Standing committee
Training and Development Committee
Anticipates the training needs of member institutions and companies, and provides the programmes and guidance to meet them.
Training and development are educational and research processes where members, and others interested in education and research, learn new information, reinforce existing knowledge and skills, and have time to consider what new options can improve their effectiveness at work. Effective training conveys relevant and useful information and develops skills and behaviours that transfer back to the workplace.
Training is offered as skills development for individuals, institutions and groups, involving the presentation and learning of content along with the practice of new skills. Training and institutional development are closely connected: training is a proactive means of developing skills and expertise to prevent problems arising and an effective tool for addressing skills or performance gaps, while organizational development creates solutions to workplace issues, before they become a concern or after they become an identifiable problem.
The committee's primary function is to anticipate the needs of member institutions and companies, investigate possible training functions to meet those needs, and provide guidance to staff, member institutions and companies.
Mission
To promote and support membership development and organizational and institutional effectiveness by providing high-quality educational training programmes, and to develop training and development programmes meeting individual, group, departmental and institutional needs and objectives.
Goals
- Provide training development activities for members, researchers, educators and professionals
- Establish linkages with local, regional and international educational institutions and human resource bodies to facilitate life-long learning and continuing professional development
- Create specific action steps and commitments that focus attention on incorporating new skills and ideas back at work
Objectives
- Act as a centralised repository for membership training and development needs
- Identify and make recommendations for association-wide training initiatives
- Provide consultation on the development, maintenance and monitoring of policies, procedures, programmes and initiatives for training and development
- Develop an inventory of self-learning resources, courses and web seminars
- Promote training, development and educational opportunities
- Participate in the evaluation of the training and development framework
- Liaise with key stakeholders to integrate and co-ordinate training and development efforts
- Promote a culture of continuous learning and development
Mandate
- Support the association's goal of building individual, organisational and institutional capacity in a strategic manner
- Plan and implement six general meeting seminars
- Conduct a training needs assessment survey as required
- Administer an internship programme for members, students and affiliate membership progression
- Seek funding to host educational and research programmes in collaboration with other institutions whose aims are compatible with the association's
Professional development opportunities
The committee organizes training programmes on an ongoing basis, including legal updates for supervisors, harassment awareness training, gender and faculty training and performance evaluation, alongside a wide range of topics including leadership, team development, change and transition, time management and communication skills.
Membership
The chair, with the Management Committee, solicits nominees for committee membership. Members have a commitment to lifelong learning and an interest in organizational effectiveness, and are able to represent members, employees, volunteers and students. Members sit for three years with the option of renewal for a further three, and membership is staggered wherever possible to ensure continuity.
Members participate in one to two annual face-to-face meetings, alongside other opportunities to meet at conferences and workshops, participate in virtual meetings, and take an active part in planning and developing annual activities and projects in their respective areas.