Learning and Development Workshops are designed to enhance individual skills and to support professional development.

We are building our core workshop structure and will notify staff and faculty of new course availability via e-mail.

Please let us know when you have thoughts or needs for new courses. We look forward to seeing you at our Development Seminars.

Workshops by Category

Office Professionals Series

All Office Professionals (administrative assistants, office managers, and other office support employees) are invited to attend the Fall Office Professionals’ workshop series. The workshops are designed to assist new Office Professionals in transitioning into the College and to allow current Office Professionals the opportunity to continue to expand their education and skills as they progress with their careers at the College.

The series will be held two (2) times per year so if you missed workshops in the spring, you are invited to attend the fall sessions. You may register on-line or e-mail mcclenaghanl@cofc.edu.

All workshops will be held in the Lightsey Building Human Resources Conference Room unless otherwise notified.

Understanding the College - A brief history of the College and an explanation of our organizational structure
Tom Casey, Director, Human Resources

The College of Charleston Customer Service Standards - A spirited review of active listening skills, telephone, skills, e-mail etiquette, and "the buck stops here" philosophy
Myra Whittemore, Academic Advising, Communications Coordinator

Procurement Policy and Procedure - A detailed explanation of State requirements and Procurement rules and regulations.
Wendy Williams, Director, Procurement and Procurement Staff

Human Resources Policy and Procedure - A detailed look at Time Sheet Administration, Hiring Forms, Dual Employment, Leave Policy, and other critical support functions relating to Human Resource Management.
Dee Cole, Associate Director, Human Resources

Supervising Your Students - You've been given a student employee to supervise, now what? Learn a few tricks of the trade to help make this a beneficial relationship for the student and your department. Topics include supervision techniques, student development and employee evaluations.
Kristine Berry, Student Employment Coordinator, Career Services

Managing Your Own Performance-The policies and procedures of EPMS and how to become more involved in the performance evaluation process.
Linda McClenaghan, Training Specialist, Human Resources

Quality Service

Fish Philosophy
Time: 1 Hour
Who Should Attend: Anyone who answers the telephone
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Please visit our Fish Philosophy Page

Using the Telephone as a Customer Relations Tool
Time: 1 Hour
Who Should Attend: Anyone who answers the telephone
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Determine how you can better service your internal and external customers by using the telephone as a customer relations tool. This session is highly interactive and entertaining, but has a serious message.

Management Skills

Hiring for Success
Time: 4 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Managers and Supervisors (especially if you are anticipating hiring or being involved in a panel)
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Learn the "Behavioral" interviewing method that can assist you in hiring the right person for the job. This interactive workshop featuring the video "Not Just a Gut Feeling" is based on the premise that past behavior predicts future behavior.

This workshop will assist you in determining critical success attributes, which will be used to develop behavioral-based interview questions.

Methods to evaluate candidates and legal guidelines will be discussed.

Remember When? A Guide to Successfully Orienting New Employees
Time: 1.5 Hours
Who Should Attend:

- All Managers and Supervisors (especially if you have a new employee starting)
- Administrative Staff who have some responsibility for orienting new employees

Prerequisite: None

Overview: Help your new employees be more productive, faster. This short, hands-on session is a working seminar that will help you develop the tools and checklists that will make your new employee a productive part of the team as quickly as possible.

The session is geared toward Supervisors and their interaction with a new employee; however, administrative staff will find the workshop useful if they assist in preparing for new employees.

"Keeping The Good Ones" - A Study of Retention
Time: 3 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Managers and Supervisors
Prerequisite:None

Overview: Develop methods to retain valued employees. This workshop uses a video to illustrate the power of "treating your team members as people first and employees second". Expect a spirited discussion after the video followed by determining practical, customized retention methods.

Supervisory Practices

Overview: Styles of Leadership will be defined and each manager will look at their own leadership styles and determine an individual course of action to build on their strengths.

Beyond Workers’ Comp (and a look at Leave Policy)
Andrea Stevens and Rick Krantz

Overview: The rules, regulations, policy and procedure will be discussed along with the implications of safe working. Ideas will be generated to try to reduce workers’ comp.

Employment Efficiency
Sherri Shannon and Jackie Chisolm

Both permanent and temporary hiring procedures and paperwork will be discussed.

Counseling for Performance
Dee Cole and Linda McClenaghan

Determine methods to motivate all employees to move their performance to the next level.

Respect and the Law
JoAnn Diaz

EEO, sexual harassment and just plan respect!

Progressive Discipline -- When All Else Fails
Dee Cole

Progressive Discipline and termination policies and procedures will be discussed.

EPMS – Beyond the Form
Sue Atwood and Linda McClenaghan

A detailed look at how to write actionable evaluations that can motivate employees for future results.

Life Management

Unleashing Your Right Brain
Time: 1 Hour
Who Should Attend: All Faculty and Staff
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Discover your creative abilities. Based on Michael Gelb's book "How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci", this workshop will invite you to explore your current operating methods and add alternative thought processes. Fun and entertaining - but you will leave this workshop with concrete ideas for your life and your job.

