Self-reflection is a useful process in helping you gain perspective, increase productivity and boost overall satisfaction in both your personal and professional life. Practicing it will not only contribute to your emotional intelligence, it can also help you become a better leader. In this session we will discuss aspects of the self-reflection process, acknowledge common challenges and collect suggestions and strategies for making the practice more useful.

Does productivity create happiness or does happiness create productivity? Is it even possible to measure happiness? What are the happiness myths? Would you have a better chance of being happier if you lived in France, Italy, Switzerland, Bhutan, Iceland, or America? Increasing our levels of happiness can help us overcome obstacles and take advantage of opportunities which help us thrive in these changing times.

Employers throughout the state are struggling to fill skilled-trade positions and recruit apprentices. Workforce projections show ongoing shortages and an aging workforce. Industry is counting on community colleges to help train new workers and the state has ambitious targets for women and minorities. Chemeketa Community College developed a Trades Information Center and Pre-Apprenticeship Program to recruit and train skilled trades-people. Come to the session to discuss employment trends, uncover barriers, and learn about Chemeketa’s recruitment strategies. This session will include hands-on activities!

Don’t let dread of public speaking keep you from reaching your goals. Finding your voice, leading, and contributing sometimes means addressing a group of people. You don’t have to overcome your fear to be a good public speaker. It’s about having less fear. In this workshop, we’ll explore why public speaking is so daunting and explore ways to become more comfortable speaking in front of an audience. Nail your next presentation!

Qigong came from the ancient past to the present to provide a mental and physical skill to heal and maintain the health of body, mind and spirit. Practice holds the possibility of staying healthy and a way to thwart future illness. A healthy body and mind is the foundation of productivity. All levels welcome. No special clothing required. Bring an open mind and a sense of fun.

This we know – attitude matters. Positive attitudes are attractive and uplifting. We also know that negative attitudes are corrosive and bring us down. We are drawn to wanting to interact with people who contribute to a positive, pleasant work environment. This is more than just a feel-good idea. During this inspiring workshop, we will identify the attitudes that attract others to us. We will also explore the benefits of a positive workplace on the quality of the services we provide as well as on overall productivity and health. We’ll learn ways to cultivate a positive attitude and look at what we can do to help others turn their attitudes around.

Find out more about participating in the second cohort of the State-wide AAWCC Mentorship Program. Here is an opportunity to be a mentor or mentee and make an impact on your own or someone else’s future. It can be a huge motivator to hear words of encouragement from someone you respect. It might provide the inspiration you need to move forward. It could be the beginning of a trusting relationship that will develop over time. The mentorship program runs for six months, from January through June 2019.

Presenters: Lynn Irvin, Chemeketa Community College; Kristina Holton, Linn-Benton Community College; and Lynn Nakamura, Lane Community College.

Learn how Mt. Hood Community College, through a Title III grant, utilized human centered design to envision, create, and pilot a New Student Experience for incoming students. Approach, steps/strategies, successes and challenges will be shared in an interactive presentation.

Did you know that two thirds of Community College students will be food insecure some time during their time at our schools? Come learn more about this growing issue nationally, in Oregon, and on our campuses. Learn how people are coming together from all divisions, departments, and programs in student services and academics to address this issue together. At PCC, we have women who are in administrative, staff, management, student services, and faculty positions collaborating in this work. Implemented examples from each of these areas will be shared. Brainstorm how all of us in all our positions can contribute to this important work and make a difference from wherever we are in our colleges this year! This practical workday application has built-in personal enrichment and brings us out of our work silos to change the future for our students together.

This session is for those who care for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementing diseases. In this session, we will explore dementia from a variety of angles and learn evidence-based practices that will help you care for yourself, feel more confident and enjoy spending time with people who have some type of dementia.

I will do a quick run down of basic Zumba moves and signs (5 min) then 40-55 minutes (depending on available time) of actual Zumba Dance Fitness. Guests will have extra time to shower and change if needed.

Imagine a world where sexual harassment and violence no longer impact us and the lives of our students. This world is possible, but it will take all of us. This presentation will envision a future where faculty, staff, and students can work, learn, and thrive together free from campus harassment and violence. Participants will discuss a multitude of ways that trauma and sexual violence can show up on campus, especially in the context of #MeToo and increasing social attention to violence on campus, and how we can integrate trauma-informed practices and prevention principles into our roles as faculty, administrators, mentors, leaders, and more.

Are you thinking about or getting close to retirement? Come hear Frank give you sound advice on steps you need to take to prepare yourself for retirement.

Open educational resources (OER) are gaining traction in higher ed because they lower the cost of attendance for students and enable faculty to fully customize course content. A growing body of research also demonstrates that use of OER is associated with improved student outcomes and retention. This session will frame open education as an issue for everyone with a stake in student success to advocate for. Participants will take away key talking points to help make affordable open textbooks part of their institution’s future.

The Lives in Transition program utilizes an equity lens working with at-risk students teaching them to develop an internal locus of control, so they can mitigate obstacles to their success. Given the nature of our trauma-informed curriculum, students are engaged with topics such as healthy and unhealthy coping skills, value systems, developing an internal locus of control, accepting one’s Shadow Self, assertiveness training, different types of abuse, and self-reflection. Conference participants will be introduced to our curriculum and the tactics staff utilize to create a culture of self-care for our students and ourselves as well. The nature of our program can be emotionally and mentally exhausting but we have learned through experience that facing the future together in a safe and creative space makes us a stronger and healthier team ensuring we continue providing education and advocacy to our students for generations to come.

The session will review the failed efforts on diversity training, and other known interventions to lead an inclusive environment at work and community wide. The use of new terms, and politically correctness that sometimes instead of helping, hinders true inclusion. We will dive into the notion of white privilege and behaviors like white fragility to better understand blind spots, or untouched areas of our unconscious bias. Using the ally approach, we will review effective behaviors of an ally and the key to true inclusion.

Facing the future together is directly tied to inclusiveness and sisterhood of women across skin tones, and ethnic backgrounds among other differences. These differences have not been broken down realistically and honestly to uncover what perpetuates oppression. In this session, the intention is to dive into the bias and break the cycle of oppression.

Does productivity create happiness or does happiness create productivity? Is it even possible to measure happiness? What are the happiness myths? Would you have a better chance of being happier if you lived in France, Italy, Switzerland, Bhutan, Iceland, or America? Increasing our levels of happiness can help us overcome obstacles and take advantage of opportunities which help us thrive in these changing times.