Introduction - East Los Angeles College

Staff Development Opportunities. The college has an active Professional Development
Committee, led by the Professional Development Coordinator, which seeks to provide faculty
and staff with multiple opportunities to improve their abilities to meet the college mission,
enhance teaching, and improve student learning. The college has monthly workshops and the
Teaching and Learning Center to assist faculty and staff in skills development. The coordinator
posts all opportunities for professional development via e-mail, flyers, and on the Professional
Development website. The Teaching and Learning Center is staffed by a full-time lab manager.
The Center’s principal functions are to provide a drop-in lab for computer and software use and
Internet access by instructors, provide opportunity for consultation on distance learning and
technical issues, and support professional development activities, including video-based and
computer-based training. All classified staff are invited to participate in activities provided by the
Center.
In addition, many committees host workshops to help personnel improve efforts to increase
student learning and student success. The SLO Committee has hosted many workshops on the
development, implementation and use of SLOs to improve student learning. The college has also
developed a new faculty orientation which focuses on student learning and runs the duration of
the entire first semester of employment. A technology grant has been funded to assist faculty in
learning needed technology skills that can be used in the classroom. There is also available
training software to assist faculty in developing skills. The college also encourages personnel to
attend professional conferences and offers reimbursement for those attending these conferences.
Classified staff are also offered training in Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification and
may receive pay increases for successfully completing training. Those wishing to further their
education may also be eligible for tuition reimbursement.
Faculty can fulfill the 32.5 hours of professional development requirement in a number of ways.
The professional development coordinator and the Professional Development Committee, in
collaboration with the Academic Senate and Academic Affairs, develop a full day of activities on
opening day of the fall semester for all full-time faculty, who are required by contract to attend.
Adjunct faculty are encouraged to attend. Opening day activities have been occurring since 2001.
The most recent one featured the theme of student success with a focus on basic skills.
On-campus professional activities are free. Annually, full-time faculty members are entitled to
$450 each in funding on a first-come/first-serve basis to attend conferences. Part-time faculty
members are entitled to pro-rated funding based on the number of their teaching hours per week.
Faculty can also receive tuition reimbursement for completed courses that are job related.
7.2 The college and district should work together to clearly delineate the functions of each in
the faculty hiring process (Standards 7A.2, 7A.3).
The functions of the college and the district in the faculty hiring process have been clearly
identified. In February 2001, the Board of Trustees adopted a decentralization approach to
recruitment and selection of faculty hiring. In response to this approach, the college developed
the Faculty Hiring Process and Procedures Handbook. The document was reviewed by the
visiting team in 2003. One issue in the college document that remains to be resolved between the
Responses to Previous Recommendations Page 35