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Purpose: To provide an opportunity for faculty and administrators to participate in an activity which fosters intellectual sharing and creative dialogue. In the process, communication between faculty and administrators produces a heightened degree of camaraderie and a positive attitude toward the College and one's profession.
The 2009 Faculty Retreat will be held at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico.
2008 Faculty Retreat
This year’s faculty retreat was held May 13th & 14th at the Doubletree Hotel in Durango, Colorado. Sixty six faculty members were in attendance. The theme for this year’s retreat was “Building Bridges Among Faculty. The opening evening on May 13th, featured a group session wherein participants rotated among tables and discussed the following topics:
- Cross Generational Sharing Among Instructors
- EPCC: Why I Am Teaching Here!
- Technology In The Classroom
- Learning Styles And Our Teaching
- The Multigenerational Class
- EPCC Faculty Development
On May 14th, the following breakout sessions were presented by faculty at this retreat:
- Breaking Down Barriers with Ice Breakers
- Building Bridges through Service to the Community (Empty Bowls El Paso)
- Conflict Management
- Faculty Workout!
- Herbs for Healing>
- Internal Energy Practice
- Learn to FISH! How Fun at Work Leads to Increased Productivity
- Menopause
- Shut Up and Listen to ME!
- Tai Chi Practice
- Understanding the Electoral College
- Writing a Novel in Ninety Days
In addition, there were presentations on “bicycle basics’” early morning walks, and salsa lessons. Also, eight participants went white water rafting together on Wednesday afternoon.
Evaluations of the retreat were extremely favorable. The evaluation form requests that one assign the retreat an overall rating in a range from very good to poor. Over 95% ranked the retreat as very good with the remaining 5% giving it a good ranking. No one assigned a ranking below that of “good!” As has been the case with past retreats, the participants particularly liked the collegial nature of the event (i.e. the chance to meet and interact with other faculty) and the chance to unwind after the semester. Also, frequently mentioned were the location, the opening night roundtable discussions, and the workshops. The evaluations often made reference to the fine work done by the Faculty Development Office in organizing and running the retreat. In addition, participants want retreats to continue to have a personal renewal or a health related focus. However, the vast majority of participants liked all of the workshops and many made reference to the fine job done by the facilitators/presenters. In general, the evaluations are among the most favorable for any retreat the college has held.
Those present voted on a site for the 2009 retreat. The top choice was the Westin La Paloma resort in Tucson followed by San Antonio.
Click here for Retreat 2008 Photo Gallery
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