Making a Professional Move
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 8:35am — Yvonne Clark
I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be leaving Penn State and moving into a new, adminstrative position on April 1. My new job is at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Juniata is a small liberal arts college with a great reputation for delivering quality education. As the Assistant Director of Instructional Technology I will be helping faculty, students, and staff apply the use of technology to their teaching, learning, and administrative tasks. Although I am excited about the challenges of my new position, I am also sad to be leaving Penn State and all of the people I have had the opportunity to work with and know over the years.
Juniata College doesn't use a Web-based desktop video conferencing system yet, so I'm not sure how active I will be in this Penn State Adobe Connect community after April 1. Even without my active presence, I know this community will continue to grow and you all will continue to use this venue to support each other in your uses of Adobe Connect.
I wish all of you the best and happy Adobe Connecting!
Yvonne
It's been a while since you
It's been a while since you wrote this. I'd love to see you come back and give us an update on your new position. How is it going for you? :)
Angela
Backlinks
It's Definitely a Different Experience
Hello!
Thanks for asking how things are going here! Working at Juniata College is definitely a different experience from working at Penn State. So far the experience has been incredibly valuable. The campus is small and everybody knows everybody else. The economy is tight and times are pretty difficult financially. Having never attended or worked for a small liberal arts college before, the difference in culture between Penn State and Juniata College caught me by surprise. You would think that being small would make it easier for Juniata College (than for Penn State) to change and adapt to new circumstances, new technologies, shifts in the market, etc, but it doesn't. Tradition and culture are much stronger deterrents to change and progress than one might think.
My job here is probably more like that of an Instructional Designer at one of Penn State's campuses. I work with everyone -- from faculty to staff to administrators. In the same day I might attend a College level meeting on retention and the first-year experience in the morning and in the afternoon teach a workshop for staff assistants on the basics of Windows XP and how to manage and organize files.
At the beginning of the month I had my first opportunity to address the faculty Scholarship of Teaching and Learning group where I introduced the concept of blending technology with instruction to extend the reach of the classroom and encourage students to spend more time working with course materials to improve learning. I am also working on a plan for upgrading the course management system, Moodle, and creating workshop materials for faculty workshops for the new version that will be offered in January and February.
Right now I'm really looking forward to the Thanksgiving break!
Yvonne
Assistant Director of Instructional Technology
Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA