Employee Education | Barton Community College

Welcome to the Employee Education page! In the following sections, you will find links to a variety of resources that supports staff and faculty in the pursuit of professional development. Explore below to find the right resource for you. Should you be interested in a specific topic but don't see any offering, please reach out to us. Centerstaff@bartonccc.edu.

December

NISOD's Fall Virtual Conference recordings are now available!! If you registered for the live conference, you can access each recording from the Virtual Conference page. For those who did not register in advance, you may access the recordings after sign up on the Registration page. Please let me know if you have any issues. Recordings of the conference will allow you to hear three keynote sessions and 50+ live sessions

LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests FREE - Multiple Dates Available
This session is perfect for instructors who are new to LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor, or those who want a refresher on how to use these applications to ensure academic integrity during online exams. We'll also be demonstrating the latest features and enhancements.

Respondus 4 and the Test Bank Network: Quickly Create Online Exams FREE - Multiple Dates Available
Learn how Respondus 4 allows you to create or convert exams that can be published directly to your learning management system, and how the Respondus Test Bank Network can be used to generate online tests from official publisher test banks.

Sports Medicine Foot/Ankle Mini-Symposium Online Course (credit available) $85 - On Demand
This online course features evidence-based and cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment strategies for sports-related and musculoskeletal conditions. The content is multidisciplinary, in which the featured topic is ankle and foot conditions in sports medicine. Learning Objectives: Identify clinically relevant foot/ankle anatomy, interpret a focused physical examination, recognize imaging findings, review relevant sono-anatomy in the performance of ultrasound-guided foot/ankle procedures, assess modifiable risk factors in young athletes, and recognize the current and future strategies.

Streamlining Higher Education Administration With AI Tools FREE - On Demand
How can AI help you to streamline administrative tasks? Join us for our upcoming panel discussion! Featuring staff from leading colleges and universities who have completed AI micro-credentials, this session will showcase proven strategies to enhance workplace efficiency, improve decision-making, and implement data-driven solutions. Gain valuable, actionable insights into AI tools specifically designed for higher education settings and discover how they can optimize your day-to-day operations.

Moving from Criticism to Feedback FREE - On Demand
How we communicate our thoughts and opinions to others impacts our relationships and our work. By being more intentional in how we respond to others in the workplace we can help develop stronger relationships and more effective teams.

The Work of Teaming FREE - On Demand
Effectively working in teams requires more of us than showing up or providing task updates. It requires engaging intentionally, having choice and control over our participation, creating safe environments, being mutually supportive with each other and tapping into each other’s strengths, interests, skills and talents. This workshop will offer strategies for healthy teamwork and integrating trauma-resilient practices into our team cultures.

Going Far, Together FREE - On Demand
We all know that working together is the best way to move work forward but how do you maintain a team long term? This highly interactive session will help you learn and refine strategies and approaches for keeping, engaging, and growing a team over time. Because we can only achieve our dream work if we can keep the team healthy and together long enough to make it there.

Avoid Instructor Burnout FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

One Thing That Catches Students Off Guard about Plagiarism? FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

Strategies for Dealing with Online Fatigue FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

Tips Tutors Can Use to Help Students with Writing FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

Three Time Management Tips Tutors Can Share with Students FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

Help Parents Understand FERPA FREE - On Demand Two Minute Takeaway

Helping Students with Test Anxiety | How to Help You Child Overcome Test Anxiety | How to Support Students with Test Anxiety FREE - Articles
Focus on a positive mindset, strong study habits and healthy living.

How to Help Students Through Test Anxiety FREE - On Demand
Getting nervous at exam time is normal. But test anxiety can impair students’ performance by impacting the executive function skills that enable them to focus attention and access memory. Join Maureen Lamb as she guides you through effective test preparation strategies that reduce students' test anxiety. Based on her three Fs framework (familiar, focused and flexible), you'll learn how to design assessments and assignments that ease students' unease, while helping them prepare and foster a positive relationship with testing. Leave with practical tools to help your students put their best foot forward on any exam.

