1. MDC Student Achievement Initiative: Committee
Report on
Faculty Professional Development Pathways 
March 1, 2018

2. Current SAI/T-L Team Members
Susan Mayer
Cynthia Schuemann
Pat Nellis
Cindy E. Buchholz
Margaret Shippey
David Finneran
Glendora Phipps
Donna Brown Richard
Jesse Carlo
Mariana Molina
Regina Williams
Amar Sawhney
Stephen Johnson
Susan Lichtman
Represent diverse campuses, disciplines, and career stages. Reach out to team members with ideas, questions, concerns, or offers to help with this work .

3. agenda: sustaining momentum
Background: Data Collection Reminder
“The Airplane Document”
Spring Pilots/Proposals:
New faculty for and PDPs (Personalized Professional Development Plans)
Conference Travel
Looking Forward

4. The Charge
1. Evaluate alignment of T-L efforts (FPD) with the Guided Pathways that the colleges have built to improve student success and completion (CBD).
How to?
2. Informed by research, create frameworks, structures and faculty professional development opportunities for additional innovation in pedagogy and instructional strategies.
Identify current MDC T-L/FPD practices
     (for FT and PT faculty)
 Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
Study MDC policy and practice
Conduct faculty focus group and faculty survey research at MDC
Develop knowledge of HIPs in HE
Our charge was to spend time really understanding that state of FPD at MDC, and to imagine a better design within our contextual limitations. To understand current practice we turned to the UFMDC contract and MDC faculty initiatives website. The FPD pathway defined there was one that especially valued the completion of graduate-level credits and the attainment of doctoral degrees. While graduate-level coursework may be beneficial for some faculty, we have come to the conclusion this one-size fits-all approach is not a best practice for trying to support FPD that makes a real difference in the classroom. A critical finding we learned from our MDC focus groups and survey research is that faculty needs for FPD change at different stages in their career paths with the college. It is a journey. In order to create revised "guided pathways for faculty" with frameworks, structures, and relevant FPD opportunities, we needed a new strategy. 
Note: Adjunct PD is an area that needs development … some areas are establishing new, stronger practices: e.g., math and business (Susan) 

5. Faculty Response
Current Faculty Professional Development practices result in strategic impact on instructional design, teaching, and student learning and serves the needs of all faculty.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

6. 3 Key conclusions about faculty professional development at MDC
It’s a journey with stages.
One-size-fits-all, DOESN'T. 
Current FPD practices do not result in strategic impact on instructional design, teaching, and student learning.
FURTHER:
FPD opportunities need funding support, transparency, and equity

7. Proposed new vision for Faculty Professional Development at MDC
Overview: The new vision for FPD focuses on active learning and purposeful FPD at four career stages for faculty, in order to support improvement in learning outcomes with a WIN –WIN-WIN design.
Four career stages for faculty: 
Year 1: On-boarding, 
Years 2-4: Early Career, 
Years 5-14: Mid-Career, 
Years 15 +: Established Career
WIN –WIN-WIN categories: Faculty, Students, the College 
The stages reflect a timeline of FPD. They are not necessarily tied to promotion and maintenance of rank (as with the current adding up graduate credit model – Masters + 9 credits = Asst. Prof., + 15 more credits = Asso. Prof. Jr., + 15 more credits = Assoc. Prof. Sr.)
Faculty WIN when they engage in meaningful and relevant professional development opportunities that prepare them to contribute successfully to student success and their own advancement;
Students WIN when faculty members systematically integrate innovation and best practices to enhance student learning and achievement in the classroom; and 
The College WINS when its reputation is enhanced by faculty educators who make a difference in student achievement.  Faculty become recognized as innovators and discipline leaders when they regularly contribute to their professions with scholarly classroom-based research, presentations, publications, and participation in national and statewide organizations and events.

8. This chart provides an overview of elements associated with a new pathway model for FPD at MDC. It explores what's happening with FPD at each career stage. (We'll look at Year 1 in more depth to illustrate our work in progress.)

9. Faculty Response Lets see what the room looks like...
Click on the letter that corresponds to where you land on the proposed professional pathway
On Boarding (Year 1)
Early Career (2-4 Years)
Mid Career (5- 14 Years)
Established Career (15 -∞ Years)
Have faculty view the airplane document and circle where they “land” after they’ve answered the question.

10. See this slide and next … PDP is tied to goals – SMART Goals with a 5-year timeline, and supported as noted in the slide.
Faculty will develop banks of "e-plans" that are individualized with free design format in order to encourage creativity and liberation from "boxed in" feelings. As traditional self-assessment and performance review measures are already very structured, the PDPs can complement them.

11. These are not to be viewed as check lists – rather starting points for reflection and action.

12. Faculty Response Lets take another look...
Click on the letter that corresponds to you. How many opportunities did you have to travel for professional development?
None
1 to 2
3 to 4
5 to 6

13. Faculty Response
Where you satisfied with the amount of travel opportunities you had last year?
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Neutral, not really concerned

14. Faculty Response
Was the process of finding travel opportunities and completing the necessary paperwork a fair and facilitated process?
Easy
Slight Effort
Challenging
What travel opportunities?
Lead into faculty professional development and travel investigation…

15. Faculty travel to conferences
Under investigation:
Priority for travel to meet strategic needs in disciplines and benefit students.
College-wide procedure for travel requests.

16. Thank you for your support!
We look forward to working with you and our new faculty this year, as well as working on long-range integration of FPD re-designs for all four career stages. 
As we proceed, step-by-step, this includes:
Ongoing creation and communication of a New Vision for FPD at MDC tied to enhancement of student success
Empowering action on FPD for faculty and administrators
Staging short-term "wins" and long-term change in FPD
Consolidating and improving changes in FPD
Sustaining institutional change
Again, please communicate with us via any team member! And use the yellow sheet where you circled your faculty experience to write any suggestions or questions you would like us to answer.