Employee Learning Gets a New Face

Rich Higgason, Ph.D., MCC’s new director of educational programs and employee development, says his favorite aspect of working for MCC is that the institution is committed to making people’s lives better. “As one of my students said, MCC means 'hope.'”

Professional and organizational development at MCC is getting a new face – literally and figuratively.

Rich Higgason, who assumed the role of district director of educational programs and employee development in October, has innovative ideas in mind for his newly minted position – a role that is steeped in history and rich with possibility.

Higgason takes over where two seasoned colleagues left off: When Jane Zeitner, former director of educational programs, and Gail Barham, former director of organizational development, both retired last summer, the two roles were combined into one. Higgason, who was named to the new position on October 18 and officially starts the role full-time on January 1, tips his hat to his predecessors and embraces the opportunities that accompany the reformulated position.

“I’ve been amazed at the breadth and depth of programs Jane and Gail and their teams put on,” said Higgason. “There are already so many opportunities for employee learning, so we’ll continue to build on those, dovetailing the programs for faculty and staff and promoting all opportunities to the full employee audience.”

Higgason, who has been with MCC for 16 years and most recently was division chair for humanities at MCC-Blue River, believes employee learning is as fundamental to MCC as student learning.

“MCC’s vision statement stresses the importance of learning, including employee learning, and professional development is key to carrying out our mission to educate students,” said Higgason. “We need to be sure staff, faculty and administrators have the skills they need not only for their current roles but also for future growth. Continued learning equips us to best serve students and at the same time provides for employees’ own personal and professional growth.”

Higgason holds a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a master of arts in English from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a doctor of philosophy in English literature and criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He served as a graduate teaching assistant and an adjunct lecturer at UMKC before joining MCC in 1994 as an adjunct lecturer at Longview. He became a full-time instructor at MCC-Blue River in 1998 and became division chair for humanities in 2006. He has served on more than 15 task forces and committees at MCC, including leading the Strategic Planning Council’s 2010 strategy 8 efforts to improve communication across the district and serving as a member of the MCC faculty senate and of MCC-Blue River’s president’s cabinet.

In addition to developing, promoting and delivering professional development programs, Higgason is also responsible for student service learning, district-wide student orientation and other student- and employee-focused initiatives. Though most of his experience as an instructor is in front of students, Higgason says he is looking forward to the challenge of providing learning opportunities to a new audience.

“The difference between teaching students and training employees is that you have to be a better teacher,” he said. “Employees are there voluntarily, so if your training is not effective, they stop coming. You’ve got to keep their attention and engage them in a different way.”

Watch for more information soon from the office of educational programs and employee development, including improvements to the training tracking system and streamlined promotion of educational and training programs.