Staff Development at Rio Hondo College

Staff Development at Rio Hondo College:

Review and Recommendations from the

Staff Development Task Force

(Approved by Planning/Fiscal Council 5/6/03)

Background of the Task Force:

In November 2002, Dr. Joyce created the Staff Development Task Force to study the state of staff development at Rio Hondo. The Task Force was charged with assessing the current staff development program and developing specific recommendations to Cabinet and the Planning Fiscal Council for review by March 2003.

Membership of the Task Force included representatives from each of the campus constituencies:

Management: Voiza Arnold, John Bryant, Vickie Sartwell, Andy Howard (chair), Gail Chabran

Faculty: JoAnne Haskins, Manuel Baca, Carolyn Russell, Belen Torres-Gil

Classified: Karen Garcia, Liz Chavez, Howie Beazell

Specific charges of the Staff Development Task Force:

1. Develop an inventory of current staff development activities:

a. Funds being spent currently.

b. Types of activities funded.

c. Process for selection of funded activities: What is the criteria being used?

2. Develop a set of recommendations for 2003-04 that would

a. Coordinate staff development activities so resources would be maximized;

b. More closely align staff development activities with college goals;

c. Expand staff development resources from alternative sources.

Review of Statewide and Local Staff Development:

A robust, efficient staff development program is essential if community colleges are to meet their mission. Not only will a staff development program allow faculty, classified and management to expand and update their skills, but a strong program will also help attract and retain a high quality workforce.

Staff development activities, according to the California Postsecondary Education Commission, can be classified into four categories.

Professional development that promotes the expertise of faculty, classified and administration within their primary field or area of responsibility. For faculty, professional development is often accomplished through research grants, sabbatical leaves, attendance at professional conferences, and similar discipline-oriented activities. For classified employees, professional development includes such activities as reimbursement for educational expenses, conference attendance, or technical workshops. Professional development for administrators includes activities such as conference attendance or management workshops.

Instructional development that improves faculty members’ ability to teach more effectively. Examples of instructional development activities include assessment workshops, instruction on using technology in the classroom, and attending conferences on teaching.

Curriculum development aimed at evaluating or revising the curriculum -- such as revising an institution’s general education requirements and programs -- that goes well beyond the normal expectations that professors will periodically revise the courses they teach. These activities generally involve teams of faculty members who spend substantial amounts of time evaluating present programs or planning new sequences of courses.

4. Organizational development that involves faculty, staff, and administration members in improving their institution and its environment for teaching and decision making, such as by evaluating the institution’s efforts to retain students, strengthening relationships with local communities, and preparing a self-study for accreditation or reaccredidation.

Note: For this report, the generic term "staff development" will be used to describe all of the above categories.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recognized the importance of staff development by creating two separate criteria in Accreditation Standard 7:

Section C.1. The institution provides appropriate opportunities to all categories of staff for continued professional development, consistent with the institutional mission.

Section C.2. Planning and evaluation of staff development programs include the participation of staff who participate in, or are affected by, the programs.

Unlike the University of California and California State University Systems, California community colleges historically have not had a separate statewide budget category for staff development. The state, in AB1725, moved to correct this situation and to recognize the importance of staff development by creating the Community College Faculty and Staff Development Fund. Rio Hondo has annually received app. $55,000 from this fund.

The guidelines for utilizing this fund were outlined in the Faculty and Staff Development Section 87153 of the Education Code, which authorizes the use of funds for the following faculty and staff development purposes:

1. Improvement of teaching.

2. Maintenance of current academic and technical knowledge and skills.

3. In-service training for vocational educational and employment preparation programs.

4. Retraining to meet changing institutional needs.

5. Intersegmental exchange programs.

6. Development of innovations in instructional and administrative techniques and program effectiveness.

7. Computer and technological proficiency programs.

8. Courses and training implementing affirmative action and upward mobility programs.

9. Other activities determined to be related to educational and professional development pursuant to criteria established by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, including but not necessarily limited to, programs designed to develop self-esteem.

The Rio Hondo Professional Development Committee has been responsible for developing a Staff Development Plan that was submitted annually to the state and for determining the distribution of these funds. However, because of the state budget crisis, current AB1725 staff development funding has been eliminated.

A second source of state funding for staff development in recent years was the Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program (TTIP). The program is based on a Strategic Telecommunications Plan developed through a U.S. Department of Commerce Telecommunications Planning Grant. The program has three major components: (1) Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure, (2) Telecommunications Applications, and (3) Human Resources Technology Training. The state began allocating TTIP funds for technology training in 1997-98.

