Western Regional Center

NC-NET’s Western Regional Center is led by Southwestern Community College in Sylva. The center is responsible for leading the development of Teaching and Learning as well as Career and Personal Development resources.

Spring 2010 Professional Development Seminars

Legal Issues in Higher Education
A lecture and question-and-answer session with Dr. D. Parker Young

Wednesday, February 24, 2:00 p.m.
Southwestern Community College
Balsam Center, Myers Auditorium

This seminar is designed for college employees at all levels of the institution and is free to North Carolina community college personnel. The first 100 attendees will receive a free copy of the book Contemporary Issues in Higher Education Law, a $115 value.

Topics will include:

Dr. D. Parker Young serves as professor Emeritus of Higher Education in the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. Well-known in the field of higher education law, Dr. Young was honored by the Association for Student Judicial Affairs with an award in his name recognizing the outstanding scholarly contributions of individuals in the area of higher education law and judicial affairs.

Dr. Young is the author of many books, monographs, articles and other publications in the area of higher education law and served as contributing and consulting editor for several publications including The College Student and the Courts and The College Administrator and the Courts, in addition to serving as a columnist on legal issues for the National Association of Academic Affairs Newsletter.

To ask questions or request additional information about the seminar, please contact Betsy Clayton at b_clayton@southwesterncc.edu.

Directions to Southwestern can be found at: http://www.southwesterncc.edu/centers/jackson.htm.

Writing Their Way to Deeper Learning: Using Brief, Engaging Assignments to Strengthen Student Achievement

Friday, March 5, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Southwestern Community College
Jackson Campus, Bradford Hall 106

Presenter: Chris Anson, University Distinguished Professor of English and Director of Campus Writing and Speaking Program, North Carolina State University

In this interactive session, participants will explore ways to design, support, and evaluate effective, learning-based writing assignments in all disciplines and weave them into their courses to enhance student engagement—without adding significantly to the time they spend on their teaching.

Social Media Tools for Higher Education

Friday, April 9, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Southwestern Community College
Jackson Campus, Bradford Hall 100

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Open & Collaborative Learning: How Social Networks Can Transform Education
Presenter: Alec Couros, Professor of Educational Technology and Media, Coordinator of Information and Communications Technology, University of Regina

This session will help educators understand how to use and take advantage of the educational potential offered by the tools of connectivity.

1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Join the Conversation: Social Media in Higher Education
Presenter: Mark Greenfield, Director, Office of Web Services, University at Buffalo - State University of New York

This presentation will provide an in-depth look at how higher educational institutions can leverage the full power and potential of social media. In addition to examining the many advantages of social media and an analysis of the current tools available, strategies and tactics will be provided to reach institutional objectives and mitigate risk.

The following video from the Western Regional Center's 2006 Teaching and Learning Conference requires the use of Real Player™. (If you do not have Real Player™ installed on your computer, please click here to download a free copy.)

The NC-NET team at Southwestern has developed three self-paced online courses for community college educators, Best Practices in Teaching and Learning for the Community College Classroom, Leadership Development for the Community College Educator, and Writing Across the Curriculum.

All self-paced modules can be accessed through the NC-NET Blackboard server. Log in with the user name faculty and the password nc-net. Once connected, you can view the courses by topic or alphabetically by title.

For more information about the Western Regional Center and its activities, contact:

Barb Putman
Western Regional Center Director
Southwestern Community College
447 College Drive
Sylva, NC 28779
E-mail: BPutman@southwesterncc.edu