San Joaquin Delta College Flex Calendar Program

1. San Joaquin Delta CollegeFlex Calendar Program • General • Flex at Delta • Types of Activities • Administration of Program • Process • Filling Out the Flex Contract Form • Changes • Information • Summary

2. Flex Calendar Program General • A professional development program authorized by Title V of the the Education Code • Up to 15 of required 175 contractual days can be used for professional development activities • A majority of Community Colleges currently have some form of flex program • Intended to provide a low cost option to meet a recognized need for ongoing faculty development

3. Flex Program At Delta • Began at Delta as a one year trial program for the 97-98 academic year • Made a permanent program as a result of the negotiations completed in Spring, ‘00. • Program applies to full time faculty only • Each faculty member obligated to complete 25 hours (5 days x 5 hrs/day = 25 hrs) of professional development flex activities • Flex year runs from start of fall semester until day prior to start of following fall semester

4. Current Program Highlights • Each faculty member obligated to complete 25 hours (an increase of 5 hrs from the previous agreement) of flex activities in lieu of 5 instructional days • One day (5 hrs) of flex activities will be mandatory. This will normally be the in-service day prior to the start of the fall semester • 10 hrs of the 25 hr obligation can be completed at any time. Remaining hrs must be completed on non-instructional duty days

5. What’s A Professional Development Activity? • Must be related to staff, student or instructional development • Can be in variety of formats: • in service training • workshops • conferences • seminars • individual projects • small group projects • institutional activities

6. Staff Improvement • Typically focus on enhancing the knowledge base related to instructor’s discipline • Examples • Workshop on curriculum design • Workshop on grant writing • Department meeting to improve working relationships, share information • Great Teacher’s Conference

7. Student Improvement • These activities would focus on enhancing faculty skills in the area of facilitating student learning and skill acquisition • Examples • Training in classroom assessment techniques • Articulation to improve transfer processes • Outreach for special projects such as math, engineering and science projects • Faculty participation in student orientation programs

8. Instructional Improvement • This area will generally involve curriculum or classroom related activities. • Examples • Teaching techniques training • Development or revision of programs, course curriculum • Grants related to improvement of instruction • Department or Division meetings focused on curriculum or program review • Developing student readiness programs specific to course disciplines

9. Administration of Program • Administered by a Flex Coordinator out of the Academic Senate Office- Locke 119 • Flex Coordinator is a member of the Faculty Professional Growth Committee • Faculty Professional Growth Committee is a sub-committee of the Academic Senate • FPG Committee and Flex Coordinator develop scheduled activities to meet identified needs • Records maintained of faculty contracts and number and type of activities • Program evaluated annually to determine effectiveness of activities

10. Process • Each faculty member fills out Part I of the Flex Contract Form with at least 25 hours of proposed activities • Turn in the top two copies of the Flex Contract Form to the Academic Senate Office (Locke 119) by October 1st • FPG Committee will review and return an approved copy of the form to you • Upon completion of your 25 hour obligation sign Part II and turn in to the Academic Senate Office, Locke 119, by next Sept. 10 • Flex year starts at beginning of Fall semester through day prior to following Fall semester

11. Filling Out The Flex Contract Form • Fill in Year, Name, last 4 SSN, & Division • Fill in Part I with a minimum of 25 hours of activities within any or all three of the categories: • Scheduled workshops- Generally these are campus wide activities or other publicized dates • Group activities- Small groups of faculty, such as departments working on staff, student or instructional development • Individual activities- Specific projects related to your personal professional development needs and interests • Indicate the focus of each activity: staff, student or instructional development

12. Filling Out The Flex Contract Form (cont.) • Fill in the hrs, (duty/non-duty), date , and days of week. • Attach a separate description and explanation as necessary, for group and individual activities • Fill in total hrs and banked hrs. Sign, date and turn-in the top two copies to the Senate, L119, by October 1. When yellow copy returned approved, retain in your personal files • Upon completion: date, sign Part II of your yellow copy certifying fulfillment of your obligation, send to Senate by following Sep. 1

13. What About Changes? • Faculty members will occasionally need to change their plans as information about new opportunities becomes available • Resubmit your form with the changes indicated if you want to insure your new activities are within the guidelines • Not necessary to submit a change if your new activity is a scheduled workshop or previously approved activity, merely line out old activity and write in new activity when you fill out Part II and turn in your form

14. Need Information on Flex? • Go online: www.deltacollege.org/org/flex/index.html. Or from Delta Home Page click Campus Documents then click Flex Program for Faculty • Call the Academic Senate Office, Locke 119, x5486

15. Summary • The Flex Calendar Program is designed for faculty professional development in areas related to staff, student or instructional improvement • Each full-time faculty member is obligated to complete 25 hours of flex activities • Fill out your proposed Flex Contract Form and turn in to the Academic Senate Office (Locke 119) by October 1 • Turn-in form, with Part II signed, verifying completion, by following September 10 • Flex info on the Delta Home page/Campus Documents/Flex Program for Faculty

16. What Are Your Questions? • Doesn’t it somehow seem appropriate that FLEX is a four letter word?