Home » Annual Conference Gives Visiting Faculty and Directors of Off-Campus Study Programs Access to Resources and Expertise

Annual Conference Gives Visiting Faculty and Directors of Off-Campus Study Programs Access to Resources and Expertise

Annual Conference Gives Visiting Faculty and Directors of Off-Campus Study Programs Access to Resources and Expertise June 9, 2011

ACM off-campus study program staff from around the world will gather on June 13-15 in Chicago for the annual Program Directors Conference. It is an opportunity “replenish the toolbox” by sharing insights, techniques, and resources, according to Carol Dickerman, ACM’s Director of International Study Programs.

Directors of off-campus program may feel a bit isolated, Dickerman noted, and the conference is designed to provide access to types of resources and expertise that are available on ACM campuses, but often are not available to directors and faculty on off-campus study programs.

Participants will include college faculty who will serve as visiting faculty and directors during the 2011-12 academic year, as well as resident directors and staff of off campus study programs in Botswana, Costa Rica, India, Italy, Japan, Tanzania, the U.K., and the U.S.

Along with discussions among the conference participants and ACM consortial staff, the agenda features two workshops led by outside experts.

William Divane, Senior Associate Dean of Students and Director of Health & Wellness at Lake Forest College, will lead a workshop on health and wellness on off-campus programs, with an emphasis on health concerns most likely to arise at the ACM program locations.

William DivaneWilliam Divane

A Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Divane received his doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology-Chicago. He has worked in high school and college mental health and university counseling services in Idaho, Montana, Michigan, and Illinois, and his clinical experience includes work with a variety of multicultural populations.

Divane will talk about “how certain sorts of crises or emergencies are seen and responded to on campus,” Dickerman said, “and give [the program directors] some of the skills and tools that they might need to help them to assess a situation and figure out an appropriate response.”

Amy RileyAmy Riley

A workshop on managing and communicating, led by consultant Amy Riley, will focus on ways to build effective working relationships with staff and colleagues abroad. The aim is to help the program directors become more effective and efficient in the managerial aspects of their work so they have more time to concentrate on teaching, said Dickerman.

Riley, the founder of the Shoop Consulting Group, earned a Masters of Science in Training and Development (MSTD), with an emphasis in Organization Development (OD), from Loyola University in Chicago. Her clients include a wide range of companies, organizations, and entrepreneurs.

Another session will be devoted to gathering resources related to guiding students in their independent research projects, an important component in the curriculum of many of the ACM programs. Resources could include course syllabi, samples of students’ research proposals, or bibliographies of useful articles.

“Our goal is to put up an online space where faculty directors can post materials and work together,” Dickerman said. “A director may have hit upon a particularly good way to do something, and having a way to share that with other directors is useful. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel at every program site or every semester.”

Program directors and visiting faculty participating in the conference include:

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