By Andy Sokolich, OCPA Assistant Treasurer/Student Success Specialist at Cuyahoga Community College - Eastern Campus
As the Assistant Treasurer, I originally intended to write a piece about departmental and institutional professional development budgeting practices as we prepare to close out the current fiscal year and plan for the next. Given the overall sense of uncertainty (and boarder-line taboo) surrounding budgeting for next year, I felt it more pertinent to focus on what we can do with the remaining funding available and how to use limited resources moving forward.
Institutional responses to COVID-19 have varied greatly; some institutions are spending down their funding prior to the end of the year, and others are making dramatic cuts to protect against future reduced budgets. No matter the situation in which you find yourself, I had some ideas to share about what we can do to keep ourselves sharp as we continue to forge new paths this summer:
- Keep current on the OCPA Newsletter for upcoming free and low-cost professional development opportunities. (And check out the OCPA virtual opportunities coming up!)
- Finally get into that stack of books sitting on the corner of your desk that were reserved for Winter and Spring Breaks past…that we never got around to reading.
- Read up on some current best practices: ACUHO-I’s Talking Stick, NACA’s Campus Activities Programming Magazine, ACPA’s Developments, and more! Many of these are free to non-members.
- Do a deeper dive into some scholarly literature in one of our many active professional journals, including OCPA’s Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education! Even if you are not a member, you may still be able to access the journals through your institution’s library portal.
- Catch some great webinars floating around the internet. I often find some through higher education/student affairs affinity Facebook pages, as well as through many of the listservs I read during down time.
- Share your own experiences and expertise! There are resources abound for scholarly-practitioner writing, and many of the aforementioned publications are accepting submissions from professionals of all levels.
Even though some of these may seem to be repetitive or common sense, I find the reminders of the simple things helpful; sometimes we tend to get so overwhelmed and bogged down by the bigger things we forget the obvious solutions right in front of us.
In conclusion, professional development is important, but it is not all that matters. The resources I named above are just a few of the many ways that you can remain engaged in your own learning, but we must also work as a profession to take care of ourselves in whatever way possible. Remember to take time for you, your families, and do what you need to stay healthy, safe, and be well.