On March 10, 79 faculty and staff attended the Faculty Retreat titled “Creating Community Across Differences” at Chandler’s Chophouse led by four facilitators from the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges.
- Jennifer Whetham, Program Administrator Faculty Development, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
- Sally Heilstedt, Associate Dean of Instruction, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
- Bevyn Rowland, Tenured Faculty Psychologist, Counselor, and Professor, Clark College
- Christie Knighton, Tenured Faculty, Basic Education for Adults, Highline College
The day began with an ice-breaker that had participants introducing themselves with one of six adjectives. The first three adjectives described how they felt when they are not valued: “Hi, I am lonesome” or “Hi, I am rejected” followed by one of three adjectives that described how they felt when they feel valued: “Hi, I’m Validated” or “Hi, I’m Curious.” One participant said in his or her comments that the ice breaker “was powerful-a full frontal expression of the feelings we all have when we don’t feel valued.”
The rest of the morning was devoted to learning about how trust is manifested and sustained in an organization and group discussions allowed participants to discuss the “3 Domains of Trust.” Sally Heilstedt covered the 4 Connections, a series of high-impact teaching practices that have been proven to increase student retention. The afternoon break-out sessions allowed participants to delve deeper into topics that were presented during the morning.
Here is just some of the feedback we received from the retreat:
