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Tiffanie Rosier serves as a STEM Education Coordinator for NOVA SySTEMic. In her role, she facilitates and coordinates STEM integration and career exploration activities at all grade levels, from K-12 to post-secondary community college students. Rosier works hard to develop relationships with higher education and business partners to coordinate activities to develop students’ academic, career and professional skills. She regularly works on scheduled STEM/CTE Workshops for students and potential students on topics related to career and professional development activities.

Rosier was recently featured in an ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education) press release on her prior work in promoting diversity and inclusion, leadership skills and innovative ways to engage with students and colleagues in career and technical education (CTE). In addition, in March she was named as a Fellow for the 2021 Postsecondary Leadership Success Program at ACTE – sponsored by ECMC Foundation (PLSP-ECMCF). Read on to learn what she wants to promote at NOVA and beyond with such a hard-earned achievement.

The ACTE competitive 2021 Leadership Success program’s review committee selected 20 participants for the 2020-2021 cohort.  The PLSP-ECMCF will support current and aspiring leaders in career and technical education (CTE). The goal is to provide professional and career growth opportunities to the next generation of leaders at nonprofits and postsecondary institutions offering CTE programs.

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities. 

What brought you to NOVA?

I was looking for the opportunity to work in a full-time position in an area that was leading the Commonwealth in the areas of STEM/CTE and technology initiatives. I’ve had the opportunity to live in the mountains and near the beach areas of Virginia and I wanted to explore living the Northern Virginia life and all this area has to offer! 

What do you enjoy about NOVA?  

I enjoy the variety of activities and opportunities that are offered on campus and off campus for our students, faculty and staff.

What do you do to really connect with students?

I ask students to tell me about themselves, what they are interested in personally/professionally and what they would like to do in the future!  Getting to know someone and hearing their excitement about WIIFT (What’s In It For Them) in life, you can create opportunities to authentically connect with them and support their present and future aspirations. I also invite students to participate in activities as as student subject matter experts, by asking them for their direct feedback about their thoughts on a program or just asking them to participate as an attendee in an event through a personal invite.

Do you have a specific advice you give to incoming students?

1)KYOO-Keep Your Options Open.

2)It’s ok to change your major and your career path.

3)Ask questions, ask for help…even if you don’t know the questions to ask…just show up!

 

Featured Below is Rosier’s Insightful Interview with ACTE:

In what ways have you innovated to engage students & inspire colleagues in career and technical (CTE) through the COVID-19 pandemic?

I co-wrote an InNOVAtion grant for a virtual project titled, The Career & Leadership Readiness Institute (CLRI) at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).

Requirements to obtain the certificate included completing a variety of workshops on topics such as:

• Resume preparation
• Interviewing
• Networking
• Diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Communication and conflict resolution
• How to stand out from the crowd, professionally

 

And students delivered a final project to complete their CLRI certification.

Orientation sessions were offered from November 2020–January 2021. And more than 500 individuals attended 21 workshops, panels and information sessions led by 29 community partners in spring 2021. Captioning services were provided for every session. In addition, NOVA’s American Sign Language interpreting students were invited to practice their skills.

CLRI’s first goal was to provide opportunities for students to engage in career and leadership readiness training. They experienced professional networking activities with the NOVA community and employers to increase career connections. The second goal was to prepare NOVA students with the knowledge, skills and awareness to navigate a diverse workplace.

What leadership skills do you hope to develop as part of the Postsecondary Leadership Success Program at ACTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation?

I want to build a professional network to support my development as a postsecondary leader in career and technical education (CTE). I want to accomplish these goals by connecting with other cohort members to learn more about what they do.

Additionally, I want to enhance my understanding of challenges related to CTE staffing and strategies for recruiting and retaining CTE faculty. One way I can develop my leadership skills in this area is to interview a CTE administrator responsible for recruitment and staffing. An additional activity to increase my experiences in this area may include attending a workshop focused on inclusion, access, equity and diversity for CTE professionals.

Finally, I will seek out discussions with my mentor to learn about their experiences. Their knowledge and expertise can assist me in developing leadership skills related to recruitment, staffing and training.

Our education systems face many challenges in 2021. Please discuss the steps CTE can take to improve equitable access to high-quality CTE programs of study.

Educators may take a SWOT analysis approach. Provide stakeholders with the information, activities and resources to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) related to the programming they develop and implement. This activity can help identify strategies for creating more equitable, high-quality CTE programs. Create opportunities for training while recognizing that educators have different needs; everyone exists in different stages of awareness.

Provide information in multiple formats! Diversity of format not only allows more individuals to receive access to information but can also create more opportunities for engagement. Ensure that individuals may choose when and how to be exposed to and process information.

Finally, create opportunities for people to ask questions and share information about topics related to equitable education. Offer these opportunities in comfortable environments, where individuals can be open to share thoughts, opinions and ideas. The definition of comfortable is up for interpretation, so I believe the ability to focus on topics related to equitable education needs to be flexible and fluid.