By Sally Cameron
Bristol Community College
Fall River, MA
No, I am not calendar-challenged, nor is this really late, but if you’re like me the start of the new academic year has all the marks of the traditional new year of new beginnings! As I am fond of making New Year’s resolutions in the week between Christmas and January (and sometimes even hit them – I am two for three at this point), I use the academic New Year as an opportunity to make professional resolutions.
What is so very exciting about our profession as community college communicators is that it is constantly evolving. I remember starting my job 26 years ago and making a word processor a hiring requirement. My boss was puzzled – only secretaries had computers – but he went to bat for me and I had an IBM 8080, with two 5 ¼ inch floppy drives on my desk. Now, I just hired a new professional in my office and it was a job requirement that the candidate demonstrate computer literacy.
There are so many other changes that we need to embrace or risk losing our edge. Perhaps for you, you need to get on the bandwagon of social media. Or you are already there, but you need to optimize your use of it as a tool for marketing. Or you need to figure out how to get video on your website. What are your challenges to embrace this year?
For me, I need to strengthen my use of technology for managing workflow, and I want to explore ways to purpose content more effectively. I also need to find a way to better figure and report ROI – return on investment.
As members of NCMPR we have great opportunities to pursue our resolutions through the upcoming district conferences and webinars, as well as the national conference scheduled for March. No matter what your professional resolutions, you’ll find ways to meet them somewhere in the NCMPR programming.
So what are your resolutions? Share if you wish. And Happy New Year!
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