulating the outcome for curriculum review, and much more. This year the format will be different than past Institutes. Each breakout will have a syllabus, text, learning outcomes, and learning objectives. The Senate Curriculum Committee hopes these additional materials will reinforce those topics discussed at the Institute. Be assured that your participation in this event will be a valuable and enlightening experience. And as with our Leadership Institute, the Hyatt Islandia provides great food, beautiful grounds, a swimming pool, and a spectacular view of the waters off San Diego.
So, if you don't have anything promising planned to do this summer, or you want to polish your skills while your family enjoys a beautiful conference facility with many activities and nearby attractions for summer fun, please come join us at one of the Senate's summer institutes. You can find further information about each event and its location on our website at http://www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us. Bear in mind, though, that you will need to hurry, because these events are filling up fast. I hope to see you this summer!
May
2005