Offering FLEX Credit
How is Flex assigned? How do I obtain a Flex Number for my proposed Activity?
If your Activity involves More than 3 participants: The Academic Senate’s Flex Committee must approve your Flex activity.
- Email your TYPED Flex request (no JPEGs of the event please) to Kelly Addington at
addingtonk@mjc.edu with the following information completed:
-
- Title:
- Date:
- Start Time:
- End Time:
- Location:
- Enrollment Limit:
- Cost:
- Brief Description of Event:
(Please review the criteria for flex and explain how your proposed event fits that criteria. Be sure to show professional development).
-
- Kelly Addington will forward your request to the chair of the Flex Committee/Academic Senate.
- Approval Timeframe: All flex requests are voted on and discussed by the Flex Committee (the Flex Committee is presently comprised of faculty members appointed by the Senate.) The committee discusses the proposal and votes yay or nay per “Flex Criteria” posted on the MJC Flex webpage at http://www.mjc.edu/instruction/flex.php. Please Note: Flex approval takes two to three weeks.
- The chair of the Flex Committee forwards approval to Kelly Addington who will post it to the Flex Calendar and email you the Flex number if approved. You will also be notified if your proposal is denied.
If your Activity involves less than 4 participants
You complete and submit an “Independent Proposal” on the Flex program which is sent to your dean for approval.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
- Can we rush Flex requests?
No, we are unable to rush flex requests; however Flex can be approved after the event occurs. - Can I still get credit or have a flex number issued after the Flex activity has occurred?
Yes, If Flex is approved after the fact attendees can still get flex credit by submitting for approval if it’s not yet listed on the Flex Calendar or by enrolling and completing it in the Flex system. - Can the chair of the Flex Committee individually approve specific flex requests?
No, it must be approved by the Flex Committee. - I am a Faculty member. What does my YFA Contract say about Flex?
YFA contract and Flex: For both instructional and non-instructional faculty- Total hours – how much flex?
- The fall and spring semester each consists of two days of flex = four annual flex days in addition to instructional weeks (Article 3: Academic Calendar and Work Year, 3.1)
- Each flex day is 7 hours for a total of 28 hours/year if non-overload. If overload then additional flex hours per each overload course are required. ( Article 4: Workload, 4.1 Professional Week, 4.1.2 Instructional Faculty Accountable Time)
- Content –specific types of flex stipulated in the YFA contract:
-
- Student advising maybe counted towards one’s flex or institutional day responsibilities (4.1.2 Faculty Advising, p. 10-11)
- Online related flex
- Completion of online course training per college DE plan may be applied towards flex obligation in lieu of column advancement credit, money, or professional hours obligation (37.4 Training and Incentives, p. 84)
- Peer mentors for new online courses (37.5 Initial Online Assignment and Review/Mentorship Incentives, p. 84)
- Total hours – how much flex?
What are the Flex Criteria?
CA CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE - GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION ADOPTED APRIL 3, 1993 OF THE FLEXIBLE CALENDAR PROGRAM REVISED APRIL 2007
Acceptable Flexible Calendar Program activities include:
STAFF IMPROVEMENT
- Developing new programs (e.g., a workshop on designing curriculum/ programs)
- Faculty and counselor meetings to address areas of concern (e.g., academic advising, prerequisites, referring students for services)
- Faculty and staff (e.g., tutors, lab assistants) meetings to improve learning resource support services to students
- Workshops on how to mentor students or how to mentor faculty
- Orientation/education (e.g., new faculty; role of the academic senates; training students, staff, and faculty to serve on committees; changing role of technology in education)
- Student, faculty, and staff diversity (e.g., sexual harassment workshops, affirmative action conferences, cultural diversity seminars, multicultural activities)
- Meetings designed to improve a cohesive working relationship among members of the group (e.g., departments, divisions, committees, mixture of college constituencies)
- Workshops on how to write grants
- Workshops or individually designed activities to improve or enhance a person's skills or knowledge in his/her own discipline
- Wellness activities that assist individuals to be physically and mentally better able to perform their jobs (e.g., humor in the workplace, stress reduction, self-defense, nutrition, exercise, weight reduction)
- Learning a second language to better communicate with the diverse student population
- Disaster preparedness (e.g., district procedures, first aid, review of facilities to determine areas of need)
- Improving or learning how to deal with computers and technology
STUDENT IMPROVEMENT
- Teaching a class in shortened format during a flex period
- Developing a new program to meet changing student needs
- Faculty and staff (e.g., tutors, lab assistants) meetings to improve services to students
- Review of learning resource materials to eliminate outdated items and make recommendations for additions
- Creating self-study modules and/or computer assisted instruction
- Student advising (e.g., academic advising of students by faculty)
- Mentoring of students
- Faculty participation in student orientation programs
- Matriculation services (e.g., special orientation for ESL students, workshops in specific disciplines for students with undecided majors)
- Meetings (department/division/college-wide) specifically to discuss strategies for improving service to students)
- Institutional research focused on meeting the needs of the students (e.g., job market surveys, transfer ratios, ethnicity data on students, gender equity, campus climate)
- Writing grants aimed to improve services to students
- Articulation to improve transfer processes
- Outreach for special projects (e.g., Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement [MESA] program)
- Conducting special workshops for students (e.g., understanding the college schedule, transfer requirements, setting academic goals)
INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT
Attending workshops on teaching methods or techniques (e.g., classroom based research training; Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW); local, regional, national Great Teachers Seminars)
- Development or revision of programs, course curriculum, learning resources and evaluation.
