The Office of the Provost is sponsoring a Staff Appreciation Night at the Winston-Salem Dash on July 16. The evening is complimentary to Wake Forest University staff and their immediate families. Parking will be available for $5. More details will follow.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Game starts at 7 p.m.

To reserve tickets, register with the PDC. Contact the Office of the Provost at provostevent@wfu.edu with any questions. Space is limited.

On Saturday, July 5, 2014, between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Information Systems will upgrade Sakai, Wake Forest’s learning management system.  Sakai will not be available during this time.

Previously created courses and sites and their content will be retained. Sakai will have new functionality as well as an updated look and feel. Upgrades include improved features to the Resources, Gradebook, and Section Info tools as well as major additions and improvements to Lessons (which is now turned on by default), Test and Quizzes, Profile 2, Forums and Messages.

Visit http://pprd.sakai.wfu.edu to preview the new look and feel. Note that this pre-production environment is only accessible on-campus or by VPN off-campus. More information about improvements, new features, and learning opportunities will be forthcoming. PDC classes will also be available.  We are sending this information now to help you plan for the upcoming semester.

If you have any questions, please contact Information Systems at help@wfu.edu or 336-758-4357.

The University has expanded the PAD (Public Access Defibrillator) program on campus. AED’s (Automated External Defibrillators) have been upgraded and installed in highly trafficked public areas for use in the event that a person in cardiac arrest may be helped immediately. There are 38 AEDs in various locations across campus.

Training has been provided on AED awareness to faculty and staff who work in a building that houses an AED.

CPR/AED Certification is being offered through the PDC for $45 fee. You will be asked to provide your budget code when you register. The 3.5 hour course prepares the layperson to respond to choking, breathing and cardiac emergencies and provides instruction on how to use an automated external defibrillator in conjunction with CPR.This National Safety Council course meets the current CPR and ECC guidelines using a combination of instructor, video-self-instruction and hands-on training.

The first class of several class sessions will be held on Thursday, May 22.

The Professional Development Center hosted representatives from higher education from across North America for the 4th Annual Professional and Organizational Development Conference. The event, held Feb. 16 – 18, was attended by 20 different universities. Participants attended sessions, networked and shared best practices related to staff and faculty development in higher education.

Session topics included:
· Successful Succession Planning
· Leadership Development Programs: Staying Fresh
· Online Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
· Partnering for Success
· Oh No. . . Not Another Boring New Employee Orientation!

Institutions in Attendance included: Bucknell, Case Western Reserve, Colorado College, Colorado State, Elon, Forsyth Technical Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, N.C. State, South Piedmont Community College, Texas A&M, University of Arkansas, University of Guelph, UNC (Chapel Hill), University of North Dakota, University of Richmond, University of South Carolina, University of Virginia, Wake Technical Community College, Wilfred Laurier University, Wor-Wic Community College

Spring 2014 Safe Zone training sessions are open for registration.

The Safe Zone program is an in-depth, interactive presentation designed to educate Wake Forest faculty, staff and students about the LGBTQ community. Anti-LGBTQ bias and prejudice affects all members of a community, and we all have the opportunity to work against it. Participants learn what it means to be an ally—a person who supports and stands up for the rights of LGBTQ people—as well as how to create a Safe Zone. Allies who have completed the training program will be given a Safe Zone sticker, identifiable to the entire campus, which may be displayed on the ally’s door to designate it as a safe place for all members of the community.

To sign up for a Safe Zone training session, register on the PDC website.

Available sessions:
Feb. 28, 2014 – 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
March 18, 2014 – 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
April 16, 2014 – 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Follow Wake Forest’s LGBTQ Center on Twitter @wfu_lgbtq

The Professional Development Center is offering several career development opportunities with approaching application deadlines. These programs were highlighted in the January 2014 Provost’s Newsletter.

Career Group Coaching

Planning one’s career can be empowering, yet daunting if the path is unclear. Career Group Coaching will help participants begin to envision and prepare for the next step of their careers. The group is limited to eight faculty and staff. Application deadline is February 14. Learn more about Career Group Coaching here.

