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Del received his Master's degree in Instructional Design and Development from Florida State University, and studied with Dr. Robert Gagne and Dr. Leslie Briggs, two of the most widely respected scholars in educational psychology and peers of Dr. B. F. Skinner. He received a Bachelor's degree cum laude in History and Political Science from FSU.
His volunteer work in various human service, civil rights, environmental, and educational causes has been recognized by a nomination for the "Harry Chapin Award for Contributions to Humanity" on three occasions. That is the highest honor the entertainment industry awards for public service. Past recipients include Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Ken Kragen (Live Aid), The AIDS Quilt Project, Habitat for Humanity, and Comic Relief.
Del is likely the most widely published author in the field of Student Activities, and he has been published extensively in "Programming," "Student Activities Journal"and "Campus Activities" magazines. He has also written for numerous other mass market publications such as "Canoe" and "Trailer Boats" magazines. Some of these articles are available here. He was also a finalist for Best Campus Speaker for 2009 as voted by the school members of The Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities.
He's sailed the Caribbean. He's built houses. He's written songs. He's founded a record label with over a dozen releases. He has been an Adjunct in both the College of Education and in the College of Music at Florida State University. He's hosted television specials for public broadcasting. He's an avid gardener, a gifted cook, and he builds his own computers. He has presented his educational programs to more than 4,000 people at over 100 conferences, conventions, and campuses.
Del Suggs is striving to be a "Renaissance Man"-- referring to the Victorian ideal of a person who is able to do anything and everything. Along the way, he has discovered some of the secrets of both achieving life goals, and finding balance and joy in everyday life. He would like to share those lessons with you.
Del can provide you with specific learning outcomes from each of these presentations. He can also assist you in developing assessment tools for these programs.
For Student Activities Development and Training Programs, Click here.
Designed to explain how the world of commercial music operates, it covers nearly all areas of music and entertainment. It includes live performance, recording and the record industry, publishing, radio, and more. It will explain the role of such professionals as personal managers, booking agents, entertainment attorneys, road managers, and others. It's a rare chance to "follow the money" from a voting member of The Recording Academy!
Del's fee includes as many as four programs presented on the same day, and may include leadership development and student activities training.
Please provide a video projector capable of PowerPoint for each program.
Staff Training Programs
The following programs are targeted for staff development. While they can be presented for student activity boards, they present more advanced concepts aimed at the school's professional staff:
Assessment in Student Activities
Assessment is the best means of evaluating the success of your programs and events, and demonstrates your commitment to the educational mission of your institution. Assessment is also the best way to improve your programs, as it indicates where they've been successful and where they have not. This program covers creating straight-forward learning outcomes for your programs. Using these outcomes as a benchmark, this session will discuss methods for evaluating the success of your programs. We'll consider various assessment tools and techniques: anecdotal, web surveys, exit evaluations, interviews, departmental reviews, faculty evaluations, discussion groups, and, yes, even headcounts.Data Don't Drive and Student Activities
Data Don't Drive: Building a Practioner-Driven Culture of Inquiry To Assess
Community College Performance by Alicia Dowd was published the Lumina Foundation
in 2005. This report finds that schools often require the collection of data which is
irrelevant to actually improving learning. Data Don't Drive calls for a fundamental
change from a "culture of evidence"-- gathering relevant information-- to a "culture of
inquiry"-- where the collected information is transformed into applicable knowledge. It
will be your job to convert this data into useful information that enhances student success.Learning Reconsidered and Student Activities
The publication of Learning Reconsidered in 2004 and Learning Reconsidered 2 in 2006 has had a dramatic impact on higher education. In calling for a new outlook in education, these publications have laid the foundation for a new philosophy of teaching and learning that will be affecting your role in Student Development for the next decade. In this session, you will first be introduced to the basic concepts of Learning Reconsidered and understand the principle tenets. Then, you will explore the seven student outcomes for transformative learning, and learn to shape your existing programming into a true Student Development curriculum. Learn to enhance your programming into the holistic, comprehensive, and transformative activities called for in Learning Reconsidered. What You Need to Know About Social Networking
You see your students thumb-typing like crazy and wonder what's the big deal? Not after this presentation. It's like this: students are totally comfortable in the sea of technology, while staff and faculty are trying to learn how to dog-paddle. This session will explain what social networking is, and help you understand the most popular sites Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. If attendees have notebook computers, and wi-fi is available, then Del can assist staff and faculty in setting up their profiles. Here is a chance to catch up, before you get any further behind.Mission-driven Programs with Campus Collaboration
It's perhaps the most common missed opportunity on any college campus. While campus entertainment should be fun, it can also be culturally enriching, or have an educational slant. But more importantly, programs can serve to reach across campus and bring students, faculty, and staff together. You often hear those common buzz-words among the administration on campus, words like "campus community," and "experiential learning." The programming staff on your campus-- whether it's Student Activities, Student Life, Student Involvement, Student Leadership-- can truly be the key to campus collaboration in learning. This program discusses various ways to integrate student activities into the teaching/learning mission of the school, and seek to facilitate a true campus collaboration.Programming for a Commuter Campus
Non-traditional schools have a difficult time meeting the programming needs of their students. It can be an exercise in frustration to present wonderful events in empty rooms. This session will discuss the differences in programming for non-traditional schools: without residence halls, older (or mixed age) student populations, "suitcase colleges" and more. We'll also come up with useful strategies to meet the program needs of these students.
"This was the first year that Marymount University invited Del Suggs to present a workshop during the annual Student Leader Conference, and I am sure it will not be the last. The students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop 'How to Do Anything.' Del was engaging, easy to work with, and he made the students think. The students gave very positive feedback on the evaluations, and expressed that we should bring him back. I now understand why Del Suggs is an annual event at many colleges and universities."
"The students enjoyed your presentations so much that they stayed for all three workshops. You were awesome. Again thanks for working with us, and we do look forward to working with you in the future. It was a delight having you at Tri-C."
"Your presentations were very insightful! You clearly know how to target your audience and we received very positive feedback from the students. Thank you for providing us with such positive energy and useful tools to enhance our lives! We will definitely keep you in mind for future programs... Thank you for an inspiring and motivating workshop for our students!"
"We'll be much better off this year knowing how to work together and set our own direction for each club. You are the best, Del!"
"Del Suggs was awesome. Thank You!!"
"Del was great! He engaged the audience and made many great points. We'll use him in the future"
"Del is always a pleasure to work with and his lecture on Leadership Development was informative."
"Del is a 'must have' for your leadership programming. I recommend 'How to do Anything!'"
"Entertaining, humorous, educational and informative!"
"Super Job as always. We've already seen positive results."
"Very easy to work with and with a positive attitude."
"As usual, Del was great! I love working with him!"
"His presentations were great! The students enjoyed his talks, and learned a great deal. We'll bring him back."
"Del always brings new ideas to the table. Our student leaders really learned a lot."
"Always a pleasure to have Del. Students really enjoy him."
Fees
Del speaks primarily at colleges and universities, and his standard fee is $1850 plus accommodations for the day of the appearance.
There is an additional $250-$500 (based on cost) Travel Expense.
For programs presented over multiple days, please add $250 for each additional day plus accommodations.For current availabilities, contact Del Suggs at 1-800-323-1976.
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