Professional Development (flex) Overview and Requirements 2002-2003

Professional Development (flex) Overview and Requirements 2005-2006

Questions and Reporting

Professional Development activities are coordinated by the Staff Development Office. The Professional. Direct all reporting and questions to: Sandi Lampert, Flex Coordinator at lampersm@laccd.edu, 818-364-7696.

Purpose and Goals

The purpose of Professional Development and the flexible calendar is to provide time for faculty to participate in development activities. Professional Development allows fulltime and Adjunct faculty the opportunity to work individually or with groups to achieve improvement in three distinct areas:

· Staff improvement

· Student improvement

· Instructional improvement

(Title 5, Section 55720).

Flex is defined in Title 5 as “in lieu of instruction.” The Professional Development Program is a component of the Staff Development Program, which provides opportunities for faculty participation in development activities. The Academic Senate is responsible for recommendations on policies related to faculty development according to Title 5 Section 5320. Title 5 legislation authorizes colleges to provide for instructional improvement days in their academic calendar. LACCD and the AFT local 1521, Los Angeles College Faculty Guild has agreed upon a flex calendar.

Who Is Required To Participate in the Professional Development Program?

All classroom faculty, fulltime and Adjunct are required to participate in the instructional improvement, professional development program.

Professional development obligation applies to nontraditional instruction such as PACE, TBA, online, and noncredit, and regardless of whether the class is full semester or short term.

Memorandum of Understanding with LACCD and AFT 8/21/02

· Release time is outside the professional development obligation.

· Classified staff does not have any obligation to attend professional development activities, but are encouraged to present/facilitate or participate, provided it does not adversely affect their work responsibilities.

· Management does not have any obligation to attend professional development activities but are encouraged to present/facilitate or participate in professional development activities.

Professional Development Obligation for Fulltime Faculty

LACCD and the AFT local 1521, Los Angeles College Faculty Guild has agreed upon a flex calendar. Los Angeles Mission College is on a 15 week compressed calendar (“red”-15 week pattern). There are 157 total duty days including 5 Professional Development Days. Each day in a compressed calendar is worth 6.7 hours. For fulltime faculty, during the duration of this agreement, the professional development obligation is 33.5 hours of professional development activities per academic year.

Mandatory Professional Development Day

For fulltime faculty, of the five professional development days, one day is mandatory (adjunct faculty are welcome to attend the mandatory professional development day, but are not required). For the 2005-2006 program year the mandatory professional development day is Thursday, September 1, 2005 . When subtracting the mandatory flex day 6.7 from the total responsibility of 33.5, 26.8 hours of professional development activities remain.

Variable Professional Development Days

For fulltime faculty, the remaining flex days that would total 26.8 hours may be completed on a variable schedule between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006 . These activities may be completed at times other then the times of the faculty’s contractual obligations.

Professional Development Obligation for Adjunct Faculty

For faculty with hourly teaching assignments, the hourly teaching professional development obligation for an academic year equals half the sum of the *standard teaching hours for the fall and spring semester.

For example:

Faculty A. teaches 3 standard teaching hours in the fall and 6 standard teaching hours in the spring, they owe 3+6=9 divided by 2=4.5 professional development hours.

Faculty B. teaches 3 standard teaching hours in the fall and 0 hours in the spring, they owe 3+0=3 divided by 2=1.5 professional development hours.

Hourly professional development obligation is not related to the days a class meets or the dates of the assignment, applying equally to all whose assignments have the same standard hours.

Memorandum of Understanding with LACCD and AFT 8/21/02

*Standard teaching hour is the amount of time per week a class would be held in an uncompressed calendar system.

Professional Development Calendar

The professional development calendar will run from July 1 to June 30 each year. The reporting cycle will be once a year. Professional development activities will be completed and reported on throughout the academic calendar year. All reports on professional development activities are due from faculty no later then the last professional development day of the spring. For spring 2006, the final day of faculty reporting is June 30, 2006 .

Professional Development hours may not be banked from one program year to the next program year on our campus.

Professional Development Calendar and the Payroll Calendar

The professional development obligation remains even though the designated professional development days shown on the calendar may occur outside of the payroll assignment. The faculty member is paid for the obligation as part of the total level pay issued over the term of the assignment for the class.

Memorandum of Understanding with LACCD and AFT 8/21/02

Professional Development Activities

Activities which college personnel will be engaged in during designated staff, student and instructional improvement days may include, but not limited to the following:

**(A) course instruction and evaluation;

(B) staff development in-service training and instructional improvement.

