MEGHAN GUATTERY
Special to The Leader
With just a glance at the academic calendar, many people have noticed an extra day off from classes on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Labeled simply as “Professional Development Day,” this day off has left much of the campus wondering what it is and why it is on the calendar to begin with.
“This has been in the works for about five years,” said Fredonia President Virginia Horvath. “The Calendar Committee wanted to build a day into the calendar so that both faculty and staff would be free to have a day to come together.”
A chance for the betterment of Fredonia’s faculty and staff as a whole, Professional Development Day will consist of workshops, meetings and presentations focused on the idea of helping students succeed.
However, some people are skeptical if taking away a day of education is really of much benefit to the students.
“I think that the nature of the academic year makes reflection and the sharing of resources among our faculty and staff a bit of a challenge,” said Dr. Bond Benton, assistant professor of communication. “We’re all so busy getting our content in, grading, doing research and service on campus. We have all of these people here who can share so much with each other. I think it’s wonderful that we’ll have an opportunity to do so. That knowledge will undoubtedly make for better classes and better student experience.”
In addition to the programs being held for faculty and staff, programs for students will also be available in the afternoon.
“This is the first Professional Development Day we have done at Fredonia,” said Dawn Eckenrode, Director of the Professional Development Center. “We are really excited to bring this opportunity to our faculty, staff and students. Our theme for the year is ‘Framing the Future: Teaching, Learning, Advancing.’ We will have a keynote speaker and local campus experts give presentations on topics related to ways we can help our students succeed and retain the things we teach them.”
Along with Benton, the presenting Fredonia faculty and staff include Provost of Academic Affairs Dr. Terry Brown, criminal justice professor Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton, as well as many others.
Benton, alongside Peterka-Benton, will be presenting a session on international and intercultural students and education.
“I think [the presentation] can help people better understand how the college experience is conceived of differently in different cultures and countries,” said Benton. “For example, some cultures see college as an experience where experts lecture on a topic. The interactive nature of American higher education can be a tough adjustment.”
In the Fall of 2013, 2.6% of Fredonia’s student population were international students.
“I think that many professors are very proficient in dealing with international students,” said Bond. “We have a wealth of international experience at Fredonia. I think that experience can be leveraged in a way that helps international students have an even better experience on campus. I also think that more dialogue can help people with less experience with international students better understand their unique needs.”
Dr. Roxanne Cullen, the keynote speaker, is a Professor of English at Ferris State University. She has co-authored two books that focus on learner-centered education, one of the several larger topics that will be discussed during Professional Development Day.
Cullen will be giving the first morning presentation, titled “Transformative Learning Experiences by Design.”
“We are really going to focus on what we could all be doing that would help our students,” said Horvath. “We will look at how to design things, be it in student affairs, residence halls, or a classroom, to help students learn and retain the things that we teach them.”
Students should note that there may be limited services available for some campus offices on Professional Development Day.