HCC - Staff Development Flex Information
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Contents Flex Guidelines and Hartnell Requirements Faculty Flex ProcessCommon Questions about Flex Activities Faculty and Staff Resource Center (FRC) Flex Guidelines and Hartnell Requirements According to the Flex Calendar negotiated by the District and the Faculty Association, there are a certain number of instructional days set aside for Faculty Flex/Staff Development activities. All faculty are required by this contract to attend two mandatory flex days, one in January and the other in April, one flex day in March to observe Ceasar Chavez Day, and complete an additional 12 hours of workshops or independent activities. All independent flex activities (or projects) must be completed during the academic school year. Independent flex activities may be completed during the summer prior to the academic year if written permission has been granted no later than May 31 of that same calendar year. Faculty must submit the Faculty Flex Activity Form to their Dean or Supervisor by the required date. Detailed instructions are included on the form. The state has provided us with the following list of guidelines for what are "acceptable" activities: Faculty Flex Process
Though part-time faculty and classified staff do not have any contractual obligation to "flex," they are cordially invited to attend, participate in and contribute to any or all flex activities. Common Questions About Flex Activities
An acceptable FLEX activity is any activity that promotes the improvement of instruction at the individual, division, or institutional level. In addition, state regulations recognize activities that contribute to the effective operations of the institution such as: recruiting, advising students, divisional business, and issues of a college wide concern. A list of standard acceptable guidelines for flex activities and projects is included above under State Guidelines. There are two mandatory scheduled flex days, one on January 25, 2008 and the other on April 22, 2008. In addition, each full-time faculty member must also perform independent (or group) flex activities or complete a project that will total 12 hours. No. Yes. The District is required by the Education Code to account for the hours in "lieu" of instruction days. The "Faculty Flex Activity Form" form may be submitted to your Dean/Supervisor for approval as soon as activities are completed but no later than May 1. Please send all suggestions for possible workshops and requests to present a workshop to the Staff Development Committee at pmcefee.hartnell.edu or 755-6706. Yes! You can receive 1 1/2 times the length of the workshop. For example, presenting a 2 hour workshop will earn you 3 hours of flex credit. No! Sorry. Fill out a travel request form and submit it to your Dean for approval of the activity. If funds are available, you may request reimbursement through the Staff Development Committee. Complete an Application for Staff Development Funding--guidelines for completing this process are available on this web site at Funding Requests. Your Dean may also choose to partially fund your expenses through his or her respective travel budgets. If and When Funding Does Become Available...Requests for funding are limited to two requests per academic year per instructor, not to exceed $800. The maximum allowable amount for one event is $500, contingent upon available funds. Instructors are encouraged to also apply for travel and conference money from their respective department budgets. Staff Development travel funds will be equally divided between the Fall and Spring semesters to better accommodate those with Spring conference plans. (Request for Funds Guidelines.) No. All independent flex activities or projects must be completed during the academic school year and they cannot be banked for the following year. Independent flex activities can be completed during the summer prior to the academic year if written approval has been granted by the applicable Dean or Administrator no later than May 31 of that same calendar year. Since division (or department) meetings are mandated by our contract they may not be credited as flex activities. For any further questions on flex activities, please contact Patty McEfee at pmcefee@hartnell.edu or 755-6706. Faculty & Staff Resource Center (FRC) The Faculty and Staff Resource Center (FRC) is a state of the art technology lab available to all staff and faculty. With funding from the Title V grant and TTIP funds the Center is able to provide the latest cutting edge technologies as well as to provide training and support. Some of the latest technologies include: four Pentium III PC's with CD-RW, and DVD- Readers, with the latest multimedia software and presentation packages, as well as streaming media capacities, four Mac G-4's again with multimedia producing capabilities including a digital video editing suite, scanners, local and network, laser and ink jet printers, a 50” plasma screen with a PC attached for meetings, trainings, and presentations, computer applications reference library, training/tutorial material library and other instructional equipment and media. Training is offered each semester in topics ranging from computer literacy to advanced multimedia, including web page development and online teaching. The staff also provides ongoing support on an as needed basis as well as one-on-one training and mini-workshops per request. Two Instructional Technologists work with faculty and staff to facilitate and integrate the use of these technologies into the classroom. Sabrina Coffelt specializes in assistive technologies; Jenny Donegan specializes in multimedia and digital production. The training offered is designed to provide faculty and staff with the technological resources and knowledge required to keep pace with rapidly changing technology in education and to create innovative solutions that can be carried on to the educational needs of Hartnell students. Additional information is available at: www.hartnell.edu/faculty/frc/. The FRC is managed by Gary Hughes, the Associate Vice President of Educational Technology and Library Services. All workshops and instruction provided by the FRC staff are approved flex activities. |
