To encourage a commitment to life-long learning, the Board of Directors will provide financial support for education and training opportunities for staff.  These opportunities may include professional development, training, seminars and in-service, which is intended to enhance the educational experience of students and the efficiency of the administration of the College.

To meet this commitment, the College will budget funds equivalent to 1% of each permanent employee’s annual gross earnings for Professional Development.      

3.4 - Professional Development - Procedure

The College will facilitate the participation in Professional Development activities by staff by sharing in the costs of such development.

The financial support shall be prioritized for activities which are required:

• to meet position performance standards
• to adapt to change
• to improve skills and knowledge for career advancement

Definitions

Professional Development:  Training or educational opportunities that are requested by the employee.

In-Service:  Training or educational opportunities that are initiated by the College.

Funding

• The College will budget funds equivalent to 1% of each permanent employee's annual gross earnings for Professional Development.
• Funds may be banked to a maximum of three years.
• The College will include an amount identified specifically for in-service in the annual budget.

Types of Funded Activities

The activities must fit within the guidelines for financial support as defined above.

The activities may include, but are not limited to:

• conferences, workshops, seminars and short-term courses
• professional groups' annual meetings and/or conferences
• credit classes
• on-line courses
• purchase of professional materials and software

Costs

All costs associated with the Professional Development activity will be charged against the employee's allotment.

These include, but are not limited to:  tuition, registration fees, course-specific fees, materials and books, travel expenses, meals and accommodations.

Staff who attend conferences or workshops as Professional Development activities will not consider evening or weekend hours spent as part of the employment hours.  For conferences and/or workshops attended during weekdays, a maximum of the regular hours in a workday may be claimed.

Should an employee fail to complete or withdraw from a course, he/she will be responsible for reimbursing the College for all associated costs.

Eligibility

All permanent employees may have access to their accumulated allocation of Professional Development funds.

Permanent employees on temporary layoff may be able to access the accumulated allocation to date of lay off.

Process

Each request for funding must be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to the commencement of the activity.

All requests will be submitted on the application for Professional Development form.

The estimated costs, as well as all other information, must be completed by the employee.  The form is to be forwarded to their immediate supervisor for recommendation and/or comments; the supervisor will then submit it to the VP Administration.

The VP Administration will notify the employee of the decision regarding their Professional Development request.

At the conclusion of the Professional Development activity, the employee will resubmit the form containing all actual expenditures to the VP Administration who will process for reimbursement.

Professional Sharing

All employees accessing Professional Development funds will provide their immediate supervisor with a brief synopsis of the activity and the benefits derived from their participation (see below).  This synopsis will be suitable for distribution within the College, at the discretion of the supervisor, and will be submitted in the ten days immediately following the activity.

Professional Development Assessment

Please schedule some work time within ten days of your return from a Professional Development experience to prepare a brief (maximum one page) report on your Professional Development activity and submit it to you supervisor who will forward it to the VP Administration for inclusion in a Professional Development Assessment file.

1. What was the Professional Development experience all about?
   (The Big Picture overview)
2. How might you incorporate what you have learned into your work at the College?
3. Your overall assessment of the value of the experience.
4. Attach your report to a copy of the agenda and forward it to you supervisor within ten days of the event.
    

3.4 - Professional Development - Appendix A