FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Starting in the 2023-2024 academic year, professional development requirements for contract faculty will be the following:
- Completing 12 hours of “mandatory” professional development by attending Fall and Spring PDA Days
- Completing 18 hours of “flexible” professional development (also known as Flex)
- Forever Flex: There are now 38 Forever Flex activities that you can earn Flex credit for, without submitting a proposal for approval. Such options include re-occurring campus events like the WOLM or Black History Month activities and independent work like attending conferences or doing research in your discipline. A list to all of these options can be found here: Forever Flex Activities
- If your idea for Flex completion does not seem to fit into any of these options, contact one of the faculty Professional Development Coordinators for guidance or submit a Professional Development Proposal in your portal.
- At least 6 of these hours must be related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and anti-racism (DEIAA).
These changes are reflected in Article 22 of our contract, which now says:
DEIAA Flex Obligation. Of the eighteen required Flex hours outlined in 22.03.B.1.b, six (6) of those hours must be fulfilled by general DEIAA or discipline-specific DEIAA activities of the faculty member’s choosing.
There are many ways to fulfill this new DEIAA obligation. See below for upcoming examples of on-campus opportunities that may be relevant to DEIAA. Participation in these events can be reported using the code Forever Flex (FF): 26 IDEAA - Theory and Practice. We are also maintaining a list of other DEIAA trainings and resources here: DEIAA PD Options If you’d like to add to this list or if you are offering DEIAA-themed training that you would like us to help advertise, please let the professional development coordinators know!
Note: Some associate faculty members will have a professional development requirement some semesters, related to the hours they teach in person on certain days. Please consult "Associate Faculty FAQs" via the FAQs tab to find out more about this requirement.
Also note: The January Department Activities Day is no longer a contractual requirement. Departments or disciplines can still meet for discipline-specific trainings or professional development (outside of normal departmental meeting business), and can report those activities using the code Forever Flex (FF): 30 Program or Discipline Discussions.
