The Grove | Valencia College

Connecting Faculty to the Workplace

Sep

3

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Applications are now being accepted for the 2013-14 Focus on the Workplace – a unique faculty development opportunity.

Are you a full-time faculty member who has been teaching for five, 10, or even 15 years and feel out of touch with today’s workplace? Are you looking for new ways to enhance the teaching and learning that takes place in your classroom? If so, then Focus on the Workplace is for you! Take advantage of this great opportunity to participate in one of Valencia’s most unique and exciting faculty development programs. For more information about the program, please click here or visit the website.

“I have new insight into the world of business, and I’m eager to share this information with my students.” -Teresa Nater, Professor of English

Focus on the Workplace is an enterprising faculty development activity which enables you to observe, work and learn in an exciting business environment for up to six weeks during the summer. It is an excellent opportunity to get out of the classroom and gain first-hand knowledge about the current job market, stay up-to-date on future trends and technological advances related to your field, gain a better understanding about the needs and dynamics of today’s workplace and get a different outlook and a new perspective on what you teach in the classroom.

Faculty who participate in this program return to the classroom refreshed and invigorated with real world applications that better connect classroom learning to the workplace.

All full-time, tenure or tenure-track faculty are eligible to participate with your Dean’s approval. You will be released from two, three credit hour classes to work with an organization or business during summer Term A, and spend six full weeks in the workplace. We will pay for an adjunct to teach your classes while you are in the workplace, and we will assist you in finding a worksite.

Please click here for an application. The deadline to apply for this year’s program is Friday, October 25, 2013. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this unique program – limited spaces are available!

For questions, contact LeSena Jones, manager of career and workforce education at lljones@valenciacollege.edu or at extension 3344.

Faculty Testimonial

Why should you participate in the Focus on the Workplace program? Good question! The better question is this one: Why shouldn’t you? It’s a fantastic opportunity to leave the cocoon of Valencia and morph into a more glorious you.  You will turn into a staff member, administrator, or instructor with a clearer view of today’s changing world. I know this firsthand, for I have participated in Focus four times thus far, and look forward to my fifth exotic journey. My first stint was at the Universal Studios theme park, many years ago, where I learned about the inner workings of large Human Resources departments. Three years later, at the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, I became Brenda Starr the reporter for six weeks, while at WFTV News Channel 9, I shadowed reporter George Spencer as he began his take down on the illegal gambling halls in Seminole County. I’ve just finished six weeks at the J.W. Marriott/Ritz-Carlton resorts, where the mystique of creating a five star resort experience was laid open for me. Tucked back into my cozy office at Valencia, I have new insight into the world of business, and I’m eager to share this information with my students. Now if I can just get these giant butterfly wings through my office doorway!

-Teresa Nater, Professor of English, Osceola Campus

Related Tags: faculty development, focus on the workplace