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Professional LEARNING

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planning Professional Learning?

Welcome to our Guide to Hosting Professional Learning page where we've pulled together all the resources for Mesa colleagues who are planning professional learning (PL) events. We hope this helps answer some of your questions, but feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] for any of your questions left unanswered. 

Also this is a living document, so we're updating it as we continue to learn more about the process. 

Additional Formats

The LOFT's Guide to Planning Pl

1. Determine the Dates of Your EveNT 📅

Here are a few things to consider when deciding on the date of your event:
  • Check audience availability and offer a suitable meeting time
  • Will you be inviting any VIPs to the event? You'll want to check their availability on your potential dates.
  • Check the LOFT's Training/Events Page to avoid scheduling conflicts.
  • Campus is busy during the first and last weeks of the semester, so we recommend avoiding those weeks. 
  • Schedule workshops aligning to faculty class time blocks: 8:00a - 9:20a; 9:35a - 10:55a; 11:10a - 12:30p; 12:45p - 2:05p; 2:30p - 3:40p; A common teaching schedule for faculty is 11a - 2p, so avoid those times for events targeted for faculty.
  • Fridays tend to be non-teaching days for faculty, but this also means that they are popular days for meetings to be scheduled.

2. Reserve room/zoom/OWL🪑

Once you have the date(s) decided on, it's time to request a location for your event.

ROOM

Use the Mesa Events and Reservations Portal to request your desired location. That form will also take you through several of the steps we've included in this guide. Await confirmation email from the Facilities team.

Zoom

Consider offering your workshop on Zoom to reach a broader audience. Here's Zoom's Scheduling Meetings support page. We recommend adding facilitators as alternate hosts to your Zoom Room.

Hyflexing w/ OWL camera

To give participants the flexibility to choose what works best for them, consider offering your workshop in a HyFlex format—both in-person and on Zoom at the same time.

If you have requested LRC 432 or the LOFT for your event, email Todd Williamson ([email protected]) and the LOFT ([email protected]) to request the OWL camera. 

If your event is not in LRC 432 or the LOFT, add the OWL Camera to the Audio/Visual section in your Mesa Events and Reservations Portal request. Then follow-up with TBD. 

3. Request flex credit⚙️

Flex credit is a great way to incentivize faculty attendance at your event since faculty need to complete their contractual Flex hour obligation.

You can request Flex Credit for your event using the Flex Workshop Request form. You will hear back from the LOFT with your Flex# in about 5 business days. 

4. Open registration & promote! 📢

Registration

Registration for your event will depend on your event's audience.

If your event is for faculty only, you can just use the Flex calendar for your registration. Faculty register on Flex, and the LOFT can provide you the list of registrants.

If administrators and classified professionals need to register for your event, the LOFT can assist you with creating a registration form (either in GoogleForms, Microsoft Forms, or EmailMe) and providing the list of registrants. 

Be sure to include a question such as, Is there anything we can do or provide to help you fully participate in this session? These answers can help you create an inclusive event for participants. (Interpreting services, seating accommodations, alternative formats, etc.)

If your event includes food, you'll want to include a question in the registration form asking your participants about dietary restrictions. 

Promote

The Office of Communications can assist with promoting your event by creating Flyers, A-frame Artwork, Postcards, and much more. They have several tools available on their website, and a Project Request Form that must be submitted 15 days in advance of the event.

While you're on the Office of Communications site, submit a Project Request Form to request photography for the day of your event. You'll find “Group Photos” in their Photography services section of the request form.

Once you have your flyers and A-frame designs, you can order printouts through Print & Mail Services at their Print Request Form which will ask you for a Budget Number. 

If you'd like your event promoted in a LOFT Newsletter, please email [email protected] with "Newsletter" in the subject line sharing the flyer for the event.

While this may not apply to professional learning events, if you'd like yours shared with students, please send your promotional details to Mesa Journeys at [email protected].

5. order catering🍽️

If your event will be catered, then you'll need to order catering through Company Kitchen. Our catering contact is Arianna Becerra who can be reached at [email protected] to answer questions. Here is the general process:

  • Create an account on their website. 
  • Choose Mesa College from the Campus drop down list.
  • Provide your date, time, and menu items. 
  • Provide event details, contact details, and payment method.
  • Also nice to follow-up with email to Arianna to establish that channel of communication.

If you need assistance navigating options beyond Company Kitchen to meet specific needs for your event, reach out to your dean for guidance. The LOFT team is also happy to share their experience and support you through the process.

6. Access to your Professional learning event

Parking Permits

Parking Permits will be necessary for guests and they can be requested by emailing Parking Services at [email protected]. Parking Services will issue a digital permit that can be emailed to your guests to print out and display in any regular staff/student space. 

CAMPUS MAP

Provide your guests with our campus map and the parking lot closest to the building of the event location.

Interpreting services

Interpreting services are available through District Office Interpreting Services. On their site is a form to request non-classroom accommodations: Request Services. They can be reached via email at [email protected]. 

7. CLOSE & Confirm registrations

If your event has a maximum capacity (due to room size, catering request, etc.) then you'll need to monitor the registration form, and close it at maximum capacity. 

