Sunday, September 14, 2014

Program Planning

I am finding this new course very interesting! It is definitely something I have some experience in and want to learn more.  I started about 12 years ago planning programs in the health care field.  My first program was a Long Term Care Aide course for a private college in the Comox Valley.  It was a great success and I was very proud of every student that graduated from this program.  My career continued from there as I designed and implemented many other program for other schools.

As I reflect on the readings, I see some of the issues I faced when I started as a program designer.  I found that some schools were more interested in the dollars they were bringing in that what was needed in the community.  True stakeholder engagement is needed to make sure that the needs of the community and organizations are being met.  In reflection, some of the stakeholder meetings I attended had not be very well thought out as to how to work together and sometimes the meetings had to be ended due too much arguing or bullying.  I ended up dreading these meetings and would look for a way to not attend.

Things have changed for me now.  I work for a great organization and with what I am learning I will be able to help guide their new project.  (more to come in later posts)

I am finally feeling that the posts I am making are quality posts that I hope benefit my classmates learning also. Being able to bring your knowledge of experiences to the class is exciting and I feel recharged.  The team discussions we are doing really give us a inside look at our classmates and the different areas and ways they are involved in program planning.  I look forward to the next discussion.