New Beach Staff Development Center brings advancement, engagement opportunities under one roof
The Beach Staff Development Center is CSULB’s new one-stop-shop that brings opportunities for career advancement, partnerships, and staff engagement all under one roof. A Beach 2030 initiative, the center marks a major achievement in the university’s mission to enhance pathways for personal and professional achievement for staff members — a goal laid out in the strategic plan.
A flurry of staff members — some 200 — flocked to the new center earlier this month during an open house event led by director Stacey Schack. Tucked on the third floor of the University Library, the space beckoned staffers with its attractive facade of bright yellows and blues, and a wall graphic meant to inspire creativity and success.
A glass board on the rear wall of the freshly minted space posed a question to the group: “What do you want to learn?”
The responses ran the gamut — “retirement,” “fee waiver,” “leadership development classes.”
All are possible at the center, which will host a mix of existing learning and development programs and series, upskilling and networking workshops, and informational sessions on a range of topics. Opportunities for new workshops and offerings to take place in the space will also be extended. And with high-flex capabilities, events can be presented both in-person and online. Use of the space is currently by appointment only to ensure events being held there can go uninterrupted.
“That’s why we created the Beach Staff Development Center — to provide a dedicated space for staff learning and development, removing barriers for all staff members to participate in these opportunities,” said Schack, Associate Director of Learning, Development, & Recognition Programs.
The center represents a major step in realizing a longtime goal for staff at The Beach, who have long expressed a desire for a dedicated space for growth, development, and connection.
“This has been a dream,” President Jane Close Conoley said during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the BSDC in January. During her more-than decade as president of CSULB, she has heard consistently from staff members this hope for more focus on personal and professional learning and development opportunities, she said.
“That’s why Reimagine Staff was part of the Beach 2030 thinking,” Conoley said.
“Organizations don’t thrive, don’t flourish, if the people who work there are not committed and motivated, and if they can’t find a home and a sense of belonging.”
She said she hopes the center will be a space not only for training and development, but for staff to make connections and solve problems together.
In his 20 years at CSULB, Vann Ou, library services specialist working in receiving and acquisition, said he has never attended a professional development event through the campus, primarily because he didn’t know where or when they were taking place. At the BSDC open house this month — which he attended after hearing about it from his manager — he learned about the center’s offerings and goals.
He said he’d be interested now in participating in a workshop or series to help him grow his skills in “anything related to my position, like Excel.”
For Laura Butt, senior coordinator at Associated Students, Inc, attending professional development events has always been highly encouraged by her organization, she said, so she sees the value in a dedicated space on campus to participate in and learn about new offerings.
“I think that making a centralized location will increase participation,” said Butt, who has worked on campus more than two decades. “Having a space creates a sense of ownership and helps create comfort and familiarity. It can be helpful in people receiving the message.”
She noted that the repurposed space in the library that the center now occupies is aesthetically attractive, too, which speaks to the campus’ dedication to making the center a success.
“With this space, it really shows how the university is committed to using space we have on campus and adapting it to our changing needs,” she said. “And it looks nice. It shows that they value it.”
