PAEA Faculty Development Branding Updated to Reflect Broader Offerings
PAEA’s Pando™ workshops, faculty development workshops focused on core PA educator knowledge and skills, have now been rebranded as “PAEA Workshops.” This change was motivated by the need to integrate the workshops into the broader spectrum of current as well as future PA faculty development opportunities offered by PAEA. The updated and simpler branding will help PA educators associate the offerings with PAEA and its full suite of faculty development opportunities.
In early 2016, the Faculty Development Council, chaired by Anthony Brenneman, MPAS, PA-C, published a proposal for a more integrated approach to faculty development at PAEA. Titled “Pathways to Professional Excellence,” the proposal envisioned a continuum of faculty development opportunities built around a “learning pathway,” where “learners themselves decide on the courses, programs, support, and other development needed to build their knowledge and skills progressively to achieve their unique professional goals.”
The new model for PAEA faculty development had four major elements:
- Conferences – the national Education Forum and regional education meetings
- Workshops – role-specific workshops and smaller workshops on emerging issues
- Learning systems – a learning management system and online resource library
- Mentoring – an online peer networking community and coaching services
For many years, PAEA’s faculty development opportunities were largely limited to the Education Forum and the Pando™ workshops, both of which were only available in-person, and both of which maintained independent branding. As PAEA begins to implement all four major elements of the “Pathways to Professional Development,” including online and hybrid learning and regional opportunities built on a learner-centered model, these independent brands became limiting.
The new simplified branding puts the focus on PAEA’s unified set of offerings, rather than splitting attention across several unique names. The new branding includes:
- PAEA Workshops – including both the core role-specific workshops as well as workshops focused on emerging issues and topics
- PAEA Education Forum – the national conference for PA educators
- PAEA Regional Education Meetings – local learning events throughout the country, with a pilot event being developed for 2018
For more information about PAEA’s “Pathways to Professional Excellence” and other faculty development news, please contact Zach Britt, senior director of education strategy, at zbritt@PAEAonline.org.
