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By Linda Larson, Faculty Professional Growth Steering Committee Chairman
Background
The Faculty Association has been supporting a revitalization and evaluation of the Faculty Professional Growth (FPG)
program. The Faculty Executive Council in Fall 1999, formed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sub-committee of Meet and Confer to review the FPG programs and recommend potential changes to be negotiated in the Faculty Meet and Confer process. The FPG program has been in existence since the beginning of the Maricopa College District. The year-long MOU sub-committee recommended several policy changes to the Faculty Meet and Confer team and during negotiations in the past three years many RFP policy changes have occurred.
As a result of a May 2000 RFP Faculty Association survey, three areas have guided the focus for revitalization in FPG:
Improve communication with faculty about the program.
Increase participation opportunities for all faculty.
Streamline the process for application to the FPG Committee.
In May 2002, a second survey was mailed to gauge what improvements, if any, faculty recognized and out of the 1154 surveys mailed, a 33% response was received. When asked, 88% of the respondents identify the FPG program as somewhat to highly valuable in their professional life. Increased access to the FPG program has resulted with the development of the FPG web site as 69% of all respondents indicated that they use the web site frequently or occasionally. The full report containing the findings of the survey, with a comparison of relevant areas to the May 2000 survey, and an update on the FPG programs is available electronically.
The FPG Steering Committee was formed in May 2000 and has been authorized to continue through May 2003. The charge of the steering committee is to coordinate and oversee the revision and/or development of policy for the Faculty Professional Growth program.
The FPG program purpose is detailed in the RFP and reads as follows:
A.1.1 The Maricopa County Community College District has, through adoption of this document, recognized a procedure which permits instructors to advance on the salary schedule through longevity as well as various types of activities directly related to increase professional competency. The liberality of this policy and the absolute requirements of the utmost care and expenditure of public money demand complete adherence to the concepts of the policy and valid justification of all requests for salary advancement.
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