APPENDIX E – MJC’S FLEX LANGUAGE FROM MJC FLEX WEBPAGE
The Flexible Calendar Program provides in-lieu-of instruction time for faculty to participate in development activities that are related to staff, student, and instructional improvement. "Acceptable activities" can be designed to achieve a wide range of staff development goals and can be delivered in many formats including in-service training, workshops, conferences, seminars, individual or small group planned projects, and institutionally planned activities. As such, it is a powerful strategy for implementing specific improvements in the development of colleges as collaborative, innovative workplaces. It is thus both a strategy for specific instructional improvement and a vehicle for basic organizational change in the way faculty and staff work and learn together.
Before submitting a Flex proposal, does your activity meet the following "Flex Criteria?" (REFERENCES ACCCJ/CCCCO – SEE BELOW APPENDIX F) Click on the link to find out!
Flex Calendar Directions
Login to Flex Calendar
Academic Senate Professional Development Committee
(this committee oversees Flex activities at MJC)
Flexible Calendar Program 2015-2016 Certification
ASCCC/CCCCO “GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FLEXIBLE CALENDAR PROGRAM”,
pp. 15-18.
1. Staff Improvement
- Workshops on designing new curriculum/programs
- Faculty and counselor meetings to address specific areas of concern (e.g., academic advising, prerequisites, referring students for services) beyond regularly scheduled committee meetings
- Faculty and staff (e.g., tutors, lab assistants) meetings to improve learning resource support services to students
- Workshops on how to mentor students or how to mentor faculty
- Orientation/education (e.g., new faculty; role of the academic senates; training students, staff, and faculty to serve on committees; changing role of technology in education)
- Student, faculty, and staff diversity (e.g., sexual harassment workshops, cultural diversity seminars,multicultural activities)
- Campus forums designed to improve a cohesive working relationship among college constituencies
- Workshops on how to write grants
- Workshops or individually designed activities to improve/enhance a person's skills/knowledge in his/her own discipline
- Wellness events that assist individuals to be physically and mentally better able to perform their jobs (e.g., humor in the workplace, stress reduction, self-defense, nutrition, exercise, weight reduction)
- Learning a second language to better communicate with the diverse student population
- Disaster preparedness (e.g., district procedures, first aid, review of facilities to determine areas of need)
- Workshops on learning and/or increasing proficiency in the utilization of computers and technology
2. Student Improvement
- Developing student and instructional (e.g., tutoring) services to meet changing student needs
- Workshops for faculty and staff focused on improving services to students
- Reviewing and updating of campus learning resource materials to eliminate outdated items and make recommendations for additions
- Creating supplemental self-study modules and/or computer-assisted instruction for all students on campus
- Student advising (e.g., academic advising of students by faculty)
- Serving as a club advisor and mentoring students in clubs
- Faculty participation in student orientation programs and matriculation services
- Meetings specifically for the purpose of discussing strategies for improving service to students
- Institutional research focused on meeting the needs of the students (e.g., job market surveys, transfer ratios, ethnicity data on students, gender equity, campus climate)
- Writing grants aimed to improve services to students
- Articulation to improve transfer processes
- Outreach for special projects (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineering, Math [STEM] program)
- Conducting special workshops for students (e.g., understanding the college schedule, transfer requirements, setting academic goals)
3. Instructional Improvement
- Attending workshops on teaching methods or techniques (e.g., classroom-based research training; Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW); local, regional, national Great Teachers Seminars)
- Development or revision of programs, course curriculum, learning resources and evaluation
- Modifying an existing course to comply with changing institutional or discipline requirements (e.g., changing theories in a discipline, articulation with transfer institutions, critical thinking, multiculturalism, writing across the curriculum)
- Significant modification of a course to address the learning needs of diverse students (e.g., creating self-paced learning modules)
- Developing student readiness programs specific to course disciplines
- Faculty and counselor meetings to address areas of curriculum
- Departmental or division meetings to discuss overall curriculum and program review beyond regularly scheduled meetings
- Grant writing to secure funds for improvement of instruction
—ASCCC/CCCCO “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Flexible Calendar Program”, pp. 15-18