OD Corner: Quality Enhancement Planning Retreat a Success

On Thursday, September 18, the Quality Enhancement Team hosted its third, and last, Quality Enhancement Planning Retreat. Beginning with a delicious meal in the A-B Tech Cafe, attendees moved on to one of five training sessions designed to provide practical and useful "Invitational" information as follows:

Invitational Leadership - Deborah Lonon Target audience: Supervisory and Professional Staff

Invitational Advisement - Dr. Deborah Harmon Target audience: Full-time instructors

Invitational Teaching Tips from the NC Great Teachers Retreat - Heather Vaughn Target audience: Part-time instructors

Invitational Places - Carol Rovello and Paulette Brownlee Target audience: Plant Operations

Becoming Professionally and Personally Inviting - Pam Silvers Target audience: Office Professionals

Following these sessions, all college employees reconvened in Ferguson Auditorium to be greeted by President Bailey, and to hear presentations by Deborah Lonon, the Continuing Education Division and the Curriculum deans. Each of these talks was geared to providing needed information to all employees, since as the QEP Working Draft states, "By intentionally improving the information communicated to students and to each other as well as the process by which it is communicated, A-B Tech will become more invitational and increase opportunities for success."

As QEP Team Leader, Deborah's presentation focused on learning how to think invitationally by making an intentional effort to:

1) Become aware of and monitor our own perceptions

2) Step outside ourselves and observe our own behavior

3) Question how our words and actions become part and parcel of our larger vision of A-B Tech and the world!

This presentation stressed that, while no one can control how others react to or interpret our individual messages, the goal of "Invitational Education" is to take an inviting stance toward the messages we receive: to assume the best of intentions, or to politely question the messenger on intent (especially if that message has seemed "un-invitational.")

The day ended with a peer review session of Proposed QEP Objectives. Facilitated by QE Team members, 48 varied and wide-ranging objectives submitted by fourteen planning groups were reviewed and discussed prior to their presentation to the Leadership Team on Monday, September 22.

Next steps for the QEP:

October, 2003 - Leadership Team and President's Council approval

November, 2003 - Board of Trustees approval

January 12, 2004 - Submission of final Quality Enhancement Plan to Commission on Colleges.

April 20 - 22, 2004 - On-site Visit

Members of the On-Site Visit Committee met for the first time on September 19th to begin planning for this important step in the reaccreditation process. This committee, which has broad college representation, will plan and coordinate all aspects of the on-site visit. More information will be available as the planning progresses.

Please feel free to contact Deborah Lonon (ext. 339) and Carol Rovello (ext. 178) with any questions or comments concerning the Compliance/QEP Process or the Retreat.

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A-B Tech Welcomes A New Employee

Barbara Brownsmith is the Coordinator of Basic Skills for Continuing Education. She received her B.S. from the University of Nebraska and M.S. from Ohio State University. She was a classroom teacher for grades 2 - 6 as well as a literacy mentor, staff developer, and grant coodinator for the Oak Grove school district in San Jose, CA. She is happy to be working at A-B Tech with people "who are passionate about meeting the needs of adult learners."

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Campus Connection Correction

In the September issue of Tech Talk, it was mistakenly reported that the Madison Site enrollment was at 215. That is the total for curriculum students only. The total enrollment for Fall semester for the entire campus including Continuing Education is 358 students. Registration for Continuing Education is still in progress.

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