Overcoming Test Anxiety FREE - On Demand
Common causes and symptoms of test anxiety. Steps to take when preparing for a test. Strategies to employ before, during, and after a test. Tips for becoming a confident and satisfied test-taker.

Valor: Navigating the AI Frontier in the Community College Education FREE - On Demand
Handout - This webinar delves into the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in community college education by introducing the concept of an "AI sandwich"—combining human input, AI-generated output, and subsequent human editing to integrate AI tools effectively. A comprehensive method named "Value Assessment and Learning for Optimized AI Resources" (VALOR) can guide community colleges through strategic goal alignment, stakeholder engagement, ideation, experimentation, and iterative improvement. Successful AI implementations in various community colleges are highlighted to illustrate the importance of developing AI-centric skills in students and fostering thought leadership at multiple levels. With insights into emerging AI technologies like Chat GPT4, the presentation encourages community colleges to embrace VALOR as a guiding principle for exploration, unlocking the untapped potential of AI, and achieving transformative success in education.

January

Cougar TALEs

Conversation Cafe - Friday, January 3rd
Join us for a Have you met… round table edition. You might chat with someone new or catch up with a longtime colleague!

Francis Financial - Friday, January 3rd
Have you checked in on your financial health recently? Are you saving enough for retirement? Join Leslie Francis Klug as she talks about retirement readiness, investing education, and the BCC 403(b) Retirement Plan.

StudyMate Campus: Flashcards and Learning Games within your LMS FREE - Wednesday, January 8th
Learn how to create and share flashcards, self-assessments, and learning games within Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Schoology, and Moodle.

AI in Academia: Teaching Digital Literacy and AI-Proof Assignments! FREE - Thursday, January 16th | 1:00-02:00pm CST
We'll dive into incorporating an AI statement into your syllabus. Participants will be able to integrate digital literacy components into various curriculum, utilize AI and other digital tools to enhance subject-specific learning and promote critical engagement with digital media among students, grasp the ethical implications and applications of AI in educational settings, including strategies to maintain academic integrity and foster a balanced perspective on the use of AI tools in academia. Develop skills to incorporate AI tools into assignment designs effectively, focusing on using AI for tasks like brainstorming, feedback, and generating diverse perspectives, while ensuring that assignments challenge students beyond the capabilities of AI.

Communities of Practice: Creating Community and Shared Learning to Support Student Success FREE - Thursday, January 23rd
Discover how communities of practice (CoPs) empower faculty, staff, and administrators to drive meaningful improvements in student success. This webinar explores how CoPs foster collaboration, encourage innovative teaching practices, and provide essential support networks. By connecting professionals across disciplines, CoPs enable the sharing of strategies that boost engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. Join us to learn how implementing CoPs can create a transformative impact on your students’ success, and be the first to hear NISOD’s exciting announcement about a new program offering coming in 2025.

Placement into Developmental Education Is an Equity Issue:
Eliminate English and Reading Dev Ed and Maintain or Improve Success Rates for All Students FREE - Thursday, January 30th | 1:00-02:00pm CST
Placement metrics that divert some students into non-credit English/writing and reading courses assert an over-sized impact on underrepresented, minority (URM) students. Learn how Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY eliminated all developmental education placements in English and reading while maintaining or improving success rates for all students, including those students who are considered most at risk. Learn about assessment practices focused on equity, strategies for simplifying intake processes, how to create campus-wide buy-in, ways to change course-level structures and systems, and professional development systems to impact individual pedagogical approaches/classroom tools for making it all work.

Navigating Academic Integrity in the Age of Breakthrough Technologies FREE - On Demand
This webinar will feature experts from the higher education and technology sectors to discuss strategies for striking a balance between harnessing the potential of AI and preserving academic standards. The webinar will explore how we can collectively address the dynamic changes in higher education to promote academic integrity and overall learning outcomes.

