Amy D’Anna, a marketing coordinator with the College of International and Extended Studies, was excited to learn about the Staff Professional Grant program via an email sent out early this semester from the Provost Office.
She is one of 48 individuals and groups of staff members who successfully applied for a grant offered this fall through the Academic Affairs Division priority group on RSCA and professional development. Individuals were allowed to apply for up to $1,500, with groups eligible to apply for $5,000. A second call for Academic Affairs Staff Professional Development Grant proposals has been announced. Staff members will have until Nov. 13 to submit an application and will be notified in December if their application was successful. See the full list of awardees from the first round of funding.
“This will help by adding formal education to my applied experience in the field of marketing and PR,” D’Anna said.
She said the courses she takes have allowed her to keep current and gain exposure to crucial developments in cultural communications, social media, technological advances and more.
D’Anna said she appreciates that the provost understands staff members are an integral part of SJSU and deserve professional growth.
Recipients of the Staff Professional Development Grant were recognized in the program at the Academic Affairs Division Staff Appreciation Breakfast in October.
“Most times we are the first line of contact and often support students throughout their entire academic career with SJSU,” she said. “This relationship is crucial to our student body and improving it through staff development will only make SJSU a better place.”
Mark Adams, the project director for the Pakistan Distance Education Enhancement Program (PDEEP) and an instructional developer with the eCampus group in Academic Technology, is planning to use his grant to take a course called “Managing without Authority” at Stanford University.
“The course focus is on how to influence and persuade others, build and maintain effective working relationships and get things done in a diverse, global environment,” he said.
The course will support his work on the PDEEP grant as he helps to develop an eCampus infrastructure for Allama Iqbal Open University in Pakistan as well as in working with faculty members at SJSU to share the benefits of online tools.
Lauren Andersen, a financial analyst in the University Library, will use her grant to attend the CSU Academic Resource Conference.
“I changed positions from human resources to finance this last January,” she said, via email. “This conference will help me to continue to learn more about the world of finance from a CSU perspective.”