Professional Development for Professors

Professors receive many perks of their jobs such as free books, extended vacation time and paid vacations to conferences. One of the things that become a vital part of professor’s work that is often volunteer work to improve their skills is professional development.

Professional development can take on many forms. It can include becoming acquainted with new technology that the school is offering that helps in teaching, such as electronic podiums, to understanding the Blackboard or grading system that helps a professor to manage their course.

Many schools keep track of the number of hours a professor will spend in professional development. Sometimes the professional development can also include teleconferencing networks with other schools to learn new software such as Adobe, or even go away on a retreat to learn how to become a better teacher. These opportunities are excellent for any professor to take part of and to improve their skills.

When a new professor starts at a school, there is often an orientation session that makes it possible to understand the particulars of their college or university at a faster rate. These orientation sessions are also a terrific way to network and get to know the other professors, coordinators and chairs on campus – as well as the all-important support staff and administrative staff.

Value of Summer Vacation

Students and Professors can get a lot out of the summer vacation whether they choose to do school or take the time off to earn money or travel. Here are some of the ways the summer vacation is of value:

· For students that may have failed a course or not received the grade they desired in the fall and winter semesters, they have the chance to upgrade in the summer – this could be pivotal to reaching the coveted status of graduation
· For students that would like to fast-track their education and finish earlier, going to summer school can be the perfect way to speed up the process towards graduation too
· For professors looking to earn extra money – teaching in the summer is the perfect way to go about – perhaps they want to gain back some of the money they lost from paying high taxes
· For professors who have had a busy year of marking and preparing lesson plans, as well as teaching itself, the summer can prove to be an excellent rejuvenation time
· For students who take the summer off school, the summer can prove to be an excellent time to travel or earn money to pay for tuition for the following school year
· Especially for professors working in professional programs at colleges and universities, or an extremely research-orientated school – the summer can prove to be an excellent opportunity to catch up on projects and research interests, as well as writing work and other professional activities
· Students can use the summer to boost their resume and do school-related projects such as co-ops, internships and paid work to help them obtain a job after graduation
· For those students nearing graduation, the summer can prove an excellent time to plan for future endeavours such as going to graduate school, looking for ideal places to work or choosing travel destinations

Either way you look at it, there is a lot of value in a summer vacation.

Differences Between Undergrad and Graduate Degrees

There are many advantages to obtaining higher education at the graduate level. Here is some information on what makes graduate degrees different from an undergraduate degree.

· Unlike undergraduate education, graduate classes tend to be smaller in a more seminar-style format
· Depending on the school you go to, you will probably be highly encouraged to attend conferences and write papers for academic journals to build your academic portfolio, especially if you are planning to do your PhD
· Again, depending on the school, graduate work at the master’s level, as well as most of the time at the PhD level is funded – this is quite different from undergraduate work
· There will likely be the opportunity for you to be a teaching assistant or teach a class on your own when you are in graduate school
· There will also be likely the opportunity to do research with one of the professors when you are in graduate school
· Many times you work on a thesis which would be about 100 pages at the master’s level and about 300 pages at the PhD level – this is intense research that takes some time and you will have an advisor to help guide you through it
· When you are doing master’s work, your completed thesis will most likely need a committee to review it and you would need to defend your thesis, unlike undergraduate work
· The same that was mentioned above, also happens at the PhD level, however in a much more intense situation
· When you reach the PhD level, your thesis has to contribute original ideas to the world of scholarship
· The work at the PhD level is much more intense than the work at the master’s level
· There is also the opportunity to do these kinds of graduate degrees online, however they are not yet fully accepted in academic circles if this is the kind of work you would like to do - teach

Tips on Going After a Graduate Degree

If you are looking at doing a graduate degree after your undergraduate education, here are some things you should know:

· Most schools will closely look at your last two years of undergraduate education to determine whether to admit you into the program. This means you would need to plan well ahead of time and make sure that your marks and motivation is extremely strong in your last two years of your first degree
· If you do not have A grades to help you get into a master’s degree – try making sure that you have a strong cover letter and statement of intent. Research the school thoroughly to know that your interests of study match the school. Do volunteer work and make sure you have exceptional work experience and academic references. All these things can really help a B student get into graduate school
· When it comes to scholarships, it is important that your grades have been really spectacular throughout your undergraduate degree. If you are having any problems in writing your essays, make use of the writing centres on campus. If you think you need a tutor to keep your grades at the top – make use of them, there are many of them out there. This is the way you can make sure you can receive the funding that is needed to go to graduate school
· In places like Ontario, Canada, there are such scholarship programs such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship where if you can win this based on your grades, as well as get funding from the school – you could make an extremely good living just by doing your graduate degree
· Another thing to keep in mind is all the other scholarships that are available for graduate school. The United States has many of them and more and more so does Canada. You may want to use your graduate degree as a way to discover a new city or country – it is an excellent opportunity to do so
· Make sure you contact the school and make a connection with the faculty there. If you could pre-arrange who your advisor is, this will help to ensure entry into the graduate school that is your first choice

Good luck with getting into grad school.

Dealing With Students That Have Disabilities

Some professors find dealing with students that have disabilities difficult, however, I have found that many times they are students that excel extremely well in the classroom:

If a student is mature enough to recognize that they do have a disability, it can actually be something that works for them, rather than against them. The special tutoring and extra help they can receive outside of the classroom can go a long way in their success in school.

Most professors actually have to make many allowances in their grading scheme for students that have disabilities. This helps the students to do their best despite the challenges they face.

In my experience, I have found students with disabilities that are serious about school and truly want to exceed to be really no different than other students that have the same mind set. They hand in exceptional assignments and for those that are responsible they do not abuse the special privileges they have as a student with a disability.

At many of the schools I work for, the student needs to show you a form from the office that deals with handling students with disabilities to indicate to you that they have one. They are allowed more time with their assignments, for grading to be more lenient and other special privileges depending on the disability. If you are a young person or even an adult with a disability that is thinking of going back to school and you think your disability is holding you back – it really does not have to. You can still succeed in school despite your disability.

Science Education

It is important to make sure that science education is not left behind in the development of education.

Schools such as the University of Toronto are not receiving enough funding for their scientific research that help to find a cure for cancer, for heart disease and for a host of other diseases.

More funding needs to go towards education in general, but especially to the field of the sciences that at times can be highly under-funded.

Corporate Education

More and more professors and teachers are asked to do training sessions in the corporate world.

Corporate education has been going on for a long time. There is always a need to upgrade staff on skills such as computers, administration policies, creativity and all kinds of workplace functions. There are even professors that exclusively teach in the corporate world.

Another way of accessing the corporate education market in a place like Canada is through schools that are privately owned. This kind of education is seen as a more corporate way of teaching, compared to working for schools that are partially, if not completely government funded.

Professors make good money at these schools. Two of them that come to mind are Herzing College and Everest College, located in Toronto. There are many of them throughout Canada and the United States. A professor working at a private college can make about $40/hr. for a 40 hour work week.

When a professor goes into a workplace to train professionals on how to do their job better this also sets the stage for the potential for in-house employment on this level too. Sometimes a trainer may be brought in to do diversity workshops as one example. This diversity trainer may be kept on in-house for a length of time to ensure that the objectives of the training have been met.