Professional Development

Purpose:

To provide guidance and opportunities for professional development for faculty and staff and to support a work environment that encourages professional growth. The procedures for implementation of this policy are provided below.

Procedure and/or Process Definitions:

Essential training/certification: Essential training/certification:

Fiscal Year: the year beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30.

Professional Certification: adesignation earned by employee to show they are qualified to perform a job or task. Also known as trade certification and earned from a professional society, technical or educational institution.

Professional Development (PD) Plan: a the college form used to plan annual professional development goals.

Reasonable tuition and fees: the rate at which coursework successfully completed at other institutions of higher learning or proprietary schools will be reimbursed, not to exceed the cost of in-state, part-time tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Tuition and mandatory fees may be granted for a single course or as part of a degree program.

Tuition assistance: applies to credit courses taken outside Reynolds (see Reynolds Policy No. 3-38, Continuous Learning, for guidance to take a Reynolds course).

Procedures:

1. Professional Development Plan

   1. All administrative, professional, full-time teaching faculty and classified staff are required to complete a plan that informs the college of their professional development activities for each annual performance evaluation cycle. College deans, supervisors, and managers must ensure that PD Plans, developed by faculty and staff, support the goals and objectives of the college and those of the individual organizational unit. Administrative and professional faculty and classified staff are required to use Reynolds Form No. 59-0001, Professional Development Plan, to document. Teaching faculty use the Faculty Dean Agreement to document their professional development objectives.

   2. College supervisors and managers must ensure that a PD Plan is created for newly-hired classified and faculty-rank employees within sixty (60) days of hire.

2. Tuition Assistance:

   1. Tuition assistance – prepayment or reimbursement

      1. Reynolds Form No. 59-0002, used to request tuition assistance and should be completed prior to the start of the class for both prepayment and reimbursement.

      2. Faculty and staff will be notified prior to the start of the class if the request is approved or not.

      3. Payment of tuition for approved requests will be made directly to the educational institution in the approved amount.

      4. At the conclusion of the approved course, the employee must complete Reynolds Form No. 59-0004, Tuition Reimbursement Request or Tuition Assistance Grade Report.

      5. The cost of books and other study materials will be the responsibility of the employee. There are no provisions for reimbursement of travel or living expenses for professional development activities, including tuition assistance.

3. Educational leave of absence

   1. Faculty rank employees

      1. Educational leave requests for faculty-rank staff must be approved through the employee’s chain of command up to the president, prior to submission to the office of human resources. Human Resources must receive all approved requests by February 15 of each year for the following academic year. This employee-initiated action requires the completion of the following:

         1. VCCS-16, Educational Aid Request
         2. VCCS Promissory Note
         3. copy of faculty member’s completed Faculty Dean Agreement
         4. itemized listing of tuition and fees
         5. Reynolds Form No. 59-0002, Tuition Assistance Request Form

      2. Upon approval by the president, the office of human resources will provide a letter of approval to the affected faculty member, with a copy to the supervisor and a copy to the director of financial operations.

   2. Classified employees

      1. Educational leave requests for classified employees must be approved through the employee’s chain of command up to the president, prior to submission to the office of human resources. Human resources must receive all approved requests six (6) months in advance. This employeeinitiated action requires the completion of the following:

         1. VCCS-16, Educational Aid Request
         2. VCCS Promissory Note
         3. copy of employee’s completed PD Plan
         4. itemized statement of tuition and fees
         5. Reynolds Form No. 59-0002, Tuition Assistance Request Form

      2. Upon approval by the president, the office of human resources will provide a letter of approval to the affected classified employee with a copy to the supervisor.

4. Other opportunities for professional development at Reynolds

   1. Professional Development Opportunities (PDOs): Faculty and staff may enroll in PDOs via the Commonwealth of Virginia Learning Center. The Professional Development web site will display the College-Wide PD calendar of PDOs.

   2. Participation in non-Reynolds professional development activities (i.e., workshops, training sessions, conferences, etc.) can be added to the Virginia Learning Center by following the instructions to Add an External Learning Event, or contacting the office of human resource.

   3. Non-credit class offerings and individual participation in non-college conferences, workshops, and seminars: Requests for professional development funds for noncredit course offerings and individual participation in non-college conferences, workshops, and seminars will be drawn first from unit/department funds and offset by professional development funds, pending availability.

Other Information:

The college’s Office of Human Resources is responsible for the official interpretation of this policy. Questions regarding the application of this policy should be directed to the associate vice president of human resources.

Commonwealth of Virginia Learning Center (COVLC or VLC)

Department of Human Resource Management, Policy 4.15, Educational Leave

Department of Human Resource Management, Policy 5.05, Employee Training and Development

Department of Human Resource Management, Policy 5.10, Educational Assistance

Virginia Community College System, Policy 3.10, Educational Assistance Guidelines

Virginia Community College System, Policy 5.0, Educational Programs

JSRCC Form No. 36-1000, Faculty/Dean Agreement Form

JSRCC Form No. 59-0001, Professional Development and Renewal Plan

JSRCC Form No. 59-0002, Tuition Assistance Request Form

JSRCC Form No. 59-0004, Tuition Reimbursement Request or Tuition Assistance Grade Report