Change Management -
Not Just Coping, but Soaring in a Changing Environment
Time: 1.5 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Faculty and Staff
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Discover methods to not just cope with, but to lead and embrace change. Bring your current "changes" with you and develop specific action plans to make the change a positive, move forward experience.

Radiating Possibility: Sit in the front row of life. Enter the Dance!
Time: 1.5 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Faculty and Staff
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Take the "Journey of Discovery" with Boston Philharmonic Conductor Ben Zander. His entertaining video tape will set the stage for a spirited discussion and personal action plan to "leave behind the anxiety and pressure that are part of the competitive mind set, and connect with others through their dreams and visions.

Stress Management
Time: 2.5 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Faculty and Staff
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Join Health Educator Laura Lindroth as she leads you in a discussion to explore methods to reduce stress and enjoy life more!

The Art of Listening
Time: 1.5 Hours
Who Should Attend: All Faculty and Staff
Prerequisite: None

Overview: Nothing changes life more that learning how to listen...really listen. Join us for this very interactive session to learn how to get more from friends, family, students and co-workers, just by using your ears!

Financial Health

Financial Health

Overview: Diane Blackwelder, a Certified Financial Planner, will discuss the basic path to financial health.

This course is for anyone who wants to enjoy a financially positive future. It will give practical advice on developing the skills many adults have still not learned or practiced. While this may seem simple it’s where many people fall down and why most boomers are seriously in debt. Without these skills, financial stability will probably not arrive.

Investing for Beginners (or for those who still feel like a beginner!)

Overview: Frank Dirks, a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services, Inc. will be discussing the basics of investing...what's a mutual fund, bonds, single stocks, diversification, global funds, international funds, etc.  He'll cover the basics and then open the floor for questions.

Session Four: Home Buying 101 – The Right House

Overview: First-time home buyer?  New to the area?  Thinking about buying a house or condo?  Tired of paying rent?

If any of these questions sound like you or if you just want to learn how to go about the home purchase process, we have arranged for Steve Kaul to walk you through the steps.   Steve will not be trying to sell you anything but rather will be providing education that will help you to be a more informed consumer.  

Session Five: Home Buying 101 – The Mortgage

Overview:  Are you getting serious about purchasing a new home but need some information on how to obtain a mortgage or what type of mortgages are available.  Please join Dennis Meyer for this very informative workshop.  Dennis will discuss the many financing options available and explain the ups and the downs of each.  A special state plan for first time buyers will also be discussed.

College Financial Aid

Overview: Don Griggs, College of Charleston Director of Financial Assistance and Veterans Affairs, will explore the scholarship processes, federal and state sources, applications and the most important timelines. If you have a child getting ready for college or currently in college, come find out more about the process and bring your questions.

Computer Courses

The College of Charleston Human Resources department will offers an exciting array of computer courses for faculty and staff. The courses are taught by Trident Tech Continuing Education staff and represent a significant savings.

Each course will have a cost of $100 per day (which includes a reference book); however, half of the total cost ($50) will be refunded through Human Resources upon successful completion of the course. An IDT is required 14 days in advance of the course start date.

(Note: Both days of 2 day courses must be completed)

Course Descriptions (from Trident Tech Continuing Education Schedule)

Dreamweaver Introduction
(2 day class)
Time: 9-4
Location: Bell Building Room 500

Learn to use one of the most popular Web design tools to build attractive, dynamic Web pages. Apply special features of the software to enhance Web pages, and learn efficient file management for web sites and techniques of FTP and remote server interaction.

Dreamweaver Intermediate
Time: 9-4
Location: Bell Building Room 500

The course will introduce you to advance concepts of the Dreamweaver MX web development application. In this course, you will expand on the knowledge you gained in the Dreamweaver Introduction course. You will work with advance Web site creation features available in Dreamweaver, including libraries and behaviors. In addition, you will use many of the new features available within the HTML 4 standard including style sheets and layers.

Fireworks MX Level I
Time: 9-4
Location: Bell Building Room 500

In this course, you’ll use Macromedia Fireworks to create vector graphics, edit bitmap graphics, optimize images, and create and assign rollover effects for the Web. You’ll learn about the differences between bitmap and vector graphics, as well as the GIF, JPEG and PNG file formats, and learn how to choose the best format for a particular situation. You’ll learn to use selection tools to isolate and edit parts of an image, import and modify text objects, slice images into sections, apply rollover effects and export the appropriate code to an HTML document.

JavaScript I – The Basics
Time: 9-4
Location: Bell Building Room 500

Make your Web site come alive with JavaScript, the most popular scripting language on the Internet. Topics include basic object-oriented programming concepts to introduce you to the JavaScript through Dreamweaver to make your site interact with visitors. (some Dreamweaver knowledge required).

Access 2003 Level I
Location: Bell Building Room 500

This course introduces four basic objects needed to create and operate a simple business database system. Multi-table relationships are discussed and used in queries. No prior knowledge of Access is necessary, but a database experience is helpful.

Access 2003 Level 2
Location: Bell Building Room 500

This course introduces the macro concepts and programming features within Access to customize and automate a business database system. Topics include naming conventions, templates and master forms to speed development and various macro techniques to protect data.

Excel Formulas

Excel Pivot Tables