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Strategy III: Create a system of lifelong learning and change management for faculty, staff and college leadership.
To fully execute Strategies I and II, community and technical college faculty, staff and leaders need time to build new skills and collaborate in new ways. They need to learn to use new teaching tools and pedagogies, to explore what it means to truly become student-centered, and to understand the many ways in which web-based technologies are changing our classrooms, our economy and our workplaces. We recognize that the cultural shift this plan calls for will take time, money, and sustained commitment.

Action 1: Professional Development. Strengthen and expand professional development programs and create the expectation that all faculty, staff and college leaders will continue to learn, collaborate, share knowledge and resources, and work together to make the best use of new technologies to improve student learning. Use new methods such as webinars, multi-disciplinary faculty learning communities, and social networking software to extend the reach of professional development.

Action 2: Time to Learn. Make learning to use new technologies an explicit part of job descriptions and duties, and organize time to include professional development and collaboration within regular work schedules.

Action 3: Learning Opportunities. Aggregate the colleges’ purchasing power for professional development. Create a statewide fund to support faculty participation in cutting edge conferences (both in person and online) and ask participants to share what they learn with their colleagues with social networking and webinar software. Buy a statewide membership in leading national professional development consortia, and extend benefits to all faculty and staff. Advertise these opportunities to faculty and staff throughout the system.

Action 4: Course Redesign. Develop faculty capacity to continually improve the quality of online courses through collaborative, iterative design. Develop a peer review methodology for evaluating and redesigning existing and new online courses.

Action 5: IT Staff. Create a statewide structure that provides consistent opportunities for IT staff in both colleges and at the State Board to learn, collaborate, and share best practices as they make the transition from software developers to integration experts who tie together best-of-breed applications. Create a process to support career advancement and leadership development.

Action 6: Support Innovation. Establish and fund system-wide innovation and testing projects to pilot emerging technologies. Create a rapid response team that can take innovative ideas and implement them promptly. Partner with corporations and other higher education institutions to seek new ways to make learning more accessible to all Washington residents.