Once registration has closed, email the registrants (with registrants BCC'ed) to inform them that they have successfully registered and that you look forward to their attendance. Here's a simple template you could use. 

Greetings! You are confirmed for [Enter Event Name] on [Enter Event Date/Time] in [Enter Event Location] with Flex # [Enter Flex #].

[Food/Swag/Details]: We have ordered [food, swag, etc.] for you for our event. If your plans change, please let us know as soon as possible to adjust our preparations accordingly. 

Planning to earn Flex credit? Be sure to register before the session starts—you won’t be able to register afterwards.

We're excited about the upcoming event and look forward to your participation. If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to contact us.

See you there!

[Your Name/Organization]

8. Preparing the workshop/event⭐

Decide on your goal

Setting a clear goal for your workshop/event is super important, and you've hopefully thought of this already. Think of this as the event's North Star - guiding everything from the agenda to the activities that you plan. Jot down what you want to achieve right from the start to help keep everything aligned with that goal. Here are some examples. 

  • Support faculty with developing an inclusive online spaces.
  • Explore the ways that the Mesa community can support sustainability
  • Provide campus with insights from industry professionals on how AI is transforming their fields. 

A well-defined goal not only shapes your planning but also sets the stage for boosting the impact of your event. 

Facilitators

Who will be facilitating the actual event/workshop? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Will you be sending out a Call for Proposals/Presenters? This is a great way to tap into the expertise on our campus. The LOFT has templates to share with you, if you need them.
  • Provide speakers and facilitators with preparation materials in advance. This could include audience demographics, event goals, and any specific expectations regarding their presentations.
  • The Business Office has a process for paying external speaker fees, so reachout to them first, if you plan on paying any external speakers.
  • Have a co-facilitator for Hyflex workshops/sessions to help engage with the Zoom participants. 

Activities

If you are facilitating the workshops, then once you have your goal, consider how you will be achieving that goal. What will participants be doing? They need to do more than passively listen to an hour-long lecture in order to be engaged in the learning process. 

  • Depending on the size of your event, consider allowing time for participants to introduce themselves to their neighbors. 
  • Create opportunities for participants to practice whatever you are teaching them. 
  • Build in time for participants to share their expertise with each other.
  • Decide which Active Learning Strategies you'll use to keep your participants engaged. (That resource includes online synchronous, online asynchronous, and face-to-face options.)
  • Leave ample time for questions and discussion from your participants.

EQUIPMENT RESOURCES

If there are specific resources you need (markers, pens, post-it notes, scrap paper, dry-erase boards/markers, nametags, etc) please be in touch with the LOFT at [email protected] so that we can be sure to have those available for you on the day of your event. 

9. facilitating the workshop/event✨

Here are some tips for having the most successful event

  • Arrive early to prepare the space and resources that you'll need.
  • If applicable, set aside a space for catering to setup any food orders.
  • Add signage so that participants can easily find the space. 
  • At the entrance table, provide:
    • Sign-in sheet
    • Nametags, optionally
    • Any handouts/swag/etc.
    • A friendly greeting from someone welcoming them to the event
  • Have the survey easily accessible (either paper or digital) 

10. collecting feedback & reflecting👍🏾

COLLECTING FEEDBACK

Getting feedback from your audience is the best way to identify areas to improve. We recommend using an anonymous survey tool to collect this feedback. The LOFT can provide that for you, if you don't already have one of your own. A few tips:

  • Give your participants a few minutes at the end of your event to complete the survey. 
  • Follow up with an email to your participants immediately following the event with another link to the survey in case they left early or wanted more time to submit it. 

REFLECTING

Take some time to reflect on the event and how it went. Revisit the goal that you set when you started planning it. Do you feel like you met your goal? Jotting down some ideas might help to remind yourself of what you could differently next time. 

Reflection questions to ask yourself:

  1. Do you feel like you met your goal?
  2. Did the participant survey results surprise you in any way?
  3. What could be improved for next time?
  4. Did you have everything that you needed from the LOFT?
  5. How could LOFT better support you next time? 

The LOFT team would love to hear from you on how it went, especially for your answer to #4 and #5. We want your feedback to improve this guide, so don't hesitate in letting us know how we can better support you.

11. Sharing out📰

Share presentation Materials

Assuming you have persmission from your presenters to do so, collect any resources from the presenters that were shared with the audience. These can then be emailed to the partcipants for ease of access after the event. Consider sending these materials out to the broader campus community for anyone who was unable to attend the event. 

Thanking presenters

This is also a good time to send a Thank-You email to the presenters, panelists, speakers, tech support, facilities support, volunteers, special guests, and/or sponsors of the event. You could include pictures and a few testimonial highlights from the survey responses to share the good vibes from the event with them.

LOFT Newsletter

We're eager to feature your event in the next LOFT Newsletter! Please send a short description and any event photos to [email protected]. Also, if you have any positive testimonials from your surveys, feel free to include those, and we might highlight them as well. 

Got feedback on how we can improve this guide? Great! Please let us know @ [email protected].

Updated on 4/24/25.