Topline: Classified Professional Development Survey

Background

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness collaborated with the Office of Professional Development to survey classified staff about their experience with professional development. All classified staff received a survey through email from 5/21-6/23/21, yielding a 22.95% response rate. Most respondents were from student services (35.53%) and/or did not want to identify the division they worked in (21.05%).

Results

Results from the survey will guide and improve future professional development activities. The survey provided insight on professional development needs and interest, logistics (platform, time, day, etc.) and experiences at PCC. Classified staff had an opportunity to express additional needs, ideas or comments related to professional development.

Professional Development Needs and Interests

Classified staff identified professional development opportunities they felt were needed versus just an interest. Results showed that professional development activities that were considered ‘interests’ were considerably different than those considered a ‘need’. In fact, most professional development categories did not overlap in terms of ‘needs’ and ‘interests’.   

• The top professional development needs related to working at PCC included learning about FERPA (57.78%), evaluating programs and/or service areas (56.10%) and shared governance (55.0%). Classified indicated strong interest in customer care/service (81.63%), time management (79.41%), and wellness and information technology security practices (77.08%).

Professional Development Related to Working at PCC	Need	Interest
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)	57.78%	64.44%
Evaluating programs and/or service areas	56.10%	58.54%
Shared Governance	55.00%	65.00%
Union contracts	54.10%	63.93%
Title IX	52.50%	65.00%
Working effectively with my manager	48.84%	65.12%
Managing conflict	47.06%	66.67%
Information technology security practices	45.83%	77.08%
Public speaking	43.24%	72.97%
Brown Act	42.11%	68.42%
Peer mentoring (staff member to staff member)	39.02%	73.17%
Time management	38.24%	79.41%
Wellness	35.42%	77.08%
Customer care/service (listening, empathizing, using positive language, adapting, etc.)	32.65%	81.63%

• In terms of professional development related to diversity, equity and inclusion, classified staff noted hiring diverse faculty/staff/managers (56.25%), safe zones and other ally trainings (50%) and equity gaps (48%) as top needs. Classified staff were most interested in historical and social context of PCC and Pasadena (76.09%), implicit bias (75%) and racism and anti-racism (72.55%).

  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion	Need	Interest
  Hiring diverse faculty/staff/managers	56.25%	64.44%
  Safe Zones and/or other ally trainings	50.00%	58.54%
  Equity gaps (identifying and making sense of them)	48.00%	65.00%
  Discussing race-related topics	47.06%	63.93%
  Culturally-responsive/affirming practices	45.28%	65.00%
  Racism and Anti-racism (as they manifest in educational policies and practices)	45.10%	65.12%
  Historical and social context of PCC and Pasadena	41.30%	66.67%
  Implicit bias (identifying and mitigating it)	37.50%	77.08%

• In regards to student support, classified staff indicated guided pathways (59.46%), first year experience (55.17%), and completion and transfer (54.29%) as professional development needs whereas professional development interests includes: club advisor training (70.83%), career communities (70.00%) and student services available on campus (66.67%).

  Other Aspects Supporting Student Success	Need	Interest
  Guided pathways	59.46%	59.46%
  First year experience	55.17%	58.62%
  Completion and transfer	54.29%	54.29%
  Club advisor training	45.83%	70.83%
  Student services available on campus	42.59%	66.67%
  Career communities	42.00%	70.00%

• According to classified staff, professional development needs related to technology include accessibility of documents, forms, websites, canvas pages, etc. (60%), closed captioning (59.38%) and audio/video creation (55.81%). Top interests include audio/video editing (72.34%), audio/video conferencing (71.79%) and library databases (70%).

  General Technologies	Need	Interest
  Accessibility of documents, forms, websites, Canvas pages, etc.	60.00%	68.33%
  Audio/video conferencing (ConferZoom)	51.28%	71.79%
  Audio/video creation	55.81%	67.44%
  Audio/video editing	51.06%	72.34%
  Closed captioning	59.38%	68.75%
  Library databases	50.00%	70.00%

• Top professional development needs related to software applications include LancerPoint (68.57%), Adobe Acrobat (67.24%) and Banner (61.7%). Top interests include google workspace (75.47%), PCC Connect (67.44%) and Vision Resource Center (64.86%).

  Specific Software Applications used for Academic and/or Administrative Tasks	Need	Interest
  Adobe Acrobat	67.24%	58.62%
  Banner (requisitions, budget tracking, etc.)	61.70%	51.06%
  Kronos	60.47%	55.81%
  LancerPoint	68.57%	45.71%
  Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher)	61.40%	61.40%
  Outlook/PCC e-mail	54.55%	61.36%
  PCC Connect (Starfish)	58.14%	67.44%
  Google Workspace (Google docs, slides, etc.)	58.49%	75.47%
  Vision Resource Center	56.76%	64.86%

• Classified staff noted leadership development (64.44%), facilitating productive meetings (56.82%) and project management (53.33%) as top needs for career advancement whereas they indicated grant writing (71.43%), budget management (69.77%) and job interviews (69.23%) as top interests.

