National Park College (NPC) faculty members Leslie Braniger and Tamara St. Marthe,
Ph.D. presented at the National Institute for Staff and Organization Development (NISOD)
conference. NISOD is a prestigious organization that offers professional development
to community and technical college faculty.
Leslie Braniger presented on the success she has had with The Gravestone Narrative,
a required project in her Composition I class. The Gravestone Narrative requires students
to visit a graveyard, choose a tombstone and create a story about that person’s life.
Braniger’s presentation was well received and included English, nursing and allied
health faculty as well as humanities administrators. “We enjoyed discussion after
the presentation about how they might incorporate my assignment into their own classes,”
stated Braniger.
Braniger attended several presentations but was most inspired by a presentation on
(re)connecting the humanities to sciences. “My key takeaway from the conference is
that institutional leaders are innovative,” said Braniger. She recognized the need
for collaboration across disciplines to help generate new methods of stirring curiosity
and the love of learning in students.
Tamara St. Marthe, Ph.D. presented on soft skills, which include personal attributes,
personality traits, inherent social cues and communication abilities for success.
St. Marthe spoke on the importance of teaching college students these skills, as they
are needed to thrive in the workplace.
St. Marthe focused on the 10 most important soft skills that employers are seeking
from employees based on her research. The audience, which consisted of program directors,
vice presidents, faculty and staff were engaged and shared personal experiences and
their desire to implement change on their campuses and the need to make teaching soft
skills a priority.
“I felt a strong sense of fellowship and passion for success from each person who
I met at the conference,” stated St. Marthe. Since the presentation was received so
well, St. Marthe hopes to share what she has learned with the faculty, staff, administrators
and students at NPC.
