CCBC Debuts Online Professional Development

For the first time in the college's history, CCBC is offering Professional Development Training on the Web! The new course is called "Online Training for Search Specialists and Hiring Supervisors" and will train faculty and staff to be effective search specialists or members of a search committee.

"Very few colleges in the country - if any - have anything like this that deals with hiring people," said Judy Snyder, director of Institutional Equity and Organizational Development. The course, which was developed by Snyder, was two years in the making.

This self-paced, online training includes determining criteria, effective and legal interviewing, understanding Affirmative Action and more. The first section of the training contains a self-assessment so participants can determine where to spend the most time in refreshing their knowledge and skills. Many templates, exercises and examples were developed just for this course. Once completed, the course will be a desktop resource that search specialists can revisit online anytime and anyplace.

Because this class is a new concept, Snyder has been invited to present at the national conference of the National Council for Staff, Program and Organizational Development in October.

"Taking a course over the Web gives you immediate access to the most recent CCBC policies, procedural information and legal opinions related to the hiring process," said Snyder. "Course bulletin boards can also provide a means for search specialists to share knowledge gained during searches with others."

An Open House for the course was held in June at CCBC Catonsville. Additional sessions were offered in August at the Dundalk and Essex campuses. The full day Search Specialist Training, which is a pre-requisite for the online course, was held in August at CCBC Dundalk and will be repeated in November.

For more information, call Judith P. Snyder at 443-840-5263.