Faculty Professional Obligation and Reporting

Who has a professional development obligation?

All faculty with a teaching assignment have a staff development responsibility. Everyone else (non-teaching faculty, classified, confidential, management) is welcome and invited to attend Staff Development Day activities.

What is my obligation?

“The total flex day obligation for the academic year shall equal the total teaching obligation (or equated load assignment) from which the instructor is released plus those out of classroom hours of responsibilities which will no longer need to be performed as the result of being released from classroom instruction.” In addition, “at least 40% of such hours will be in attendance at regularly scheduled workshops on the designated Professional Days…”  PFT Contract, Appendix A.5.B

“Part-time temporary faculty shall participate in flex-day activities on the same basis as their weekly teaching assignments. For example, if the instructor has an assignment of teaching three hours in-class and Professional Days on that day, he/she shall participate and report 3 hours of flex activities…. The remaining obligation may be satisfied either by participation in additional scheduled workshops or by independent staff development projects approved by the faculty member’s assistant dean.”

For example, if you are scheduled to teach a four-hour class on a flex day, then your staff development obligation is four hours for that day. If you have two classes that meet for an hour and a half each, on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Flex Day falls on Wednesday, then your obligation is three hours for that Wednesday.

Your staff development obligation for the spring is computed in the same way as the fall. Any extra hours you accrue in the fall will be credited towards your spring obligation that same academic year. The obligation is yearly: what you owe for the fall plus what you owe for the spring.

Part-time temporary faculty shall participate in a flex-day activity on the same basis as their weekly teaching assignments. For example, if the instructor has an assignment of teaching three hours in-class and Professional Days on that day, he/she shall participate and report 3 hours of flex activities. Obligations of 3 equated hours or fewer equated hours shall be satisfied by participation in regularly scheduled workshops on the designated Professional Day(s). If the obligation exceeds 3 hours, the faculty member must satisfy his/her obligation by participating in at least 3 hours of regularly scheduled workshops on the designated Professional Day(s). The remaining obligation may be satisfied either by participation in additional scheduled workshops or by independent staff development projects approved by the faculty member’s dean.

From PFT Contract, Appendix, A5.B: “At least 40% of such hours (professional development) will be in attendance at regularly scheduled workshops on the designated Professional Days.”

For faculty with online courses, their obligation is 3/5 of their load. For example, an online class that is 5 units would obligate a faculty member to 3 hours of professional development.

Ref:  Appendix A5, PFT Contract

Ref: Flexible Calendar Guidelines