BY AMELIA POSSANZA

In print | Published January 21, 2010

While Swarthmore students were enjoying their last week of winter break, members of the Swarthmore staff attended the first annual Staff Development Week. The three-day program ran from Jan. 12 to 14 and brought a series of learning opportunities to staff members.

“The idea was born out of a desire for staff to have a good development opportunity as well as the idea that it would be great to learn from one another and capitalize on the resources we have in our community,” said Melanie Young, vice president of human resources and a member of the SDW Planning Group.

The planning group put out an open call for proposals for sessions and got a large and varied response. As a result, members of the Swarthmore community ranging from English professor Peter Schmidt to Registrar Martin Warner to Assistant Dean for Residential Life Rachel Head shared their knowledge in a variety of sessions dealing with topics ranging from “One-Pot Meals” to “Postural Integrity at the Computer.”

Human Resources Coordinator Janis Leone attended a session entitled “I Didn’t Know I Could Do That In Excel.” “It was really helpful,” she said. “I walked away with quite a bit of information. I came back and used it right away.”

Staff from all areas of the college attended the sessions. Young estimated that general sessions attracted more than 100 participants and several of the specialized sessions, maxed out at 40 people, were full.

In addition to offering staff the chance to learn from one another, the week also provided participants with the opportunity to share their passions and show off their talents with the employee showcase.
“What I liked personally was they had employees showing their wares there,” Leone said. “You never would have known otherwise.”

Jeff Lott, Editor of the Swarthmore Bulletin, and his son Mike shared digital astrophotos and their love of astronomy. Other showcase exhibits included knitted pieces, photographs and music CDs.

The program was inspired by a similar one begun five years ago by the human resources director at Colgate University, where current president Rebecca Chopp formerly served. Swarthmore College’s human resources department is a member of a consortium with five other institutions, including Colgate. It is through this group that the idea got passed along to the college.

“It was a wonderful mixing of community members that wouldn’t normally take place,” said Sharmaine LaMar, equal opportunity officer and chair of the planning group. “We already have some ideas for next time around.”

The planning group is currently conducting a survey of attendees and other staff members to determine what changes to make to the program and how often to run it. Some small changes, such as offering nametags to all participants instead of just session leaders, are already apparent.

“It was a typical Swarthmore staff experience,” Young said. “Whenever we need people to work on stuff, people volunteer and they throw their weight into it, and it always goes well.”

« RETURN TO NEWS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »