3.7.3 Faculty Development

The institution provides evidence of ongoing professional development of faculty as teachers, scholars, and practitioners.

 Compliance           ___ Partial Compliance          ___ Non-Compliance

Narrative:

South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) has a policy regarding ongoing professional development of faculty as teachers, scholars, and practitioners as described in the Faculty Handbook (1):

Professional development activities are encouraged to the degree that they demonstratively and directly relate to and impact classroom instruction.  The College encourages faculty members to continue their professional development throughout their career.  This includes recognizing study at the graduate or undergraduate level, as well as other study in the discipline area such as workshops or seminars.

Professional development may be considered those at-large activities related to teaching at the college and developmental levels within the context of a subject level or pedagogy generally.  When not specifically required for accreditation or certification within an area, the approval of travel to conferences, etc., will be determined by its value added to instruction at the College. Faculty who participate in conference travel are required to share materials and ideas with the faculty at-large.  There must be a demonstration that such activities promote professional growth and enhance the faculty member’s competence in teaching and/or applications of the subject matter at SLCC.

With respect to activities within the profession, campus and classroom responsibilities supersede all other professional endeavors.  Faculty members are encouraged to participate in these non-teaching activities when useful to the College.  Activities directly related to classroom practice or College effectiveness is encouraged.

SLCC defines professional development and involvement as:

• Service as an officer in a national or regional professional organization.
• Service on the editorial staff or a national, regional, or professional journal.
• Service on a committee of a national, regional, or professional organization.
• Attendance at major conferences or with professional organizations
• Active memberships in honor societies or professional organizations
• Publications by a recognized professional or educational publishing company or organization (other than grant writing).
• Creative works performed or displayed at the national, regional, or local level.
• Presentations at seminars, conventions, or conferences at the national or regional level.
• Research studies designed and completed for use outside the College.
• Professional Consultant services provided by the faculty member.

SLCC provides resources for external professional development opportunities. Professional development is also provided through seminars housed on SLCC campus such as the Retention Conferences held over the last two academic years. The speakers for the conference have been Kay McClenney (2) of Community College Survey of Student Engagement and Michael Poindexter (3), Vice President of Student Services at Sacramento City College who has served as a Noel Levitz Consultant.

Additionally, the College promotes faculty development through an approved and funded Faculty Development Plan. The guidelines within the plan allocate $750.00 per full-time faculty member per year toward professional development. When faculty members indicate that they do not intend to travel that year, the available funds may be allocated to a faculty member who has faculty development plans that exceed the $750.00. No more than $1,500 may be committed to any one faculty per year. Over the last two years, fourteen of the full-time faculty attended a total of 45 external professional development conferences that included Women’s Conference, National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Conference, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Conference, Associate of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) Conference, Gulf-South Summit on Service Learning and Civil Engagement, National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) Conference, Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) Conference, and Words and Music Conference.

Faculty are notified of professional development opportunities through e-mails (4) from the Dean of Instruction and Effectiveness and/or Department Chairs.  Faculty may also be notified directly by the organizations to which they belong.  Through the Dean’s Travel Form, faculty are required to relate professional development to the department’s unit plan. During the evaluation process, the faculty discuss the merits of their professional development for the academic year.

Documentation: