The college’s strategic plan underscores the necessity of establishing a culture of life-long learning and professional development and in Aim 7, Strategy 6, the plan specifies establishing an internal grant program to support continuing education and professional development for all employees. The Staff Development Committee has deliberated on this initiative during the 2023-2024 academic year and is pleased to present the proposed structure aimed at providing staff in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications a pathway for submitting requests for funding a personal, professional development experience and a pathway for providing funding for collegewide staff professional development programming.
Staff Professional Development Funds Recommendation:
We propose that the college set aside $10,000 annually to fund staff professional development opportunities. Below is a breakdown of how the funding dollars would be divided, an outline of the process for staff to request personal funding, and the evaluation process for awarding personal funding requests.
We seek the college's approval to endorse the proposed structure for staff professional development funds.
Staff Professional Development Funds Breakdown:
- Total allocation of $10,000
- $6500 for personal professional development
- $500 available for each staff member (application process)
- $3500 for programming for all staff
- Staff Retreat
- Lunch & Learn
- Other programming needs
Application Process for Personal PD Funds:
- Requesting staff member completes request form:
Evaluation of Request for Personal PD Funds:
- The request for funding is received by Haley Hamel
- The review panel is assembled by the head of the panel and will include the following:
- Head of panel (1) – Haley Hamel, Business& Operations Manager
- Staff Development Committee Member (1)- Alisa Smith, Natalie Becerra, or Zac Franzen
- Faculty Member(1) – Adam Wagler, AssociateDean or faculty Staff Council representative – Rick Alloway
- Materials related to the request are shared with the three-member review panel
- The review panel will use the rubric below to evaluate the request
- Directions:
- After reviewingthe staff member’srequest, each committee member will fill out the rubric below to determine the benefit to the college,cost considerations, and career progression of the requested professional development. In addition to markingyour score for each factor, please provide a short reasoning for your ranking for documentation and decision-making purposes.
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| Factor | Low (1 point) | Medium (2 points) | High (3 points) | Total |
| Benefit to the college | Low = Little to no benefit to the college. | Medium = Somewhat related to current role and would not benefit the college. | High = Would benefit the individual in their current role and the college. | |
Consider if this form of development will help in the individual’s current job. | ||||
| Cost Considerations | Low = Renewable development that would cost more than allotment or has many additional fees/materials. | Medium = Non-renewable development with additional fees/materials to consider. | High = Non-renewable development within the allotted amount with little to no additional fees/materials to consider. | |
| Consider whether this is a one-time cost or if it needs to be renewed. Are there other fees (books, materials, etc.) required to complete this development? | ||||
| Career Progression | Low = Development would offer little to no benefit to future career progression. | Medium = Development would contribute somewhat to the individual’s future career progression. | High = Development would greatly benefit the individual’s career progression. | |
| Consider whether this form of development will help the individual progress in their career. Is it necessary to have or nice to have? | ||||
| Grand Total | ||||
Note: Maximum point allocation will be 9 per reviewer. Minimum point allocation will be 3 per reviewer. To be approved, the combined score from the committee (3 members) will need to be at least 15 (subject to change).
- The staff member requesting funding will be notified via email if the funding request is approved or denied.
We appreciate your willingness to review our proposal in support of enhancing staff professional development opportunities within our college.