Staff Development

Staff Development Mission Statement

To promote professional development of faculty, staff and administration by:

• providing abundant information on opportunities and funding for as many as possible:
• encouraging innovation, experimentation and creativity within the learning environment;
• encouraging the development of an awareness of the changing educational environment;
• encouraging training that promotes safe working conditions for campus personnel;
• encouraging the development of effective working relationships within the campus community including collegial exchange of ideas among disciplines and professional specialists.

Travel & Conference Information

•  Traveler's Checklist
•  Travel Guidelines
•  Travel (Official District Travel Form)
•  Travel Request Form

Registration & Contract Information

Ideas for Flex Credit

Any activity which promotes the improvement of instruction at the individual, school, or institutional level is a desirable FLEX activity.

State regulations recognize activities that contribute to the effective operations of the institution, such as recruiting, advising students, conducting appropriate departmental business, and dealing with issues of college-wide concern. For most people, the bulk of FLEX time is devoted to activities designed to improve instruction:

Instructional Improvement Activities

• Develop new instructional skills
• Interact with colleagues to improve instruction
• Improve course delivery 
• Look at the course or program as a whole, and then making major revisions
• Modify an existing course to comply with institutional or discipline requirements (e.g. changing theories in a discipline, articulation with transfer institutions)
• Modify an existing course to add/improve critical thinking skills 
• Modify an existing course to add/improve multicultural learning
• Modify an existing course to add/improve writing across the curriculum skills
• Make significant modification of a course to address the learning needs of diverse student populations (e.g. creating self-paced learning modules)
• Write for publication or write a grant proposal.
• Create projects involving community and/or student groups.
• Take a short-term class.
• Develop new course/program 
• Explore alternate instruction methods
• Visit sites related to your program and/or areas of responsibility.
• Participate in High School Career Days.
• Attend professional conferences/workshops.
• Develop an online course.

Institutional/Staff Improvement

• Developing new programs (e.g., a workshop on designing curriculum/programs)
• Attend faculty and counselor meetings to address areas of concern e.g. academic advising, prerequisites, referring students for services)
• Attend faculty and staff (e.g., tutors, lab assistants) meetings to improve learning resource support services to students 
• Attend workshops on how to mentor students or how to mentor faculty
• Participate in orientation/education (e.g., new faculty; role of the academic senates; training students, staff, and faculty to serve on committees; changing role of technology in education)
• Participate in student, faculty, and staff diversity (e.g., sexual harassment workshops, affirmative action conferences, cultural diversity seminars, multicultural activities)
• Attend meetings designed to improve a cohesive working relationship among members of the group (e.g., departments, divisions, committees, mixture of college constituencies)
• Attend workshops on how to write grants
• Attend workshops or individually designed activities to improve or enhance a person's skills or knowledge in his/her own discipline
• Participate in wellness activities 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, exercise, weight reduction)
• Learn a second language to better communicate with the diverse student population
• Participate in disaster preparedness (e.g., district procedures, first aid, review of facilities to determine areas of need)
• Learn how to incorporate technology into your instruction.
• Form mentor partnerships with adjunct faculty or new full-time faculty

Student Improvement

• Develop a new program to meet changing student needs
• Attend faculty and staff (e.g., tutors, lab assistants) meetings to improve services to students
• Review reaming resource materials to eliminate out-dated items and make recommendations for additions
• Create self-study modules and/or computer-assisted instruction
• Participate in student advising (e.g., academic advising of students by faculty)
• Attend training in classroom research (assessment) techniques
• Participate in mentoring of students
• Participate in student orientation programs
• Participate in matriculation services (e.g. special orientation for ESL students, workshops in specific disciplines for students with undecided majors)
• Attend meetings (department/division/college-wide) specifically to discuss strategies for improving service to students
• Participate in institutional research focused on meeting the needs of the students (e.g., job market surveys, transfer ratios, ethnicity data on students, gender equity, campus climate)
• Write grants aimed to improve services to students
• Participate in articulation to improve transfer processes
• Participate in outreach for special projects (e.g. Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement [MESA] program)
• Conduct special workshops for students (e.g., understanding the college schedule, transfer requirements, setting academic goals)