Rio Hondo has been receiving approximately $72,000 annually for TTIP training. Unfortunately, TTIP training money has met the same fate as AB1725 funding and is eliminated from the 2003-04 proposed budget. Rio Hondo, in fall 2002, froze its current year TTIP allocation until the budget situation became clearer and the Task Force completed its report.

Findings of Task Force

While the college sponsors a significant number of staff development activities, there has been a lack of coordination of these activities which has limited the maximization of their impact. (see Table 1 for a summary of staff development expenditures)

There are currently a large number of staff development activities at the college. In addition to AB1725 and TTIP funds, the college has used Partnership for Excellence funds to create staff development activities. The college has also utilized grant funds, such as the California Virtual Campus and Title V, to augment its staff development offerings. However, the greatest amount of funding for staff development has come from the college’s General Fund. These expenditures include:

a. The Technology Trainer position.

b. Release time for a FLEX Coordinator and a Clerk II (18 hrs/wk) in the FLEX office.

c. Training dollars and stipends for the development of online classes through the Virtual College.

d. Sabbatical leaves and CSEA educational reimbursement funds.

However, these activities are not coordinated, thus reducing the potential impact and efficiency of their delivery.

Staff development activities are not coordinated with institutional goals. Although the college submits an annual mandated Staff Development Plan to the state, the plan has not been coordinated with the college master plans, college goals or the Board goals. While it is important to continue to encourage individual professional growth activities, a more coordinated and focused staff development program could significantly help the institution achieve the college and Board goals.

FLEX monitoring and coordination could become more efficient and cost-effective. The system of self-certification can be made more efficient and less cumbersome, especially for part-time instructors.

There is some controversy over the pre-semester FLEX day. Some faculty feel that the day has evolved away from a time for the improvement of instruction. Some classified feel that their role has been overlooked in what they perceive as an all-campus day.

Staff development budgets, opportunities, and procedures have not been clearly communicated to constituency groups. This has been a concern for several years. Common complaints are that information is not readily available concerning how much money is spent, who gets its, or the selection process for funding activities.

Task Force Recommendations

Task Force Recommendation #1: Reorganize the Staff Development Committee.

The committee will be made up of nine members, selected equally from faculty, classified, and administrations.

a. Faculty representatives will be appointed by Academic Senate

b. Classified representatives will be appointed by CSEA.

c. Administration representatives will be appointed by the President or designee.

d. The Technology Trainer and the Staff Development Coordinator will be resources for the committee.

Duties of the Staff Development Committee:

e. Development of the Staff Development Plan.

f. Approval of the Staff Development budget, including all expenditures.

A Staff Development Coordinator will be selected by the President in consultation with Academic Senate and CSEA. Duties of the Coordinator will include

g. Coordinating staff development activities.

h. Publicizing staff development activities.

i. Coordination of Needs Survey.

j. Coordination of staff development evaluations.

k. Coordination of FLEX activities.

l. Preparation of mandated reports.

The Dean of Planning & Development will facilitate the Staff Development Committee. Other related duties of the Dean will include:

m. Coordination of the Staff Development Plan

n. Supervision of Technology Trainer, Staff Development Coordinator, and clerical support.

o. Monitoring the staff development budget.

p. Supervision of development of mandated reports.

A FLEX sub-committee comprised of equal member of faculty and administrators, per the RHCFA contract, will coordinate FLEX activities. (see Recommendation #3 for other FLEX recommendations.)

A CSEA Sub-committee will be composed of CSEA representatives. The sub-committee will be chaired by a CSEA representative, who will also be a member of the Staff Development Committee.

Task Force Recommendation #2: The Staff Development annual plan should be coordinated with College and Board goals.

The plan should identify and facilitate activities that promote the attainment of college and Board goals. The plan should also encourage activities that allow for individual professional growth.

The Staff Development Committee with work with the college and Board Task Forces to identify staff development training that will facilitate the attainment of institutional goals.

An annual assessment and evaluation of staff development activities should also be part of the plan.

The plan will be presented to the Planning/Fiscal Council for comment and review before the staff development budget is finalized.

The plan will include strategies for the development of alternative resources to fund staff development activities.

Task Force Recommendation #3: Changes in FLEX:

In order to make the monitoring of FLEX obligations more efficient, the college should expand the system of self-certification.

The duties of the FLEX Coordinator should be assumed by the Staff Development Coordinator.

The pre-semester morning session of FLEX should be devoted to activities developed by the FLEX Sub-Committee. A separate campus-wide State of the College Meeting could address institutional issues.

Task Force Recommendation #4: The Staff Development Committee shall report monthly to the Planning/Fiscal Council. In addition, the minutes will be posted on the P Drive.