Navigating AI in Academia: Elevate Excellence and Safeguard Integrity FREE - On Demand
The widespread use of AI writing tools has disrupted traditional university assessment models across the Asia-Pacific region. When applied effectively, AI can be a valuable tool in modernising assessment methods. However, finding a balance between deterring AI-based academic misconduct and leveraging AI to streamline academic processes can be a challenge for universities. It is essential to develop institution-wide policies and frameworks for AI integration to maintain academic integrity and enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Explore strategies for effective assessment redesign, the challenges and ethical considerations surrounding AI use and the role of AI detection tools in maintaining academic integrity.

Preserving Team Integrity FREE - On Demand
All teams undergo staffing changes repeatedly in their work. Effective teams are able to handle change by having a working knowledge of each person's capabilities, leveraging skills and knowledge in the right place, and providing support where needed. Join this session to learn about ways to prepare teams to work through challenges and opportunities intentionally together.

Solution-Focused Problem Solving FREE - On Demand
Are you tired of getting stuck in the same old problems without finding effective solutions? This session discusses the problem with problems and offers a different approach to making progress and enhancing teams and organizations.

Adding AI to Your Daily Toolbox FREE - On Demand
Participants will embark on a journey to understand and integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their daily practice. This session focuses on what's happening within Kansas and nationally, showcasing current efforts and what AI can mean for the current workforce. The session will provide practical insights and overviews of AI tools, aimed at enhancing efficiency and decision-making in everyday tasks. This will also cover ethical considerations for using AI systems like ChatGPT, CoPilot, and others while adhering to ethical standards. By the end of this session, practitioners will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to leverage AI in their daily work, transforming challenges into opportunities for innovation.

Empowering Students to Disrupt Plagiarism FREE - On Demand
Join Turnitin as we showcase our ‘Disrupting Plagiarism: Building a culture of academic honesty’ instructional resource pack, a range of practical materials to provide teachers and students with a formative approach to maintaining academic integrity whilst addressing plagiarism meaningfully when it occurs. New resources focus on implementing and maintaining honor codes, including classroom activities designed to empower students to be active participants in the establishment of a thriving culture of academic integrity.

Securing the Integrity & Delivery of Remote & Authentic Assessments FREE - On Demand
No assessment is immune to cheating, and recent large-scale survey research suggests that exams are the site of increased cheating - and more undetected cheating - than take-home written tasks (Harper, Bretag, & Rundle, 2020). Assessment security in remote settings has proved a contentious matter since the onset of the pandemic, forcing educators to evaluate measures such as exam invigilation and issues such as student privacy. This discussion unpacks the future of online assessment delivery. Speakers will share insights across their specialisations of online teaching, learning design and assessment security and integrity, to strengthen our understanding and execution of remote and authentic assessment.

Valor: Navigating the AI Frontier in the Community College Education FREE - On Demand
Handout - This webinar delves into the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in community college education by introducing the concept of an "AI sandwich"—combining human input, AI-generated output, and subsequent human editing to integrate AI tools effectively. A comprehensive method named "Value Assessment and Learning for Optimized AI Resources" (VALOR) can guide community colleges through strategic goal alignment, stakeholder engagement, ideation, experimentation, and iterative improvement. With insights into emerging AI technologies like Chat GPT4, the presentation encourages community colleges to embrace VALOR as a guiding principle for exploration, unlocking the untapped potential of AI, and achieving transformative success in education.

What AI Mean for Teaching FREE - On Demand
Join us for this free webinar about the risks and benefits of AI and some recommendations for navigating AI in the college classroom.

Resources for Teaching with AI FREE - On Demand
This list collects resources shared during the MLA professional development webinar Teaching with AI.

