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BLOOMINGTON – ������Ƶ faculty and staff organized the Campus Learning Community (CLC) in fall 2017 to host monthly professional development opportunities open to ������Ƶ Bloomington faculty and staff. The group hosts panel discussions, brown bag lunch discussions, a cross-departmental observation series, and a Lynda.com online learning series.

The initiative is led by Carly Smith, associate professor of English.

“The Campus Learning Community hopes to support all employees’ continued learning and nurture a more connected employee community,” said Smith. “We feel that increased camaraderie and insight shared between staff and faculty, part-timers and full-timers, and all Bloomington campus locations will lead to an even more robust team that can better serve our students. And—as Chancellor Vaughn is fond of saying—we intend to have a whole lot of fun along the way.”

In September, the learning community kicked off the brown bag lunch discussion series with the topic “Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.”

Melissa Stone, assistant director of student support, hosted the discussion.

“I was blown away by the creativity of our faculty and staff that often doesn’t get shared with one another, especially between opposite sides of the house,” said Stone.

October lunch discussions will focus on the myth of learning styles. November discussions will focus on the cost of higher education. December’s topic will be “Seven Ways to Make a Conversation with Anyone.”

A panel discussion on the topic “Helping Students in Crisis” was held on Friday, September 22.

Panel members included:

Evelyn Smith, community outreach coordinator, Middle Way House

William Herrington, Adult and Family Services Manager, Centerstone

Sgt. Pam Gladish, Bloomington Police Department

Kenin Kreiger, Ph.D., associate professor of human services, ������Ƶ Bloomington

Melissa Stone, assistant director of disability support services, ������Ƶ Bloomington