Post-Conference Institute

Saturday, September 29, 9am-12pm

NCLCA LEARNING CENTER LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATION

 What’s It All About?

 

Presented

by

Rae Maslana, Certification Chair 2007-09

and

Laura Choiniere, Corresponding Secretary 2006-09

 

Rae Maslana

 

Laura Choiniere

 

Certification for tutors and learning centers is provided by several professional organizations -- but NCLCA is the sole provider of certification for learning center professionals.  In this way, novice to highly experienced individuals, working as part-time faculty or staff to learning center directors, can gain learning center professional credentialing. 

More often than not, learning assistance professionals come into the field through happenstance rather than intentional design.  Learning Center Leadership Certification provides an interdisciplinary, comprehensive approach to recognizing the accomplishments of people in the field through benchmarking, sharing experiences and training in theories and best practices in learning assistance.  Furthermore, certification gives individual learning assistance professionals a nationally recognized credential and set of standards by which to foster their future growth and development by focusing on evolving levels of practice, training, self-reflection, service and evaluation.    

This session will begin with a brief history and importance of professional certification, after which we will discuss in great detail the four levels of NCLCA certification and the criteria for each.  Although no certification application is ever rejected, it may be returned for further work.  This session will cover how applications are approved during “the first go around” thereby possibly avoiding applicant rework.  Certification renewals and upgrades will also be discussed.

Since the focus of this session will be a workshop environment devoted to participants’ hands-on work on their own professional applications, the casual certification seeker will find this session informative, but the serious applicant will find it most beneficial.  Attendees should come prepared for this session by bringing their own writing materials, either paper or electronic, and any documents meeting application criteria about which they may have questions. To maintain confidentiality, no cross-sharing of application packets will occur. 

Looking forward to seeing you at this workshop!

 

Biography

Rae Maslana is the Coordinator of Tutoring and a Counselor, at College of DuPage (C.O.D.), a Chicago-area community college of 30,000 students.  Rae has been involved in the field of learning assistance for nearly 20 years, developing the C.O.D. Peer Tutoring Program in 1996.  Annually, this program serves hundreds of students for thousands of visits, both one on one and in groups; by appointment or drop-in; using face to face, supplementary instruction or online approaches.   

Rae achieved Level 4 NCLCA Certification in December 2006 and is currently serving NCLCA as its Certification Chair until 2009. In addition to her membership in NCLCA, Rae belongs to the National Tutoring Association (NTA) and served as its 2001-04 Awards Chair.  She was presented the NTA President’s Award in 2004 and one of her peer tutors won the NTA 2001 Tutor of the Year Award for a Two-Year School.  Rae has presented at the Illinois Chapter of NADE, numerous times at NTA conferences, and has had articles appear in the NTA and NCLCA Newsletters.

In addition to her NCLCA certification, Rae is also a National Certified Counselor, a State of Illinois Licensed Professional Counselor and an Illinois Secondary Education certified teacher.  Rae has done pre-doctoral work at Northern Illinois University, received her M.Ed. Degree from Loyola University of Chicago, a B.S.B.E. from DePaul University in Chicago, and an A.S. Degree from Triton College, River Grove, Illinois. Rae and her husband, both Chicagoland natives, have been married for more than 30 years, currently reside in a western suburb of Chicago and have two adult daughters.

Laura Choiniere is the Corresponding Secretary on the Executive Board of NCLCA, and is responsible for managing the logistical aspects of LCLC.  She serves as the Director of the Center for Academic Development at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.