ALA-PaLA Career Development Facilitator Opportunity; Seeking Applicants
October 1, 2014
ALA President Courtney Young set as one of her initiatives the creation of a cohort of 25 librarians who would receive training and certification as Career Development Facilitators. State chapters were invited to apply to take part in this initiative and, several days ago, PaLA was notified that we are one of the successful applicants.
Here is some information excerpted from ALA’s call to the chapters:
Created by the National Career Development Association (NCDA), the CDF program is a comprehensive training designed to address several facets of career planning and the job search. Established in 1913, NCDA is the premier provider of professional development in the career field. With a nationwide system of instructors, NCDA has prepared over 18,000 CDFs for inter/national certification. The training program provides standards, training specifications, and the opportunity for a credential for those who provide career services in a variety of settings such as K-12 education, higher education, workforce development and government, business and industry, human resources, libraries, one-stop career centers and many other settings. It provides individuals with relevant skills and knowledge to assist others in planning careers and obtaining meaningful work. This specific training will be tailored for special emphasis on the role of the librarian in helping patrons and job seekers. By offering this innovative training to those in state chapters, participants will be able to assist their peers as well as the thousands of patrons from their libraries that they assist every day.
Chapter Participants will receive training in each of 12 career development competencies:
• Career resources and labor market information/ • Career planning processes;
• Basic helping and facilitation skills; / • Career development models and theories;
• Informal and formal assessment approaches; /• Diversity and specific population needs;
• Development and maintenance of an effective career resource center; / • Cutting-edge job searching; /• Training others and program promotion; / • Case management and referral skills;
• Ethical and scope-of-practice issues; / • Professional and resource portfolios;
The program commences with two days of intensive face-to-face workshops just prior to the 2015 Midwinter in Chicago, IL. (January 29 – February 3, 2015.) Afterwards, the training will move to a virtual online format for an additional 14 weeks in a Moodle classroom. During this time, participants will be expected to complete homework assignments and participate in interactive online discussions. The training culminates with a program during the 2015 Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA where a select group of participants from the program will make presentations based on the topics learned and how they plan on applying them to their chapters and home institutions. During the 2015 Annual Conference program, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. At that point, they will then become eligible to apply for the Global CDF Certification, if they wish. Throughout the program, they will receive access to a wealth of resource materials provided by ALA and NCDA. (This includes a free one-year membership in NCDA at the end of the program.)
President Courtney Young’s budget will cover the cost for all online training, materials and the two days of intensive face-to-face workshops (which includes lunch and breaks on both days.) Participants or their institutions will be responsible for paying for their individual travel, lodging and registrations for both ALA Conferences in 2015. As a sponsoring state chapter and the home for the ALA President, PaLA is committed to supporting the PaLA-chosen participant’s costs not to exceed $1000 total for both conferences.
In exchange for this support, the successful PaLA applicant will make the following commitments subsequent to the in-person and online training:
- Development of a timeline of 2015 CDF activities;
- Participation in the 2015 PaLA Annual Conference;
- Participation in 2015 Chapter and/or division workshops, and one or more PaLA leadership gatherings, TBD;
- Participation in a PaLA-sponsored webinar;
- Involvement with periodic PaLA/CDF publicity; and,
- Regular updates for the PaLA board on CDF activities.
We invite letters of interest from PA librarians, with endorsements from your relevant supervisor, that is, the person who can authorize the time to participate in this program, as described above, and including time to present at state and/or local chapter conferences and/or webinars, and also authorize any financial support not provided by ALA, PaLA, and not paid by the individual. The strongest application will demonstrate that the individual is well positioned to provide maximum impact from the training, both in his/her workplace and through information sharing with other Pennsylvania librarians. The successful applicant will demonstrate sustained dedication to career facilitation and professional development for the state’s librarians working in an ongoing way with and through the Pennsylvania Library Association.
Letters are due to PaLA First Vice-President, David Schappert, dschappert@marywood.edu, by October 15. The successful applicant will be notified on or about October 27. For additional information, please contact David Schappert at the address above.
Thank you.
David G. Schappert
PaLA First Vice-President/President-Elect
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