What ideas are exciting you lately? Anything you want to learn? Anything our campus should be talking more about? Don’t hold back … your ideas could turn into reality. The VCCS offers two types of professional development grants for projects you would like to see happen in Spring 2019: The Paul Lee Professional Development Grant, which awards up to 8 credits of time and $5,000 in expenses. (Open to all full-time and adjunct faculty.) The Paul Lee Workshop Mini-Grant, with a maximum award of $1,500. (Open to all VCCS employees, including adjunct faculty and classified staff.) The deadline for applications is Saturday, Sept. 15. The VCCS suggests the following topics to get your ideas percolating: Initiatives to enhance student success Discipline-specific projects Information literacy Faculty learning communities Student learning communities Initiatives enhancing the use of technology in teaching and learning Best practices in global awareness Pedagogy Leadership development Developmental education Alternative evaluation systems To review the online application and learn more about these grants, go to https://opd.vccs.edu/awards/grants/ I have also blogged about one idea up for grabs … and the differences between the Paul Lee grants here. The grants office would be happy to talk through you ideas. Please note… Continue Reading Paul Lee professional development grants due Sept. 15Read More
Back in March, when a state grant paid to bring Diane Mulcahy to Virginia Western to speak about the gig economy, I had the good fortune to be seated right next to the author during our group lunch at Cedars in downtown Roanoke. I asked Mulcahy which schools were doing it right — who was truly empowering students for this entrepreneurial, gig economy. She immediately pointed to Northeastern University in Boston, which distinguishes itself with the “Northeastern Experience” — a longstanding experiential learning program that includes supervised co-ops, research and study abroad opportunities. Somewhat serendipitously, I learned the president of Northeastern, Joseph Aoun — had recently published his own book: “Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” I immediately ordered “Robot-Proof” — but I have to be honest. I was motivated to read this book mostly because of my role as a parent to a rising kindergartener. Why? The author mentions the same World Economic Forum statistic that rattles me as a mom who has obsessed about schooling options since before my daughter was born: 65% of children entering primary school today will eventually work in jobs that don’t exist yet. How do we know what skills to… Continue Reading How might we design a “robot-proof” education?Read More
During the summer after I graduated from George Mason University — almost 20 years ago — I remember buying exactly three books to signify my passage into adulthood. I was wise enough to know that my new bachelor’s degree did not address some important life skills, like cooking and managing money. One of those books was “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties” by Beth Kobliner — a book that prompted me to make small sacrifices (i.e., no cable TV) in order to pay off my student loans quickly while also taking advantage of my employer’s 401(K) match early in my career. I’m grateful for reading that book, but now I wish I had read another title that summer: “Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence,” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. This bestseller was originally released in 1992 … and I just read the revised edition for 2018. The book emphasizes frugality — but in a much more meaningful way than “The Millionaire Next Door,” the 1996 bestseller that I read for the first time last week. Not only will “Your Money or Your Life”… Continue Reading The money book I wish I read in collegeRead More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
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