This first section of the training has shifted my mindset about the role of the advisory board. I had previously seen it as a time to update the board members on what advancements and changes we had made to the department over the previous few months. We met twice a year and honestly, I wasn't sure exactly what I was supposed to do at these meetings. I recently went to another college's advisory board meeting and it was held more like a mini-workshop on what improvements could be made to the program to make it more effective and stronger in the region. I thought this was really innovative and engaging. After doing this part of the training, I can see that that meeting was more in line with the purpose of the advisory boards.
Creating a vision for the board was also a really helpful exercise. I have a draft started, but I would love to see other vision statements for those who are in Education or Teacher Preparation programs.
