All full-time and permanent part-time staff and faculty are required to participate in a minimum of fifteen (15) hours of professional development annually and will be responsible for keeping a record of such activities. The employee shall submit to his/her supervisor the annual report in February of each year and the report will be reviewed during the employee’s annual evaluation. For online and/or hybrid instructors, a minimum of five (5) hours of the annual fifteen (15) hours of professional development required must be topics related to online instruction. Annually, up to three (3) hours of service and/or civic engagement may be counted toward the employee’s professional development with the supervisor’s prior approval. Failure to comply with the minimum number of annual professional development hours could lead to employee discipline including, but not limited to, directives, actions plans or suspension/termination.
Approval to take courses during normal work hours will be based on the relationship of the course to the job requirements of the employee and the needs of the institution. If an employee enrolls in a course and the course schedule overlaps the employee’s normal work schedule, the employee may be granted actual overlap up to three hours per week, educational leave with pay. The employee must arrange an alternate work schedule with the supervisor to the extent of the excess hours.
Adopted: April 10, 2019