The Daily Bulletin Archive

A professional development initiative to support members of the campus community was developed in the past year. Emphasis is in three primary areas.

• The development of faculty as teachers, scholars, and professionals.
• Organizational development to maximize institutional effectiveness and provide for staff and administrator development.
• The development of innovative instructional processes and modalities.

The initiative, modeled after best practices of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, received funding from the Buffalo State Investments in the Future allocation process. One position was created, assistant to the provost for professional development, and was nationally searched. The search committee, composed of the following members, reviewed numerous applications.

Robert Barone, Computer Information Systems
Ricky Fleming, Music
Scott Johnson, University College (co-chair)
Howard Reid, Psychology
Camille Spyra, E. H. Butler Library
Kathy Wood, Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education (co-chair)
Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, Career Development Center

Kevin Railey, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, served as administrative liaison to the committee.

No suitable candidates were identified for campus interviews and the appointment. In checking with trends nationally, it became apparent that qualified individuals to lead a comprehensive professional development initiative, such as that envisioned for Buffalo State, are difficult to find. This suggests a repeat search may again be unsuccessful.

Members of the search committee provided some excellent suggestions to advance professional development initiatives at Buffalo State. These include:

• Conduct an internal search to identify a member of the faculty for a 0.5 FTE commitment to lead faculty development efforts, especially in relation to teaching skills and instructional modalities.
• Conduct an internal search to identify a member of the professional staff for a 0.5 FTE commitment to lead staff development efforts, especially in relation to staff orientation, mentoring, and professional advancement.

I concur with the committee’s recommendations. Creation of position descriptions for internal searches is under way. The intent is to conduct internal searches so appointments can be made as soon as possible. Appointments will occur through replacement of one-half (0.5 FTE) of the appointees’ responsibilities. Appointments will be effective through the spring 2010 semester. At that time, the campus will decide to resume a search for one leadership position for professional development or continue in another way.

Priority recommendations from the search committee are to identify a faculty member and a staff member to give leadership on a half-time basis to professional development for the respective constituencies. Additional committee recommendations to be pursued include:

• Create a professional development advisory committee with membership to include colleagues now guiding specific development efforts such as CASTL and service learning.
• Establish initiatives to support development of adjunct faculty, department chairs, and directors.