Pasadena City College

I. Pursuant to Section 55724 of Title 5:

A. Purpose of Flex

“A community college district may designate an amount of time in each fiscal year for employees to conduct staff, student, and instructional improvement activities. These activities may be conducted at any time during the fiscal year. The time designated for these activities shall be known as flexible time.”

B. Activities During Designated Days

“(a) For each instructor specified by the district to participate in staff, student, and instructional improvement activities in lieu of classroom instruction the district shall enter into an agreement with such employee specifying the particular activities during the designated days which the instructor will perform in lieu of classroom instruction. The agreement shall also specify the number of classroom hours which are being substituted with such activities, and the number of hours the instructor is required to spend carrying out the in-lieu-of instruction activities. The required hours of in-lieu-of instruction activities must at least be equal to the sum of the classroom hours from which the instructor is released plus those out-of-classroom hours of responsibilities which will no longer need to be performed as the result of being released from classroom instruction.

(b) For each employee specified by the district to participate in staff, student and instructional improvement activities during the designated days the district shall also maintain records on the type and number of activities assigned, and the number of such employees participating in these activities.”

II. Flexible Flex

Flexible Flex gives employees the freedom to choose the professional growth experiences that best suit their needs. Professional development programming will be provided on the two scheduled flex days, but if these days do not fit a person’s schedule or the programming is not appealing, the employee may fulfill their obligation by participating in other opportunities either at PCC or outside the district.

Professional development options at PCC promoted through the Professional Development calendar are an appropriate venue through which to fulfill your obligation. Off campus opportunities may also satisfy your obligation, but you need to be able to show proof of attendance and provide a description of the professional development you receive.

A. FLEX credit cannot be awarded for:

    1. activities that take place during the faculty member’s teaching and/or office hours.
    2. activities for which the faculty member is receiving a stipend or reassignment time.
    3. participation in regular division meetings, division retreats, and activities associated with the faculty evaluation process, all of which can be counted as part of the 5.5 hours/week of professional service outlined in the faculty contract.
    4. hours used for salary class advancement.
    5. travel time to conferences.
    6. flex credit earned at other community colleges (see Chancellor’s Office rules).

B. Activities that are pre-approved for flexible credit include:

Title 5 Categories*

Pre-Approved Activities

If facilitated by: PCC’s Offices of Professional Development, Student Equity, and Human Resources; PCC’s divisional offices; PCC’s Academic Senate; recognized California Community College entities (e.g., Academic Senate of California Community Colleges, Chancellor’s Office, California Acceleration Project, @One, 3CSN, etc.)
Course instruction and evaluation One-time workshops or ongoing structured professional learning activities (e.g., faculty inquiry groups, etc.) related to:
  • Teaching methods/techniques, inclusive pedagogy, equity-minded syllabus, online instruction, and educational technology
  • Enhancing discipline-specific knowledge
  • Assessment methods/techniques
Staff development, in-service training, and instructional improvement

Fall Professional Development Day
Spring Professional Development Day

One-time workshops or ongoing structured professional learning activities (e.g., faculty inquiry groups, etc.) related to:

  • Teaching methods/techniques, inclusive pedagogy, equity-minded syllabus, online instruction, and educational technology
  • Enhancing discipline-specific knowledge
  • Specific technology training (e.g., Canvas, ELumen, etc.)
  • Guided pathways framework
  • Leadership development
  • Campus safety and disaster preparedness
New Faculty Orientation/Seminar
Faculty Mentor Program
Program and course curriculum or learning resource development and evaluation One-time workshops or ongoing structured professional learning activities (e.g., faculty inquiry groups, etc.) on topics related to:
  • Open-educational resources (OER)
  • Accessibility, universal design
New curriculum development (outside of assignment)
Student personnel services One-time workshops or ongoing structured professional learning activities (e.g., faculty inquiry groups, etc.) on topics related to:
  • PCC Connect (Starfish)
  • Methods/techniques/tools for advising students about academics/career
Learning resource services Developing directed learning modules (outside of assignment)
Related activities, such as student advising, guidance, orientation, matriculation services, and student, faculty, and staff diversity One-time workshops or ongoing structured professional learning activities (e.g., faculty inquiry groups, etc.) on topics related to:
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Equity and equity-mindedness
  • Work-place harassment
Student club advisement
Departmental or division meetings, conferences and workshops, and institutional research

Off-campus conferences/workshops directly pertaining to one’s teaching role

Division meetings and division retreats, if you are designated as a part-time faculty member
Other duties as assigned by the district N/A
The necessary supporting activities for the above Workshops/presentations on topics related to:
  • Managing conflict, team building, collaborative processes, meeting facilitation, communication, and governance
On-campus health and wellness workshops/presentations (Note: facilitator must possess formal expertise/certification; topic must address cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, and/or must have empirical evidence that it decreases the stress response)

Note: *See Title 5, Section 55724

**If you are in-doubt about whether or not a professional development opportunity will satisfy your Flex obligation at PCC, please contact the Flex Coordinator prior to participation.

III. Activity Approval Process

Faculty who wish to offer/receive flexible credit for an activity that does not fall within the bounds of pre-approved activities (see pages two and three for description of pre-approved activities) must submit a proposal form to the Flex Advisory Committee, containing the below details, at least 4 weeks prior to the scheduled workshop.

  1. workshop title and description,
  2. date, time, and location of the workshop (for the Office of Professional Development calendar),
  3. Title 5 category (see above) to which the proposed activity is connected
  4. learning outcomes of participants,
  5. outline of the workshop which demonstrates best practices (e.g. active learning, reflection, metacogniton, discussion, constructivism), and
  6. description of workshop evaluation methods.

IV. Facilitation of Activities for Flexible Credit

Faculty who facilitate for Pasadena City College employees a pre-approved activity or a workshop approved through the Flex Advisory Committee will receive double credit for their time (1 workshop hour = 2 Flex hours).

V. Tracking Process for Flex Obligation Hours

Participation in on-campus PD days and Flexible Flex will be tracked/reported through individual plans that are to be signed and submitted to the Flex coordinator by a published date near to the end of the academic year. It is the employee’s responsibility to: (i) make sure activities logged for their Flex obligation fall within the parameters described in this document and (ii) keep evidence of their participation for the duration of three years. If an employee’s logged activities are deemed to fall outside of the parameters described in this document, and the employee wishes to appeal that decision, they may submit such a request to the Flex Advisory Committee. The decision regarding the appeal rests with the Flex Advisory Committee.

Per the Chancellor’s Office rules, employees who do not fulfill their flex obligation will experience a payroll deduction at the end of the fiscal year.

Approved by the Academic Senate: 3/25/2019