Background
Per legislation AB 1725, a number of days in the instructional calendar are set aside for professional development activities (also known as Flex). Flex days are specific days in the academic calendar exclusively for professional development. Los Rios colleges have Flex days during the week preceding the start of classes each semester; one day (usually Friday) is a mandatory on-campus or in-district day. The FLC Faculty Professional Development Committee designs and approves Flex activities and works hard to offer relevant and engaging learning activities. They include one or more days of workshops and one day of convocation and area/department gatherings. Note: While area and department meetings during Flex week will count toward required Flex hours, area and department meetings throughout the regular semester count towards college service and not Flex for full-time faculty (LRCFT 4.1.3).
Flex Obligation
Flex obligation is the total number of hours faculty must spend participating in professional development activities. Full-time classroom faculty have a Flex obligation of 12 hours per semester, in addition to any obligation for overload assignments as noted on their Tentative Class Schedule (TCS). Adjunct faculty members will find their Flex obligation noted on their TCS each semester. All faculty who have a Flex obligation, both full-time and adjunct, are required to fill out a Flex Affidavit Form.
Flex Days
Flex days are regular work days for non-classroom faculty, which includes counselors, coordinators, college nurses and librarians. Non-classroom faculty are encouraged to attend Flex activities and count these toward college service, but attendance is not required. Please note that non-classroom faculty may have a Flex obligation if they teach overload, which will be noted on the TCS for that overload assignment.
Faculty may contact their area office for questions about Flex obligations and affidavits.
Flex Frequently Asked Questions
All full-time and many adjunct faculty have a Flex obligation. Your Flex obligation is the total number of hours you must spend participating in professional development activities for each semester.
Full-time Faculty
Full-time faculty members are obligated for 24 hours for the academic year PLUS the number of hours identified on your overload Tentative Contract for Services (TCS). Your Flex obligation must be completed within the academic year, July 1 to June 30. Non-Classroom
faculty do not have a Flex obligation.
Adjunct Faculty
Your minimum Flex obligation is the total number of hours you would have taught class on Flex Days. You must complete your Flex obligation within the semester of your contract. Your Tentative Contract for Services (TCS) states your Flex obligation.
You are paid for your Flex hours in your first paycheck of the semester. Failure by to submit documentation of fulfilling your Flex obligation will result in a deduction of your Flex pay from your paycheck. Required deductions occur each semester for adjunct faculty and at the end of the spring semester for full-time faculty.
Attendance at convocations and division/department gatherings that follow convocations (campus priority days) are mandatory for full-time faculty only. For all other staff, attendance is encouraged but not mandatory. Full-time and adjunct faculty can use other Flex Days
activities to complete their Flex obligation if they wish. Flex obligations can also be fulfilled by attending workshops coordinated or sponsored by the Flex Subcommittee during the semester and/or by participation in an Individual Professional Development
Activity.
An Individual Professional Development Activity is an activity which addresses an instructional improvement need and cannot be accomplished within normal working times. It should be above and beyond normal duties and responsibilities as outlined in board policy and collective bargaining agreements.
An appropriate Individual Professional Development Activity should:
- Occur during weekends, vacation days, or other times outside normal working times.
- Be something that is normally not done because it is too difficult to find the time, or the equipment, or to get people together.
- Address some critical assignment-related need such as: subject-matter updating, new teaching methods, major revision of classroom materials, major curriculum review, new matriculation or retention strategies development, articulation with other departments on campus or with transfer institutions, or organizational development needs.
- Foster professional growth through participation in conferences, seminars, workshops, research, publishing, or in advising students or faculty, including office hours by adjunct faculty in which students are advised or instructed.
An appropriate Individual Professional Development Activity should not:
- Require being excused from class, office hours, etc.
- Be a repeat of an activity such as a department meeting regularly scheduled during the normal workweek.
- Include any part of routine day-to-day activities, such as paper grading, term paper reading, test construction, interview or standing committees, textbook examination, or preparation of lecture notes.
- Result in remuneration.
About midway through each semester, the Faculty Professional Development Committee distributes Flex workshop proposal forms to all staff. These are used to plan the next Flex program. You may suggest a workshop that would interest you or offer a workshop that you think would interest others.
Workshop presenters can earn extra Flex credit towards their Flex obligation. When workshops are led by one or more people, each person can earn two hours of Flex credit for each hour of presentation. If you spend more than one hour in preparation, you may receive additional Flex credit.
During the semester, faculty who lead workshops sponsored or coordinated by the Faculty Professional Development Committee can earn the same Flex credit as a Flex Days presenter.
Flex forms are distributed at the beginning of each semester. Simply complete the form indicating how you fulfilled or plan to fulfill your Flex obligation for the semester and return the form to the Instruction Office. If you accumulate additional Flex hours during the semester, contact the Instruction Office to credit your Flex hours.