  Professional development related to career advancement	Need	Interest
  Budget management	48.84%	69.77%
  Designing effective presentations	51.28%	61.54%
  Facilitating productive meetings	56.82%	54.55%
  Grant writing	51.43%	71.43%
  Job interviews	43.59%	69.23%
  Leadership development	64.44%	53.33%
  Project management	53.33%	62.22%
  Public speaking	51.43%	68.57%
  Resume and cover letters	44.19%	67.44%

• Top professional development needs for health & safety are COVID-19 safety (74.47%), earthquake/disaster preparedness (67.35%) and first-aid/CPR (66.13%). Top interests are first-aid/CPR (66.13%), personal safety/self-defense (62.30%) and personal wellness (61.11%).

  Professional development related to health & safety	Need	Interest
  Active shooter training	61.70%	51.06%
  COVID-19 Safety	74.47%	40.43%
  Earthquake/disaster preparedness	67.35%	48.98%
  First aid and CPR	66.13%	66.13%
  Personal safety/self defense	59.02%	62.30%
  Personal wellness	61.11%	61.11%

• Classified staff decided that information about CalSTRS/CalPRS benefits & rights (71.62%) was the top professional development need related to retirement and financial planning (69.64%).

  Professional development related to retirement and financial planning	Need	Interest
  CalSTRS/CalPRS benefits & rights	71.62%	58.11%
  Financial planning	55.36%	69.64%
  Retirement planning	64.71%	66.18%

Logistics: Preferred Platform and Time/Day

Classified staff preferred in-person professional development activities. Yet, they expressed preference in online activities, either synchronous (42.11%) or asynchronous (42.11%). In terms of the day and time, classified preferred Mon-Thurs from 12-3pm (early afternoon) and mornings (Mon-Thurs, 7am-12pm).

Preferred Professional Development Platforms	% of responses
In-person workshop, one or two hours	60.53%
Online synchronous (i.e., guided and with a defined timeline for all participants)	42.11%
Online asynchronous (i.e., self-paced)	42.11%
In-person multi-part workshop/course occurring across a semester or intersession (e.g., a three-part series that occurs on three consecutive Friday mornings)	38.16%
In-person workshop, half day	35.53%
Hybrid (e.g., a two-hour in-person session with an asynchronous aspect, or a two-hour online synchronous session with an asynchronous aspect)	32.89%
In-person workshop, full day	26.32%
In-person multi-part workshop/course occurring at the beginning or end of an intersession (e.g., a three day course that occurs during the first three days of summer)	15.79%

Preferred Professional Development	% of responses
Monday-Thursday early afternoon (12pm-3pm)	50.00%
Monday-Thursday morning (7am-12pm)	47.37%
Friday morning (8am-12pm)	46.05%
Friday afternoon (12pm-4pm)	32.89%
Monday-Thursday late afternoon (3pm-5pm)	15.79%
Saturday morning (8am-12pm)	9.21%
Monday-Thursday evening (5pm-8pm)	3.95%
Saturday afternoon (12pm-4pm)	3.95%

Participation and Experience with Professional Development

The top reason classified staff did not participate in professional development activities was because the topics were not relevant/interesting (50%). In addition, they noted that dates/times conflicted with their schedule.

Classified staff were asked to express their level of agreement with statements pertaining to professional development. The majority (89.2%) agreed that they are interested in participating in professional development. In the same vein, the majority agreed (93.2%) that professional development can help improve their professional practice. Yet, a smaller portion (41.3%) agreed they were satisfied with the professional development offerings at PCC. Approximately one-fourth (26%) agreed that they would be interested in facilitating professional development activities at PCC.

Reasons for not participating in professional development activities	% of responses
Topics were not relevant/interesting	50.00%
Dates/times conflicted with my schedule	43.42%
Coverage was needed and not available	38.16%
Unaware of offerings	17.11%
Nothing prevented me from attending (n/a)	17.11%
No funding to support my participation	14.47%
Manager did not support my participation	11.84%

Statements	Strongly agree	Moderately agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Moderately disagree	Strongly disagree
I am interested in participating in professional development.	58.10%	31.10%	9.50%	0%	1.40%
I believe professional development can help me improve my professional practice.	63.50%	29.70%	5.40%	0%	1.40%
I am satisfied with the professional development offerings at PCC.	14.70%	26.70%	25.30%	26.70%	6.70%
Professional development offerings at PCC help me explore new ways to promote equity in my practice.	16.40%	35.60%	34.30%	9.60%	4.10%
I am comfortable discussing race-related topics with my colleagues.	21.30%	48.00%	25.30%	1.30%	4.0%
I am interested in facilitating professional development activities at PCC.	9.60%	16.40%	34.30%	9.60%	30.10%