Paul D. Camp Comm-unity College instructor of English Nancy Warren and Associate Professor of Math Justin Oliver, both Suffolk residents, were selected to take advantage of a unique, inaugural professional development opportunity.

The 2011 Chancellor’s Developmental Education Institute was recently offered by the Virginia Community College System in partnership with the National Center for Developmental Education, and was modeled after the Kellogg Institute.

The inaugural institute falls in line with the redesign efforts of the developmental education system as part of the VCCS Achieve 2015 strategic plan to enhance student success. It was held at the Berry Hill plantation in South Boston.

According to VCCS Chancellor Dr. Glenn DuBois, the faculty members who participated will be the “go-to individuals for ideas and innovation.”

According to Warren and Oliver, it was an honor to be selected to learn from Dr. Hunter R. Boylan and his wife, Dr. Barbara S. Bonham, who were among the presenters at the Institute.

Boylan is director of the NCDE, professor of Higher Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and past director of the Kellogg Institute. Bonham is senior researcher for the NCDE, faculty member of the Kellogg Institute, and coordinator of the Higher Education Graduate Program and professor in the Leadership and Educational Studies Department at Appalachian State.

“In one of the workshops, (Bonham) touched on age-, cultural- and learning-style diversity. It was very interesting,” Warren said.

Oliver noted that the Institute offered personal and professional benefits. In addition to meeting other colleagues and learning the history of Berry Hill, he said, “I learned what other VCCS institutions are doing in developmental education and worked with a variety of pedagogical techniques. (Overall) the most important thing I learned was the value of understanding the culture of the students I teach.”

Warren and Oliver will be responsible for developing two professional development activities focused on student success in developmental education during the upcoming academic year.

Warren said, “We worked in teams creating two workshops each. We presented our proposals on the last day.”

Warren, who has worked at PDCCC since 2001 and has taught for three years, serves on the Planning and Effectiveness Committee and is advisor of the Student Voice newsletter. She recently completed an internship offered by the Western Tidewater Tech Prep/Career Pathways Consortium. She is working on a professional writing certificate at Old Dominion University and takes communications classes.

She teaches English Composition I and II, Developmental Composition, American Literature and Children’s Literature.

Oliver, a 2007 recipient of the Virginia Community College Association’s Showcase Award, serves on the Planning and Effectiveness Committee, the Quality Enhancement Plan Committee, the Developmental Math Redesign Curriculum Team. In addition, he is the Math Redesign campus lead. He is in the Higher Education Administration Doctorate Program at Regent University.

Oliver began teaching as an adjunct faculty member in 1998. Hired as a full-time instructor in 2004, he teaches all developmental courses, math for liberal arts, pre-calculus and statistics.