Aspiring Leaders Program (ALP) Fall 2014

The ALP is a unique opportunity to develop a cohort of faculty and staff throughout the academic year. The program is geared towards faculty who may someday assume a leadership position (i.e. program director, center director or department chair), and staff with a minimum of five to seven years of professional experience who are new to leadership. Application deadline is March 7. Learn more about the Aspiring Leaders Program here.

Career Development for Women Leaders

The Office of Women in Medicine and Science’s (OWIMS) Leadership & Mentoring Program sponsors the Career Development for Women Leaders (CDWL) Program. The CDWL program is modeled after national programs for women in academic health sciences, is eight days and spans nine months, from September through May. Application deadline is March 7. This is a fee-based program. Visit the Career Development for Women Leaders website for more information about the program.

Leadership Winston-Salem

Leadership Winston-Salem is a 25-year-old program that provides a select group of professionals with the opportunity to learn about community leadership. In addition to Wake Forest being a long-time supporter of Leadership Winston-Salem, this opportunity blends well with the community building aspects of our Strategic Plan, as leaders are immersed into several facets of the Winston-Salem community. Learn more about Leadership Winston-Salem here.

Wake Forest now provides faculty, students and staff access to VoiceThread, a Web-based software that allows you to converse asynchronously around a document with voice or video. Commonly used for narrated PowerPoint presentations, VoiceThread is a highly flexible, collaborative environment for video, voice, images and common documents. VoiceThread presentations include narration using text, audio, or Webcam and the ability to allow others to view and comment.

Continue reading »

Jones, Lockhart, Griffin and Reitz

Five staff members have completed the necessary requirements for the CORE certification offered through the Professional Development Center (PDC). Recipients are: Tammy Griffin, Dean’s Office; Marc Jones, Facilities and Campus Services; Sheila Lockhart, Department of Religion; Jennifer Price, Facilities and Campus Services; Stephanie Reitz, Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society

CORE, which stands for “Cultivating our Organization to Realize Excellence,” was launched in September of 2011 as an outcome of the climate survey to offer more sustained developmental options for faculty and staff on campus. CORE is built around five competencies that are meaningful and relevant to the campus: communication, community, leadership, organizational acumen and personal progression.

The CORE Program allows participants to recognize personal and professional strengths that can be applied to better themselves and the campus community.

Learn more about the CORE curriculum here.

Follow @thepdc for the latest news on professional development at Wake Forest.

Ellis

Wake Forest recently was featured on an episode of “Hear It From a Peer” on the PeopleAdmin website. The episode was called “Collective Unity,” and it focused on organizational development in higher education.

Wake Forest’s Professional Development Center, which won CUPA-HR’s 2012 Innovation Award, was highlighted as an example of being a change agent that brought unity across departments and successful aligned them with the mission of the university.

Champlin

The summary said, “With professional development activities for both faculty and staff, WFU has been able market this through one location, thus generating a sense of community across the campus, and encouraging collaboration between departments.”

Featured from WFU were: Andrea Ellis, the director of recruitment and organizational development; and John Champlin, the manager of professional and leadership development.

See and hear the episode here »

The Office of Investments presents the first InvestConnect Speaker Series of the semester featuring Guggenheim Partners. The event will be Friday, Oct. 4, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Broyhill Auditorium of Farrell Hall, and it is open to students, faculty and staff. Because of Family Weekend, students’ relatives are also welcome to attend.

Through this series, the Office of Investments brings industry leaders to campus, providing a great opportunity to network and learn more about our speakers’ respective fields. Guggenheim Partners, a global financial services firm with more than $180 billion in assets under management, will be on campus to discuss various aspects of the investment industry, including portfolio management, client services and relations, business development, and marketing.

For those in attendance, there will be a raffle for four box-seat tickets to the WFU vs. N.C. State football game on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Click here to register: PDC Website