(D) student personnel services;

(E) learning resource services;

(F) related activities, such as student advising, guidance, orientation, matriculation services, and student, faculty, and staff diversity;

**(G) departmental or division meetings, conferences and workshops, and institutional research;

(H) other duties as assigned by the district;

(I) the necessary supporting activities for the above

Title 5, Article 2, Flexible Calendar Operations, Section 55724

**These activities are in addition to regular assignment instruction and regular department meetings.

Approved Professional Development Activities at Los Angeles Mission College

6.7 hours of participation in Instructional Improvement activities are the equivalent of one professional development day. The maximum number of hours allowed within each category is designed to elicit a balance among the categories; faculty are encouraged to participate in activities from several of the following categories. Each activity requires a Professional Development (flex) Form found online, and documentation to support the request for professional development credit.

UNLIMITED HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FLEX CREDIT

A. On Campus Professional Development Workshops

Professional development hours may be earned for attendance at professional development workshops offered at LAMC or any college campus within our District. Each workshop/program is equal of one hour of professional development credit per hour of participation.

B. Off Campus Conference/Workshop

Hours may be earned by attending a conference or workshop that updates or upgrades content and methodologies for the purpose of improving teaching effectiveness. Conferences and workshops attended during teaching or office hours will not count for professional development credit. Maximum Number of Hours: 6.7 hours per day x 3 days = 20.1 per conference.

C. Individual Projects

These are tasks which will enhance the instructional program and which would not otherwise be accomplished. These are activities beyond normal professional responsibilities or regular contractual obligations. Projects will require:

1. submission of a Project Request Form Activity, for committee review, at least four weeks before activity date for prior approval found online,

2. evidence of an end product (i.e. supporting documents, report, etc.) Maximum Number of Hours: 16 hours per project.

D. Presenting an Activity

Faculty are encouraged to become presenters of a professional development activity or workshop and to share their area(s) of expertise with their colleagues. If you are interested in presenting a workshop, you must submit the form, Request to Present a Professional Development Activity, for committee review, at least four weeks before activity date for prior approval.

3 hours of Professional Development credit will be given for each hour of presentation time (this is due to time allotted for preparation)

E. Coursework

Credit may be awarded for classes taken which relate directly to courses taught or to faculty service area at LACC. Strengthening teaching methodologies classes are also included.

Maximum Number of Hours: 16 hours per class.

F. Matriculation

Professional development hours may be earned for advising students during organized matriculation activities outside a faculty’s regular assignment.

LIMITED HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

G. Networking Within the Faculty’s Discipline

Hours may be earned for campus, intercampus, regional, or state meetings of the discipline for purposes beyond the normal operation of the discipline.

Maximum Number of Hours: 16

H. Professional Enrichment

Flex credit may be earned for attending live performances, exhibits, museums, and demonstrations, when directly related to the faculty’s teaching discipline. A rationale must be provided to support this activity.

Maximum Number of Hours: 16 (2 hours maximum per activity)

I. Personal Enrichment

1. Cultural Enrichment - cultural activities that have an educational value but are not related to your discipline; select from the following activities: live performances, exhibits, museums, or demonstrations. On-campus performances such as concerts or plays would also be eligible for flex credit in this category.

2. Personal Wellness - Workshops or programs that assist individuals to be physically and mentally better able to perform their jobs; e.g. humor in the workplace, stress reduction, self-defense, nutrition, smoking cessation, and weight reduction.

3. Educational Travel - (sabbatical travel may not be counted for flex credit).

4. Completion of course work not related to the discipline.

Maximum Number of Hours: 8 for any combination of 1, 2, 3, or 4. (2 hours maximum per activity)

J. Committee Participation Beyond One Committee

Up to 16 hours of professional development credit may be received for participation in college or district-wide committees after the first committee (regular department meetings do not count as the first committee). Meeting participation is hour for hour. Use meeting minutes as documentation of participation. If a faculty is granted release time to attend or run committee meetings, these meetings are not eligible for professional development. Maximum Number of Hours: 16

The following committees are eligible for professional development credit:

1. Academic Senate/Campus

2. Academic Senate/District

3. Accreditation

4. Curriculum

5. Educational Planning

6. Instructional Technology

7. Shared Governance

a. Budget

b. Planning

8. Staff Development

9. Professional Development (flex) Committee

10. Professional Growth (travel and tuition) Committee

(other committees as approved by Academic Senate or Shared Governance).

Questions and Reporting

Professional Development activities are coordinated by the Staff Development Office.

Direct all reporting and questions to: Sandi Lampert, Flex Coordinator of Staff Development, lampersm@laccd.edu,

For specific Staff Development questions other than Flex questions, please contact David Jordan, Director of Staff Development at abogado@pacbell.net or 818-364-7720.