The Ouachita Faculty Colloquium met at noon last Wednesday to hear reports from James Taylor, director of Campus Ministries, Margaret McGraw, Assistant Athletic Director, Gail Hennagin, Special Archives & Weekend Supervisor, and Paula Webb, Database Manager from their grant-based research developments. These four faculty and staff members received grants last year to use to expand their knowledge and improve their abilities in their workplace.
James Taylor received his grant to attend the Association of Christians in Student Development conference held at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill. Although he is the director of Campus Ministries, and this was a conference mainly focused on student development, it was still applicable to his work here on campus.
Taylor has had the opportunity to go to many different conferences for campus ministers, but generally in those settings, most of the other ministers work at state schools. Therefore, it is just a little different. Taylor enjoyed being at this conference because it was a lot of other student service directors and ministers from other Christian universities.
“It gave me a bigger picture of what Christians are doing around the country to help their students grow their faith,” Taylor said.
The Faculty Colloquium is unique in the aspect that faculty and staff get to share with one another about how they are furthering their education or research.
“For students, a lot of the staff that they see, or maybe don’t see behind the scenes, are working hard and thinking hard about the programs and the events at Ouachita, and trying to instill them with meaning that will help them grow as individuals,” Taylor said.
Margaret McGraw was another staff member to share with fellow faculty and staff about the grant that she received and how she used it to better herself in her work place.
McGraw, in her third year as Assistant Athletic Director, was able to attend the National Association for Collegiate Women Athlete Administration convention.
At this three day convention, McGraw said she was able to, “improve professionally, personally, and come back and apply what I learned to my job” by attending workshops that were focused on development and fundraising, which is one of the priorities for the athletic department.
“The staff is always looking for ways to improve or enhance the student-athlete experience,” McGraw said.
Gail Hennagin was another staff member who spoke at the colloquium. Hennagin was awarded a grant to be able to attend the Samford Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research in Birmingham, Ala.
The institute was focused on teaching research techniques and how to be accurate in reading and understanding primary source documents.
“One of the emphases is on being accurate, making sure that the documents prove what you think they’re proving,” Hennagin said.
Hennagin works in the archives of the library, doing research and keeping track of many different records, databases, and history, so improving her researching skills was very helpful for her everyday job here at Ouachita.
Paula Webb got to share with the colloquium about how, with the grant she received, she was able to attend three on-line classes where she got to learn and practice skills for The Raiser’s Edge program by Blackbaud. This program is used in the development office to manage donor information.
“I am very grateful to have received this grant for continuing education. It’s great to be able to continue honing your skills in a program you use daily,” Webb said.
By Katie Jo Henley
