Professional Development Plan

Excerpted from Faculty Performance Evaluation Document (pages 2 - 4)
as Approved by Faculty Vote December 2002; Approved by Senate 1-24-03; Approved by Provost 1-29-03

III. THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Foundation of the Professional Development Plan

Evaluation processes and career success are the shared responsibility of all participants--individual faculty members, administrators, peer review committees, and the Faculty Affairs Team. FGCU recognizes and appreciates the diversity of faculty roles and responsibilities within the university. Likewise, the administration and the faculty are committed to a faculty development program that provides opportunities and resources for professional growth and advancement within academe.

Each faculty member at FGCU, must, in collaboration with his or her supervisor, prepare a Professional Development Plan (PDP), which is a public document. The PDP reflects the need for a flexible faculty evaluation system that:

• Accommodates the various types and lengths of faculty appointments at FGCU.
• Places student learning at the forefront of all educational activities.
• Fosters quality, integrity, and the search for knowledge.
• Allows for a broad definition of scholarly activity to include creative works and achievements appropriate to the mission of an institution of higher education.
• Encourages innovative and collegial relationships with regional community organizations, businesses, and professionals in education, health care, social services, etc.
• Encourages collaboration across disciplines, colleges, and units.
• Recognizes each faculty member as a unique individual with interests, talents, and strengths whose professional aspirations and goals are influenced by personal needs, career life stages, and expectations of the profession.
• Mutually respects the professional goals of each faculty member and the missions of the unit, department, college, and/or university in faculty assessment and performance evaluation.
• Provides recognition, incentives, and rewards that take into account the multi-dimensional aspects of the professorate.
• Provides a just and effective evaluation process whereby the knowledge gained is used to enhance faculty achievement and student performance.
• Nurtures collaboration within the university community.

Description of the Professional Development Plan

The Professional Development Plan is the cornerstone of all faculty evaluation processes at FGCU. By September 30, each faculty member must, in collaboration with his or her supervisor, finalize a PDP. While teaching is central to the university’s mission, individual faculty members may engage in the activities of teaching, scholarship, and service in different degrees and intensities. The responsibilities and objectives in the PDP will reflect the faculty member’s professional goals and objectives as well as the needs of the college, unit, and/or university. Goals represent long-term aspirations of the individual across the duration of the contract; objectives are specific targeted achievements for the period under annual review. Each unit is encouraged to have a mechanism for sharing of the PDPs.

The peer review committees (see Section VII) may provide guidance and assistance to faculty members in developing the goals and objectives identified in the PDP and in preparing documentation for performance reviews, if requested. The Faculty Affairs Team strongly recommends that faculty members select a mentor to provide assistance with the development of the PDP and to offer guidance throughout the evaluation process.

Key Components of the Professional Development Plan

The PDP will have a multi-year perspective and serve as the cornerstone for all faculty evaluations at FGCU. The content of the PDP, which includes faculty goals and objectives, will be developed through collaboration between the individual faculty member and the faculty member’s supervisor and may include peer input with written consent of the faculty member. Rank, experience, labor and time-intensive activities shall be given appropriate consideration when negotiating goals and objectives. The PDP is intended to be flexible and can be amended as needed; these amendments must be signed by the supervisor and the faculty member and included in the faculty member’s personnel file. Faculty members will identify professional goals and objectives. As with the PDP itself, goals will have a multi-year perspective while objectives will serve as intermediate aims that may be attained within a semester or academic year. Long-term goals will contribute to the faculty member’s broader professional growth and, should a faculty member request reappointment (appropriate only for faculty on fixed MYAs), tenure, and/or promotion, provide a foundation for evaluating performance across the length of service.

• The PDP will contain a clear statement of the professional activities in which the faculty member will engage to achieve each of his or her professional objectives. Successful completion of these objectives is the responsibility of the individual faculty member.
• The PDP will clearly identify the evidence for evaluating the faculty member’s achievement of the agreed-upon professional objectives and progress towards accomplishing goals. (Evaluation criteria will be developed in each academic unit; see Section IV of this Document.)
• The PDP will contain a statement of commitment concerning the allocation of time and other resources necessary for the faculty member to successfully achieve the agreed-upon goals and objectives. It is the administration’s responsibility to see that the agreed-upon resources are available.
• The state-mandated Faculty Activity Report (FAR) provides an accounting summary of the faculty member’s activities for a semester. The PDP sets forth and defines the faculty member’s specific goals, objectives, and planned activities in each category on the FAR.
• If the faculty member received an unsatisfactory annual evaluation the previous year in any of the three areas of Teaching, Scholarship, or Service (or the applicable unit-level categories), the PDP will also contain a list of constructive activities to be undertaken during the next successive academic year developed jointly by the faculty member and his or her supervisor. The list will include specific performance targets that will be achieved in order to remedy the current year’s unsatisfactory evaluation, as well as any resources or assistance needed to facilitate improvement. If a faculty member requests its participation, the unit’s Peer Review Committee will assist the faculty member and his or her supervisor in developing the list.
• The PDP will include a statement identifying whether the listed objectives are intended to serve as performance targets whose achievement will signal an overall assessment of “meets expectations” or, alternatively, one of “exceeds expectations.”
• Should the faculty member anticipate applying for promotion within the next two years, his or her PDP will include a statement to this effect so as to inform the supervisor’s preliminary review of the faculty member’s proposed objectives for the coming year.
• Unanticipated changes in assignments and responsibilities will be documented as amendments to the PDP and considered when evaluating the individual’s performance. These amendments, along with a statement of the way in which the objectives of the PDP have been met, will be included in the Annual Professional Development Report (APDR) submitted to the supervisor for the evaluation process. (CBA Article 9)
• According to Article 9 of the CBA, “Scheduled hours for all employees shall not normally exceed forty (40) hours per week. Time shall be allowed within the normal working day for research, teaching, or other activities required of the employee, when a part of the assigned duties.” The objectives listed on the PDP should be achievable in a normal forty-hour workweek.
• Each employee shall be given assignments, which provide equitable opportunities, in relation to other employees in the same department/unit, to meet the required criteria for promotion, tenure, continuing multi-year extension, successive fixed multi-year appointments, and merit salary increases.