Opportunity Center
Mission
"To advance and celebrate teaching and learning at Chemeketa Community College."
This mission is, and always has been, more than the words that describe it because of a strong commitment from the college's administration and faculty.
Opportunity Center Advisory Committee
The center advances teaching and learning by initiating and facilitating a wide array of training possibilities and resources. It provides incentives for instructional innovation and offers rewards for excellence to both full- and part-time faculty. It also leads the celebration of the successes and joys of teaching.
The center has been the core of an instructional revolution aimed at achieving our college's stated goal of "Excellence in Education." The seeds of this revolution were planted in 1988 when a group of faculty and administrators began a college-wide conversation on teaching and learning issues. As a result of these discussions the Opportunity Center took root in 1989, when a faculty member was given release time from the classroom to direct its growth.
Working out of a small office with a borrowed computer and a shared telephone, the coordinator cultivated the involvement of more instructional staff. A core of faculty, committed to the creation of a center for teaching and learning, began the effort by sitting down with every full-time faculty member to ask: "What would it take to enhance your teaching? What barriers are there to prevent you from becoming the instructor you want to be? And, what can you bring to this revolution?" The responses to these and other questions were compiled and from them a plan for the center emerged.
From the Center's inception, steady growth has been made in providing and expanding opportunities for instructors to develop their teaching skills, and, in so doing, help Chemeketa's students succeed. The overwhelming success of this venture speaks to the hard work and dedication of the instructors who have served the center in many ways. It is also due, in no small part, to continued strong support from the college administration. Evidence of this support is shown by the fact that the center now resides in the suite of offices previously occupied by the college president.
The Opportunity Center has helped maintain Chemeketa Community College's focus on teaching and learning by providing the programs, services and resources detailed here.
Updated February 2007 by the College Advancement Department.