February

You Can’t Outsource Sense-Making: High Impact Approaches to College Reading FREE - Thursday, February 6th
This webinar shares insights from Breakthroughs in College Reading: The Promises and Tensions of Disciplinary Reading Apprenticeships, highlighting the transformative impact of a long-term, cross-disciplinary community of practice that enhances both educator and student learning through a focus on disciplinary literacy. Whether you teach in the humanities, social sciences, or STEM, this webinar offers practical tools and innovative approaches to help students become independent, critical readers who confidently navigate complex information. Faculty leave with actionable strategies to foster deeper learning and greater student agency in their classrooms.

In Sync With Asynchronous Embedded Support: Strategies for Implementing Embedded Tutoring in Asynchronous Online Courses FREE - Monday, February 24th
Embedded tutoring is a rapidly growing academic support program most often implemented in face-to-face courses with an active learning classroom environment. Some institutions are experimenting with ways to incorporate this type of support in asynchronous online courses. Learn from a team of embedded tutors and faculty as they share the criteria they developed for selecting asynchronous courses for embedding tutors as well as some implementation strategies.

The Power of Silence FREE - On Demand
Being the strong silent type in today’s world that demands involved, transparent, and effective communication is challenging. In this session we will discuss silence’s functions in our interactions, how it can be managed, and how silence can be used strategically to support better communication.

Self-Care FREE - On Demand
Navigating work and life stressors can feel overwhelming. Taking care of ourselves is key to maintaining our health and wellbeing so that we are better equipped to manage stress and feel our best. This training will provide information to help you be more intentional about self-care.

Healthy Boundaries FREE - On Demand
Whether you are feeling overwhelmed at work or frustrated with a family member, setting a boundary can help. Boundaries are necessary for all healthy relationships to thrive. Watch this workshop to learn about boundaries, their importance, and strategies for setting and maintaining boundaries.

Conscious Communication Culture FREE - On Demand
The way communication happens in most organizations is treated as just that—the way that it happens. Communication is more effective and equitable when you consciously shape the communication culture. This session offers clues to help you decode your current communication culture, guidance so you and your teammates can decide what you want it to be, and ideas about how to get there.

March

The Power of Communication Connection FREE - Thursday, March 6, 2025
In today’s higher educational environment, communication is a crucial skill that supports success in any position. The personalities, experiences, and perspectives create the need for individualized approaches to communication. Through activities meant to bring standard habits to the forefront and realize their impact on daily communication, this program highlights differences and insights to understanding yourself and those around you for effective communication. Just LEAD: Listen, Encourage, Ask Questions, and Deliver.

Supporting Community College Faculty: A Comprehensive Approach to Adopting Generative AI FREE - Monday, March 24, 2025
Generative AI, with its potential to personalize learning and create engaging experiences, offers exciting opportunities for community college faculty to meet the diverse and varying needs of their students. This webinar showcases a comprehensive approach through several initiatives to introduce AI to faculty. First, through workshops and individual consulting, faculty learn the fundamentals and applications of generative AI, tailored to their courses. Second, a faculty learning community was established to foster peer-to-peer learning, allowing experimentation and troubleshooting together. Third, a subcommittee of faculty helped craft advocacy for syllabi language and policy development for responsible AI use in individual courses. Finally, the creation of a faculty fellow position in AI that supports faculty research and scholarship in AI-assisted assessment and pedagogical practices. Learn more about this comprehensive framework and discover how institutions can empower faculty to leverage the potential of generative AI while ensuring responsible and effective integration into the community college learning environment.

Artificial Intelligence through a Sociological Lens FREE - Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Join respected author and Professor, John Macionis, where he discusses the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence and suggests some of the likely outcomes of it, and offers an early assessment of the benefits and dangers of this new technology within a sociological lens.

Using Maps to Teach Sociology FREE - Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Learn how sociological maps can enhance sociology education by revealing geographic patterns in race, class, gender, and politics from John Macionis, celebrated author and professor.

