Ocotillo Retreat 2004

May 18, 2004, 8:00am - 3:30pm, Desert Botanical Garden

Seventeen years ago the Maricopa Ocotillo group "sprouted" its first branches as a faculty-led initiative to promote the effective use of instructional technology. Like it's desert plant metaphor, as an organization, Ocotillo has continually adapted and evolved with the fast-moving environment of technology... and for 2004-2005, we are changing again.

To celebrate this evolution at our annual Ocotillo Retreat, we are pleased to welcome our special guest speaker, Dr. Diana Oblinger, Vice President for EDUCAUSE. As an expert visionary, Diana consistently presents to standing room only audiences. Presenting on "The Paradox of Agility and Stability," Diana will engage us in a dialogue about the need for Maricopa to be an "agile" institution in our use of technology. She will bring her insights from working with numerous organizations and highlight the latest technology innovations worth keeping our eyes on.

The agenda of the retreat includes an overview of the new structure for Ocotillo, unfolding in September 2004, as a new "agile" organization focused on current technology areas. You will meet the faculty co-chairs for next year's Ocotillo, and engage in roundtable discussions that will help chart the course for the new "action groups" and also identify how your own college will participate next year (discussion summaries now available).

Our setting for Ocotillo Retreat '04 is exceptionally appropriate. We will be surrounded by the real desert metaphors of the tranquil Desert Botanical Garden.

If you would like to be a part of this experience, please contact your current college Ocotillo chair before April 30, 2004. For residential faculty, this event has been pre-approved for 5.75 clock-hours of Faculty Professional Growth (FPG) non-academic advancement.

John Arle
Ocotillo Faculty General Chair
Phoenix College Biology Dept.