Report to Faculty Council from the Professional Development Committee

Report to Faculty Council from the Professional Development Committee Clinton Community College 2014-2015

Committee Members:

Jill Tarabula, Chairperson Brooke Castine

Paula Brooks, Recording Secretary John Mockry

Michael Helinger, Funding Subcommittee Janice Padula Chairperson Jeffrey Chase

Charge: The Professional Development Committee shall have the responsibility for creating and promoting opportunities in professional development for the membership of the Faculty Council. Opportunities could include speakers, forums and workshops. Faculty requests for professional development funding are reviewed by the committee and then forwarded to the VPAA for final approval.

Activities:

 Throughout the year, the committee maintained its website making forms and policies easily available to faculty, and served as a clearinghouse for professional development activities.

 Due to the budget freeze which resulted in a lack of official business, the committee met in person five times during the year. Review of funding requests was done electronically to streamline the process and decrease turnaround time.

 In January, the Associate Dean of Institutional Research and Planning (ADIRP) requested the committee respond to a recommendation that resulted from the Middle States Self- Study in 2011. The recommendation:

“The College should consider a more dynamic and permanent shared space that includes a repository of pedagogical materials.”

A response was drafted and approved by the committee, and forwarded to the ADIRP (see appendix). The ADIRP accepted the response as submitted.

Notes: 2

During the 2014-15 academic year, the college initially allotted $18,000 for professional development support for full-time faculty. The committee received eight requests for use of these funds.

On September 25, 2015, the committee was notified by the VPAA, that per the president, “Until we resolve how we are going to address our revenue shortfall, we will not approve any further professional development/travel requests other than those for Admissions Office recruitment travel.” All PD travel was frozen; pending requests were denied.

Despite campus-wide efforts to identify savings, retrenchments took place – ten in total – on December 15, 2014. On March 10, 2015, the VPAA then notified the committee, “Due to all of the budget work/cost saving measure accomplished since the fall, I am able to open up some (approximately half of the budgeted $18,000) of the Professional Development Funds budget for the 2014-15 year.” Notice was sent to inform faculty that they could submit requests for reimbursement if they paid their own way to attend events earlier in the year.

To date, a total of nine requests have been received and ranked by the committee, and then forwarded to the VPAA for review. As of the writing of this report a total of $4,286 has been requested by faculty, despite the shortened timeline. Clearly there is a strong demand for and need to maintain funding for professional development.

The committee also reports that funding for travel for FCCC chairpersons/delegates was charged to the professional development funds again this year. Because this is obligatory college business, and not true professional development, the committee strongly recommends that funding for delegates/chairpersons be funded through another source.

Finally, it was brought to this committee’s attention last year that many NTFs on campus do not have financial support available through their departments to participate in professional development opportunities. As the eligibility criteria are currently written, NTFs are not eligible to apply for funding through this committee even though NTFs serve on this committee. This was brought forward to the Faculty Council body for its consideration and action. At this point in time, the committee is not aware of any action taken. It remains the consensus of this committee that if NTFs are to be included in the applicant pool for funding through this committee, the budget line should be increased accordingly so as not to negatively impact faculty requests.

Appendix

Statement to ADIRP in response to Middle States recommendation:

The Faculty Council Professional Development Committee strongly supports opportunities for ongoing improvement in teaching and learning. Given the rapid pace in which new technologies and methodologies are presented, the committee feels the best way to keep pace is through live 3 and electronic resources. The Professional Development website is an online repository for upcoming activities both on- and off-campus, and is updated as information becomes available. It features links to webinars, online learning courses, conferences, and speaking events both locally and nationally.

Clinton Community College faculty work closely with several organizations including Plattsburgh State’s Center for Teaching Excellence and the SUNY Center for Professional Development (CPD). Both offer excellent opportunities for little to no cost. With that said, however, the committee feels it is imperative for the college to continue to fund professional development travel for faculty, allowing them to attend national conferences, continuing education offerings and specialized trainings as necessary to ensure student success and retention.