Cougar TALEs - Past Sessions

Fall 2024
Recording - Handout 1 - Handout 2 | Artificial Intelligence - Integrity Council Sub-Team
Recording | Let's Talk YuJu - Diana Hernandez, YuJu Representative
Recording | College Updates
Recording - Handout | Generations in the Workplace - Dr. Rachel Dolecheck, DBA
Recording - Handout | TALEs from the Data Side: How to Make Course Assessment Data Work for You - Kurt Konda
Recording | OER Sharing a New Perspective - Lee Miller
Recording | All Faculty Meeting
Recording | H5P Smart Import
Recording | Have you met... Linn Hogg - VIA & RSVP Director, Ray Kruse – Project Director of EOC, Melissa Feist – Coordinator of Adult Education

January 2024
Student Authenticity: Best Practices– Claudia Mather and Curtis Rose
Essential Skills: The Why, What and Where – Janet Balk, Deanna Heier, Nolan Esfeld

August 2023
Long Live CATS | Handout – Kurt Konda
Managing Stress and Burnout | Handout – Dr. Rose Helens-Hart
First Impressions Matter | Handout – Dr. Stacey Smith
College Updates
Balancing Work and Life – Lindsey Bogner, Elaine Simmons
Artificial Intelligence – Academic Integrity Council
Francis Financial Services – Leslie Francis Klug, John Francis
All Faculty Meeting
Have you met... – Terri Mebane, Erika Jenkins-Moss, Janet Balk, Abby Kujath, Megan Chambers, Kurt Teal

January 2023
What even IS a Foundation and what can you do with it? – Lindsey Bogner
Cyber Hygiene – Jose Palacios
Practical Strategies for Course Building – Blair Stamper
Visit the Library – Darren Ivey
Power BI and Data – Jose Palacios
Concourse with Lab | Power Point | PP as PDF – Brian Howe and Ange Davied
Have you met…
Baudilio Hernandez - Hispanic Engagement & Recruitment Office Director
Rita Thurber - Student Support Services Project Director
Jacquelyn Maser - Counselor
Nolan Esfeld - Director of Student Academic Development
Patrick Busch - CKUB Project Director
Eric Smith - CKUB Academic Coordinator
Kelsey Hall - BCUB Project Director
Rebecca Kratzer - BCUB Academic Coordinator

August 2022
College Updates
All Faculty Meeting (Entire Group)
Student Success Alliance - Stephanie Joiner and the Student Success Alliance
So You're Coming to the Curriculum Committee...– Brian Howe
Meet the Coaches – Trevor Rolfs and Staff
Workplace Collaboration and Relationships

August 2021
Essential Skills with Deanna Heier, Lindsay Holmes, Stephanie Joiner - Recording
Conducting and Documenting Course Assessment with Kurt Konda Recording
Brandin’ with Brandon with Brandon Steinert - Recording
Cougar Recruiting 101 with Maggie Harris - Recording
Course Binder Project with Jo Harrington - Recording
Canvas Tutorial-Course Outcomes with Jo Harrington - Recording
Academic Integrity Panel with Janet Balk, Karly Little, Kathy Boeger, Deanna Heier Recording

2020
Write so Students Understand You with Karly Little - Recording | Presentation
Get (the right) Stuff Done! with Brandon Steinert - Recording
Self-Awareness and Empathy on Campus with Christian Dashiell | Recording
Communication is Key with Dani Kultgen - Recording
Open Pedagogy with Lee Miller - Recording
Leading Barton through a Crisis with Claudia Mather - Recording
The Golden Rule - Recording
Team Building through Communication with Claudia Mather - Recording
Psychological First Aid: Recovering From Crisis with Jakki Maser - Recording | Handout | Handout
Course Level Assessment with Kurt Konda - Recording | Handout
OER: Low Cost or No Cost with Lee Miller - Recording | Handout | Handout | Handout | Handout
Academic Integrity with Stephanie Joiner - Recording | Handout | Handout
Reflective Leadership with Claudia Mather - Recording | Handout
Concourse with Ange Davied - Recording
LICC Submission Process with Brian Howe - Recording