Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post comes from one of the participants in the inaugural Chancellor’s Developmental Education Institute. Reforming developmental education is a priority of Virginia’s Community Colleges and this new institute is among the many strategies being pursued in that effort.

Dressed in matching yellow shirts, 45-50 developmental educators from Virginia community colleges stood on the steps of Berry Hill plantation to have their picture made with Chancellor Glenn Dubois. 

The first Chancellor’s Developmental Education Institute took place June 12th-17th at the remote but gracious plantation home built in 1728.

Representatives of math and English instructors from each of the colleges in the VCCS worked together to learn about developmental education from the faculty of the National Center for Developmental Education (NCDE) in Boone, NC.  Dr. Hunter R. Boylan, Director of the NCDE, Dr. Barbara Bonham, Dr. Amy Trawick, Dr. Patrick Saxon, and Ms. Barbara Calderwood spent the week sharing their expertise about developmental education.

The week began with an introductory session with Gretchen Schmidt giving an overview of the week.  This was followed by a reception hosted by Danville Community College’s Education Foundation. 

The next day, sleeves were rolled up and the work began. Tuesday, Chancellor Dubois gave an overview of his plan for creating a cadre of developmental educators who would go back to home campuses to teach others.  He gave kudos to Dr. Gretchen Schmidt whose vision for the institute led to this week’s events.
 

The faculty from the NCDE gave a daunting amount of material on learning outcomes, integrating academic and support services, instructional design, and culturally responsive teaching.  Each participant was registered for a subscription to the Journal of Developmental Education and Research in Developmental Education (RIDE) to keep updated about new strategies for working with developmental students. 

Dr. Susan Wood gave remarks at a closing reception hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) which ended the four days of hard work.  On Friday each participant gave an overview of professional development projects he/she was preparing to present on home campuses. 
 

The food was wonderful; the rooms were luxurious; the hotel staff was accommodating to a fault.  Paulette Yates is to be commended for all of her hard work bringing it all together. This “working vacation” brought together educators with a common goal – to become the best in the field of developmental education to better serve our students and demonstrate that developmental education is worthy of being recognized as a discipline in its own right.
 

Thank you, Dr. DuBois, for making this possible!

Posted by Laura Powell
Associate Professor
Danville Community College