System Chancellor Stan Carpenter said, “The idea to hold a Faculty College was discussed during our strategic planning efforts with the Board of Trustees. Those who remembered the Faculty Colleges held years ago thought it would be worthwhile to revive the event so faculty could discuss academic issues. We have some of the best faculty in higher education and we wanted to provide them with the opportunity to learn from each other.”

Robert McCue, vice president for academic affairs at Wayne State College, spearheaded the initial planning efforts. A committee of former NSCS Teaching Excellence Award recipients, the highest faculty honor within the system, designed the meeting structure and facilitated the sessions. McCue and his assistant, Linda Teach, took care of the operational side.

Faculty members on the planning committee included: Judy Grotrian, the Fred and Pam Robertson Honors Chair in business administration and associate professor of business at Peru State College; Pearl Hansen, professor of art at Wayne State College; Dave Peitz, associate professor of chemistry at Wayne State College; Robert Stack, associate professor of mathematics at Chadron State College; and Deborah Whitt, chair of the department of communication arts and professor of speech communication at Wayne State College.

The two-day event also included sessions on service learning, distance/online teaching, and international programs. Focus groups were held to develop strategies on collaborative ventures between campuses and making faculty connections.  

“I found the sessions that allowed faculty to collaborate both by discipline and also by common interests in various topics, such as online instruction, assessment, etc., particularly informative,” Stack said.

The workshop also provided time for the participants to network. A reception and dinner jointly sponsored by Platte Valley Financial Services, LLC in Scottsbluff and Northeast Nebraska Insurance Agency in Wayne was held at the Wayne Country Club.

“After talking to participants and reading the evaluations, I am very favorably impressed with the program and its impact on our faculty. Faculty members expressed gratitude for opportunities to learn from each other and get to know their colleagues at Chadron and Peru State Colleges,” Dr. Richard Collings, president of Wayne State College, said.

Grotrian agreed, “It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the other state college faculty, see the beautiful Wayne State campus, and collaborate about educating students in the Nebraska State College System.”