Author: Karen Brennan

The Professional Development Subcommittee of the PCDA wants to know about the development work you and your colleagues are doing related to diversity and inclusion—and what opportunities you’d like to see.

This information will help the subcommittee identify current areas of interest and need related to diversity and inclusion programming, as well as identify barriers related to participation and access for upcoming offerings.

Take the survey here: https://forms.office.com/r/6S0xdSKhag

All responses are anonymous and this is an open form that can be accessed to communicate with the committee on your own time.  

Being a part of ACM and WAICU has many advantages. Summits, conferences and workshops available through their virtual portals allow staff and faculty to find what fits their needs, interests, and areas of challenge. By coming outside of one’s comfort zone and doing a professional ‘gut-check’, we allow ourselves to leave our silos and find deeper meaning in areas that need regular refreshing. Addressing trends within and beyond ACM and WAICU, Lawrence staff and faculty are encouraged to explore professional development avenues that foster an environment of inclusivity, and engage their findings through their everyday work.

As stewards of the university and its students, we can hold each other respectfully accountable for advancing this necessary work. As we do so, we collectively merge toward a single pathway of success that is lined with engaged scholarship, student retention, global citizenship, belonging and purpose, progress to degree, and lifelong learning development, while also creating social and professional insight. Check out just a few options from ACM and partners.

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE MENTORSHIP (ACM)
Date & Time: Thursday, February 25, 4:00 – 5:30 pm (CT)

GRANT FUNDED OPPORTUNITIES:

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS (ACM)
Diversifying Pedagogy
Cultural Taxation
Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure
Names and Commemorations

First-year experience – March 2021 (WAICU)
Discussion Session:  Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Central

Lawrence employees can take part in an upcoming webinar that will explore strategies to prevent behaviors that interfere with the ability to work with people who are different than themselves. Participants will learn how perceptions, assumptions and biases develop and how they impact responses.

The webinar is available through the Employee Assistance Program, ERC.

Succeed at Work: Diversity in the Workplace – December 17th from 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Username: ERC
Password: ERC

Webinars available through the student affairs association ACPA College Student Educators International contribute in interesting ways to bettering the student life experience. Educators, staff and administrators alike can benefit from the offerings of this professional organization. By reviewing the webinar “Super Womxnhood: Debunking Notions of Perfection for Womxn of Color”, it is through this lens that we can get a glimpse of perceptions and expectations that exist all around us.

Additionally, through first hand accounts and researched findings, we are offered an opportunity to look more closely views and ideas that inform those expectations. Through examination of our own practices, biases, allowances and experiences, we find greater opportunities for the alignment of ideas and performance.

This webinar has a fee of $10. Interested participants can register here.

As a part of developing professionally, the urge to stay in the silos that feel comfortable can be a quick way to stunt progress. Upwardly, laterally, or into new paths, it’s important to be nimble and informed of the working details and specifics of a modern workplace. The ideas may be presented on topics one feels knowledgeable about. The manner of the presentation may be inconvenient or disruptive to how things ‘have always been done’. You may feel resistant to the messaging.

Consider checking yourself in those moments.

Ask yourself why you aren’t more conscious or aware of the concepts being presented, and begin to unpack the sources of those ideas. Sound logic can carry your professional development further than emotion can, and with no loss of passion within your own role.

At all levels of campus, we as staff, faculty and students are being encouraged to create inclusive and brave spaces for all people, and with attention to BIPOC or other marginalized communities. We invite you to review the series of webinars being presented by the ACM, and begin to explore the concept of Professional Development as you look through the lens of Diversity and Inclusion. This series of 8 webinars are available to faculty and staff, touch on a variety of campus issues.

Workshops have already begun and are scheduled for every fourth Thursday of the month from 4:00 – 5:30p.m. (CT). Sessions will be recorded and made available on the ACM page within a week of the session. Alternative dates will be identified for November (Thanksgiving) and December (Winter Break).

https://www.acm.edu/diversity/Commitment_to_Anti_Racism/Professional_Development.html

As a continued resource to connect the bridges of professional development and increased understanding of diverse populations, the Leading With Diversity blog seeks to bring opportunities from beyond the Lawrence scope with the intention to broaden perspectives and increase awareness of professional interdependence in diverse communities. As we engage in higher education and beyond, we steward ourselves and our associated populations toward greater competencies overall.
Please visit this blog-space for sharable resources as you seek to broaden your own perspectives.

Forging ahead with new opportunities, consider this Equity in the Classroom live webinar series presented by WAICU as an opportunity to better understand the strategies and stories of today’s diverse learning environments. The webinar series has a set of three dates with varying topics, beginning on November 4th. Webinars may be viewed individually or as participants are available.