Professional Development Day Draws Record Turnout
For the past four years, Professional Development Day has given staff members an opportunity to build skills and network. On June 9, nearly 300 participants received the same benefit, albeit from a distance, making it the largest turnout in the event鈥檚 history.
Zandra D. Rawlinson, EdD, associate director of training and development at the University of Baltimore, (second from top), leads a session on emotional intelligence during Professional Development Day.
Professional Development Day was held virtually for the first time to keep in line with safety measures instituted due to the coronavirus pandemic preventing large gatherings. With so many of UMB鈥檚 employees teleworking since mid-March, it attracted a large, remote audience.
鈥淭his will be, of course, our first year that we鈥檙e doing it virtually,鈥� said Mark A. Emmel, MAS, SPHR, director, organization and employee development, opening this year鈥檚 program on the Webex virtual conferencing platform. 鈥淚 may just sort of ask your patience a little bit as we work through the technology. It鈥檚 really new for all of us and there might be some bumps along the way but that鈥檚 OK.鈥�
Matt Lasecki, SPHR, associate vice president and chief human resources officer, said the large attendance 鈥渟ays a lot about the resilience and the ability of people at UMB to adapt to change and thrive in challenging environments.鈥�
This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淟iving the Core Values,鈥� centered on UMB鈥檚 seven core values: accountability, civility, collaboration, diversity, excellence, knowledge, and leadership. The program is co-sponsored by Human Resource Services and the UMB Staff Senate.
The day began with welcoming remarks by UMB Interim President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS.
鈥淭hanks for being here, and thanks for being on our first-ever virtual Professional Development Day,鈥� Jarrell said. 鈥淥bviously, it shows you have a strong appetite for learning, to get new skills and make new connections. If there鈥檚 anything I鈥檝e learned, it鈥檚 that learning new skills and making new connections go a long way in getting you to where you want to end up in life. I wish I could be there with you all in person. I鈥檓 glad that we can do it safely this way.鈥�
The program鈥檚 focus on remote working along with the theme of living UMB鈥檚 core values was fitting for the times as individuals face the challenges of living during a pandemic combined with recent outrage over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died last month in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
鈥淚n the time of COVID and more recently the death of George Floyd, if there is anything I鈥檝e learned, it鈥檚 that our core values will carry us through and make us even better than we are now,鈥� Jarrell said. 鈥淚 know these crises have been a test for all of us, yet I view it as an opportunity to show just what our mettle is and to make sure we institute these core values in everything we do moving forward.鈥�
The virtual gathering was all the more important, given the country鈥檚 current climate of racial and social injustice, said Staff Senate President Kristy Novak, MS, associate director of student placements at the 91大神 School of Nursing.
鈥淚t gives UMB the opportunity to really evaluate our core values in how we define ourselves as an academic institution. But as individuals it gives us the opportunity to gauge how we align our actions and our behaviors with those core values,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd not just in how we carry out our daily roles but in our interactions with our colleagues, with our supervisors, with our students, and with our Baltimore community as a whole.鈥�
Lasecki introduced the day鈥檚 keynote speaker, as a familiar face appeared on participants鈥� devices: University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor and former UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, who introduced UMB to the seven core values during his inaugural address in 2010.
鈥淭his is a homecoming of sorts, and of course, I wish I could be with you in person,鈥� Perman said.
Speaking on the topic of UMB鈥檚 core values, Perman said, 鈥淔rankly, I consider the core values one of the best things we did together when I was here with you. And I think the crises we鈥檙e facing right now make it the perfect time to talk about why our values matter.鈥�
His keynote address focused specifically on the core values of collaboration, leadership, and accountability.
Collaboration has been a crucial part guiding and supporting USM institutions while navigating a pandemic, said Perman.
鈥淎s the scope of the COVID crisis began revealing itself in January and February, we all began to realize this was something unprecedented 鈥� that the universities needed guidance and support, they needed to talk through actions and implications,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o we hosted briefings, preparedness training, tabletop exercises, and we issued guidance. We all knew instinctively that we needed to face this global challenge together.鈥�
USM leaders began meeting three times a week instead of once a month, with some calls exceeding more than 100 participants. They discussed common approaches, transitioning to remote learning, mandating telework, recalling study-abroad students, canceling events and commencements 鈥� 鈥渁ll the stuff you鈥檝e done,鈥� Perman said.
Like institutions across the country, senior leadership had to decide whether to refund a portion of students鈥� room, board, and mandatory fees for the spring semester. For an institution like UMB, whose students largely live off campus, or for the 91大神 Global Campus, whose courses are online, the decision meant little, Perman said. But to an institution like the 91大神, College Park, with many of its 41,000 students living on campus, 鈥渢he decision could have impacts lasting years,鈥� he said.
Ultimately, the decision was made to refund room and board and mandatory fees for the spring semester.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 an easy decision for those universities with large residential populations, but it did earn us the goodwill of students who knew we were trying to help. And a little goodwill is actually no little thing,鈥� Perman said.
Collaboration remains at the forefront as system leaders make decisions about the way in which students, faculty, and staff return while being mindful of safety and public health, he said. 鈥淭hat value of collaboration is a process and it鈥檚 renewed with every decision that we make, even when they cost money. And I think that is the truest test of any value,鈥� he said.
On the value of leadership, Perman said when he accepted the job as chancellor it was in part to fulfill one of his life鈥檚 missions: to ensure that every person who wants a college education can get one. The sense of obligation comes from his own history, when a woman he never met offered him a scholarship to attend medical school.
鈥淭hat one act of generosity seeded in me the desire to open the same doors to education that had been opened to me. And I truly don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a better opportunity to do that than as chancellor of this system,鈥� Perman said. 鈥淎nd I started seeing as a test of my own leadership my success in helping others become leaders, because there is no monopoly on leaders. Higher education is all about building leadership capacity, diffusing it, opening our hearts and minds to new ways of doing things.鈥�
Moving on to the value of accountability, Perman turned his attention toward the brutal death of Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need any reminder that the last several weeks have been difficult for all of us,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e all saw the brutality of George Floyd鈥檚 murder. And I think a lot of us knew and know that if we hadn鈥檛 actually seen it, hadn鈥檛 seen the video of it, then the officers who killed him would never have faced consequences 鈥� certainly not consequences befitting the horrible act.鈥�
Perman, Jarrell, and other USM leaders acknowledging in a unified voice the structural racism taking place in the country.
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 high time that we look at where our work and our lives intersect and consider what we can reasonably be held accountable for 鈥� as professionals, yes, but as human beings, as well,鈥� Perman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big ask. I know it is. Undoing centuries of injustice and inhumanity is difficult. But at some point, we have to say, 鈥楨ven though we didn鈥檛 build it 鈥� we鈥檙e accountable for dismantling it.鈥� 鈥�
The day included breakout sessions via 鈥渞ooms鈥� on Zoom on topics such as 鈥淓ffective Communication鈥� and 鈥淧rinciple-Centered Leadership.鈥� Others, such as 鈥淓ngaging Emotional Intelligence to Enhance Virtual Workplace Performance,鈥� 鈥淓nhance Telework with Teams,鈥� and 鈥淐ollaborate with SharePoint鈥� reflected these teleworking times.
Senior marketing specialist Hope Wallace said she has heard a lot about 鈥渆motional EQ鈥� lately, so when she saw a session about it offered on Professional Development Day, she registered right away. Emotional intelligence (also known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to understand, use, and manage one鈥檚 emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict.
鈥淭he course was very informative, and I walked away with real-world practices to put into place,鈥� Wallace said.
