Professional Development Fund Benefits Dozens of Staffers in First Year

A four-day leadership coaching program. A sustainability summit in Boston. One-on-one virtual training with a musician in the field.  

CSULB’s Staff Professional Development Fund program has helped make possible a multitude of meaningful growth experiences for Beach employees across the university.  

Launched in March 2023, the centralized fund was designed to allow more access to professional development dollars, offering up to $1,500 per person from a centralized pot for opportunities like conferences, specialized training, networking and collaboration, and participation in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Bias experiences and trainings.  

Now, nearly a year since its rollout, it’s clear the program has served as a valuable resource: 53 applications for funds were approved between March 2023 and February 2024, totaling about $58,832 awarded to staff members. The program, developed by the team behind efforts to Reimagine Staff at CSULB, will continue via Beach 2030 for another year, supporting staff seeking new career advancement opportunities. 

Feedback has been ‘rewarding’ 

In surveys, awardees of the fund dollars noted major takeaways from the professional growth opportunities they were able to attend with the help of the program support.  

“I personally find it rewarding to review their post-activity follow-up feedback,” said Stacey Schack, Associate Director of Staff Learning, Development & Recognition Programs, who leads the development fund project. “I have enjoyed reading about their experiences with their professional development opportunities, especially when they have articulated how they plan to apply what they've learned.”   

She added: “We can further capitalize on this investment if they additionally share their new skills, best practices, and knowledge with others on campus.” 

Christina Boontanond, a team case manager for CARES — the Campus Assessment, Response and Evaluation for Students team — said she created valuable connections with other case managers during a networking event she attended in June, spurring a partnership with another CSU campus. 

“The conference was valuable in opening up networks with other campuses, especially in the CSU systems,” Boontanond wrote in her post-event survey. “As such this summer, the CARES team has worked [with] the CARES team from Dominguez Hills to partner and share information and resources that help our students navigate any concerns or crises.” 

Other Beach staffers noted that the skills learned in their professional development event gave them new tools they plan to take back to their roles at CSULB.  

Shayleen Fay, Director of the Student Center for Professional Development in the College of Business, said one takeaway from the Leadership Coaching Strategies program she participated in through Harvard University was a lesson on returning to the fundamentals. 

"One coaching item that will impact my work at CSULB is reminding myself and others of the basics,” Fay wrote. 

“To help create a foundation, it is important to ask, ‘What is the first step of the first step?’” she added. “Simple, yet powerful, and something I plan to include in my coaching communications at every level.” 

Reimagining staff experiences 

Providing support for growth and advancement opportunities, the staff professional development fund represents progress toward major goals of the Reimagine Staff action plan. Engaging CSULB staff through opportunities for new intellectual and career achievements aims to spur a deeper sense of collaboration and community on campus, boosting morale, institutional knowledge, and retention. 

For Don Nichols, music director for CSULB Dance, his one-on-one virtual training with musician and audio engineer Ray Dillard — an experience for which he applied and was awarded professional development fund dollars — sparked insights “both inspiring and enriching,” he wrote in his survey.  

“This training with Mr. Dillard is vital for my ability to remain connected with the larger arts community and thereby bring current and dynamic ideas back into the Dance Department,” Nichols wrote. “It also helps maintain my professional relationships across the broad dance/music/performance spectrum. I am very grateful for the support of the Professional Development Fund.”