WARREN — Northern Pennsylvania Regional College held its fall 2019 Faculty Development Day on Aug. 17 at the college’s administrative offices.

Sixteen adjunct and full-time faculty members joined administrators and staff of NPRC and their partner institution, Gannon University, for training in teaching techniques for virtual environments and addressing non-academic student issues. Those in attendance also participated in roundtable discussions with the classroom support team and on how to find a balance through faculty and student success specialist interactions.

Following a welcome by NPRC administration, Lori Lindley, interim dean of the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences at Gannon University, spoke to the attendees on the partnership with NPRC.

Lindley told the group, “It is a very exciting time to be a part of NPRC with the upcoming transition to independence and all of the curriculum development that is occurring.”

Present at this event were new and returning faculty. For Benjamin Blood and Ron Pollock, it was their first Faculty Development Day as full-time NPRC Instructors.

Blood said, “This opportunity to gather all of our instructors together was incredibly valuable. The different levels of experience in the room led to helpful and meaningful conversations throughout the day. These face-to-face interactions and training sessions help to get us on the same page, collaborate, and discover the best ways to help our students and continuously improve our teaching methods and our academic programs across the curriculum.”

Leigh Anne Kraemer-Naser presented to the group on Saturday with teaching tips for virtual environments.

“Being able to share my successful experience teaching…and providing colleagues with strategies for developing more interactive class sessions was rewarding,” said Kraemer-Naser. She added, “Working in the early learning sector as a contractor at the state level for the past six years has opened my eyes to the need that we have in Pennsylvania for well-trained teaching and support staff; I know that through NPRC we can help our students fill these job openings with high quality educators. I cannot wait for the upcoming semester as our faculty continue to show that the NPRC delivery model is not only effective, but that it is fully capable of engaging our students across the region.”

Kraemer-Naser joined the adjunct faculty of the NPRC/Gannon partnership in January and will be one of NPRC’s four new full-time faculty this fall teaching in early childhood education.

At the end of the day, Lindley shared with NPRC administration, “You have a strong group of faculty who are committed to learning how best to serve students through this unique delivery model and NPRC’s specific mission. I am glad to have had the opportunity to be a part of this process and look forward to seeing the future growth of NPRC.”

Fall classes began for NPRC students on Aug. 21.