Professional Development Committee

The Student Affairs Professional Development Committee coordinates divisional efforts to provide professional development opportunities to all full-time employees and graduate assistants. The committee also coordinates the annual Student Affairs Professional Development Day and New Employee Orientation. Throughout the year, members offer different professional development opportunities ranging from workshops, leadership series, discussion groups, and more.

The committee meets at 3 p.m. on the 1st Monday of each month.  If you are interested in attending a meeting or joining the committee, please contact SAprodevo@nau.edu.

Services

Individual Coaching

A coach is a partner to help you find happiness and professional success on your own terms. They are professionally trained to ask powerful questions. A coach is a thinking partner, a source of outside perspective, and a reality check. They help you clarify your aspirations and turn them into actual plans. Your coach is not a guide—they’re a partner in helping you figure out your own stuff.

During coaching meetings, you (the client) establish the topic for the meeting. Topics are personal and can range from a problem you are facing at work, a decision you want to think through, or an evaluation of the progress you’ve made toward a major goal. The coach will then talk you through a series of questions to help you clarify your thinking around that topic. At the end of the meeting, you establish a decision, plan, and goals and commit to actions needed to help you achieve them.

Coaching Meeting Information

Platform: phone, virtual, and/or in person
Length: 30–40 minutes
Number: 4–5
Frequency: Weekly or bi-monthly
Day and time: TBD

Eligibility

Student Affairs professional staff and graduate assistants.

Group Coaching

Department or workgroup leaders may be interested in recurring coaching options for their teams. Email SAprodevo@nau.edu to schedule a meeting and map out a customized group coaching plan for your team.

Eligibility

All Student Affairs professional staff and graduate assistants

Meet Coach Kelley McKee

Kelley’s passion for coaching started in 1987 when she was hired as the assistant volleyball coach at the University of Arizona. She embarked upon a 20-year coaching career, where she enjoyed developing student-athletes and empowering them to successfully achieve their academic and athletic goals.

McKee transitioned out of sports coaching and into life coaching in 2007; she has brought these techniques to multiple leadership and supervisory roles at NAU. Her decades of coaching experience guide her strength-based approach with her clients. Kelley uses the following frameworks in her coaching:

• Time, energy, and emotional management
• Motivational interviewing
• Stephen Covey’s management theory

Professional Development Grants

The Professional Development Committee has dedicated $10,000 from the Professional Development budget for individual grants up to $1,000 for the fiscal year 2024. The purpose of the individual grant is twofold: Support department professional development budgets by covering up to 60% of the total cost of your request up to $1,000, and support Student Affairs employees who may otherwise not be able to attend a professional development opportunity without additional financial support.

Individual eligibility

• Full-time Student Affairs employees who have been employed within the division for at least six months
• Director approval
• Employees are eligible to receive grant money every three years

Professional development eligibility

• Professional conferences, institutes, academies, training, and certifications that relate to your current position or career goals
• Only domestic travel will be supported
• Out-of-state, in-state, and virtual professional development opportunities will be considered

Application criteria and tips

Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria (alphabetical):

• Advancing professional goals tied to ACPA/NASPA competencies, Student Affairs goals, and strategic roadmap
• Plan to disseminate learning to the department, division, and NAU community
• Professional development type: conferences, institutes, academies, training, and certifications related to your current position or career goals
• Role at the conference or event: participant, presenter, professional association committee, volunteer, keynote speaker, other
• The last time that you attended or traveled to a conference
• The ability to secure early bird pricing

Application tips:

• Check with your supervisor/director to confirm that they have received the FY23 budget
• Identify potential professional development opportunities that you would like to attend
• Build a budget that includes the necessary items to cover the total cost of the opportunity
• Determine the following:
  • amount of grant money that will be requested (up to 60% of the total cost of your request, up to $1,000)
  • amount of money that you will request from your department
• Meet with your supervisor/director to discuss your proposal and determine next steps