Supported by the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Professional Development Program at HCC has two main goals: to increase student success by enhancing the professional growth of faculty and staff, and to maintain a collaborative campus climate that fosters excellence, expertise, and equity among faculty and staff at every stage of their careers. For further information, call the Professional Development Office at (413) 552-2721.

Good Talk About Good Teaching
This semester-long orientation program is designed to introduce new full-time faculty to the culture of HCC, develop their classroom skills, improve teaching and learning, and foster the habit of reflective practice that is vital to the profession.

International Programs for Faculty and Professional Staff
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, provides summer study and travel seminars abroad for U.S. educators and administrators in the social sciences and humanities for the purpose of improving their knowledge of the people and cultures of other countries. http://www.ed.gov/print/programs/iegpssap/index.html.

The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries, and to promote leadership development. The Fulbright Scholar Program, offered through the U.S. Department of State and sponsored by the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, offers grants to U.S. faculty, administrators, and professionals to study, teach, or conduct research in over 155 countries worldwide. http://www.cies.org/

Professional Development Day
On HCC’s annual Professional Development Day, all day classes are cancelled, so faculty and staff can attend a variety of workshops and presentations focused on a particular theme. Professional Development Day for 2010 will be held on April 21.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Seminar (SoTL)
Facilitated by senior faculty, SoTL is a three-semester, peer-reviewed seminar devoted to scholarly research into some aspect of higher education, followed by planning, implementation, and assessment of a project designed to improve student learning.

Statewide Teaching, Learning, and Student Development Conference
The annual conference, sponsored jointly by the community colleges in the Massachusetts system, will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010 at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. The theme this year is “Student Success in the Era of Sustainability, the Digital Campus, and the New Culture of Student Engagement.” The keynote speaker is Elizabeth Kolbert, journalist and author of Field Notes From a Catastrophe. http://www.bhcc.edu/conference

The Teaching Academy
Offered in summer and in January, and facilitated by senior faculty, this twenty-hour, collaborative, brick-and-click workshop is designed to integrate adjunct faculty into the HCC professional community, to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and to demonstrate classroom practices that focus on the improvement of student learning. The online component, “Getting Results” is available at http://www.league.org/gettingresults/web