Office of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development

On Thursday, May 18, 2023 the staff of the HACC Learning Commons and Library gathered for their first official retreat at HACC’s Gettysburg campus. The event, bringing together faculty and specialists from tutoring, testing, user support and the library, included fifty-five staff from across the campus Learnings Commons as well as ten virtual Zoom participants. The theme for the day long retreat was Making Connections: Past, Present, Future and marked the first opportunity for most to meet each other in person as colleagues within the College wide Learning Commons.

Envisioned as a chance for the teams to meet, Elisa Cohen, Director of the Learning Commons, also hoped the day would provide a space for everyone to re-energize and think creatively about the combined mission and goals for the Learning Commons. Elisa’s opening remarks framed the day as one focused on how appropriate it was for the inaugural meeting to happen at Gettysburg campus; home of the first HACC Learning Commons. For Elisa “the retreat is about appreciating the past, looking how far we’ve come, recognizing the present with some of the great initiatives in Archives and HOWL [HACC Online Writing Lab], for instance. But it’s also about thinking where we want to go and who we want to be. What connections can we strengthen across the College and how can we best serve students on their path to success.”

Activities for the day included the fast-paced morning roundtable discussions using conversation starters aimed at improving services to students, and the importance of body language and eye contact when working with students. Representatives from the Admissions and New Student Orientation Departments also presented and tutoring provided a dynamic and comprehensive overview of the vastly successful HOWL tutoring program.  It was clear from participant feedback gathered after the retreat that the event provided a critical chance for staff from across the HACC Learning Commons to meet and debrief about the challenges of the past several years and look ahead toward shared goals for supporting HACC students. Indeed, as expressed by one participant, “It showed me many aspects of the learning commons that I feel like I should have known, but didn't. It made me want to dig into these areas more to really understand my workplace. Similarly, the admissions and orientation presentations showed me aspects of HACC that will be useful to know for students coming to us for questions.”

Elisa and the Learning Commons leadership team are already looking ahead to the next retreat. The success of the first retreat proved that being given the opportunity to step out of their regular work environment and engage in activities together really goes a long way in creating that sense of excitement for the future of the HACC Learning Commons.