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November 2003

New office renews focus on training

Ida Gropper, the director of the new Center for Professional Development and Training, talks with Natalie Mack.

Training often is the last thing a department or institution thinks about when making changes to its technology. Ida Gropper, the director of the new Center for Professional Development and Training, is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen at UNF.

Gropper spent about six years as the technical training coordinator under Information Technology Services and was appointed director of CPDT in July. While many of her duties in ITS were rolled into the CPDT job, she said the department’s creation is a recognition of the importance of professional development and training at the University.

“It doesn’t mean training didn’t occur before,” Gropper said, it’s just that until now there wasn’t one office where employees could view all of the programs offered at UNF.

While individual departments, such as the Office of Faculty Enhancement, will continue to offer programs, CPDT will work with them to provide greater visibility for training opportunities. CPDT also will work to tie training to University goals and to create consistent analysis, design, development and evaluation of training.

CPDT also plans to expand training opportunities to include such things as team building either through UNF or outside sources. The goal is to improve overall training to help employees do their jobs more efficiently, resulting in better service for students.

Gropper said the University is moving toward creating individual professional
development plans that tie in to department or division plans that ultimately work toward the University’s goals.

The implementation of the Banner system also is causing ripple effects across campus, with departments changing technology so they can connect to the Banner system. CPDT is working to help these departments to manage the knowledge and technology changes.

“There’s always the fear of change,” Gropper said, and CPDT aims to lessen that fear through training.

Banner implementation is scheduled to be complete in 2005, and Gropper said the result will be “a streamlined system that makes it easier for customers.”

In addition to the Banner training and regular desktop applications training, CPDT offers departments help on program design and development, managing logistics and evaluating training. The online registration system has a database with a course history for individuals, and CPDT manages ElementK, the online learning system open to employees and students.

While the new office has a lot of extra training on tap with the Banner implementation, Gropper sees the potential for CPDT.

On her new role, Gropper said, “It’s very challenging, but also rewarding.”