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Professional Development Resources for All Faculty
We strive to support your professional development needs at all stages of your teaching practice.
The intention of this Faculty Guidebook is to combine helpful information from different resources into one organized place.
The guidebook is not a substitute for and does not supersede the official Policies and Procedures of the college, nor the Faculty Collective Bargained Agreement.
Faculty Bargained Agreement Funding
As part of the faculty bargained agreement, faculty will have one half of 1% set aside from each year's operating budget at Lake Washington Institute of Technology for professional development.
What can this funding be used for?
Funds may be requested for research, conferences, classes, degrees, and other professional development opportunities that align with the college's core themes and mission. The professional development opportunity should end with a product that will be shared in some way to bring benefit to the college. This might be in the form of a published paper, presentation given to a group or committee, report, etc. You may be awarded partial funding at the discretion of the committee.
Note: for tuition towards higher education, e.g. a doctorate, you may request and be granted up to $3,000. The fund does not pay for certification or licensing that is necessary for you to have in order to teach your classes. Those are paid for out of division money.
Who can apply for funding?
In order to be eligible to request funds, the faculty must be either full-time, or part-time faculty who have taught an average of 30 credits a year for the past 2 years. Please note that special consideration may be taken for faculty who do not qualify, but are close to qualifying, at the discretion of the Faculty Professional Development Committee.
How much funding can I apply for?
Requests may be made for up to $3,000 (this amount must include pay for a substitute instructor, if needed, to cover missed classes, however, priority will be given to applications under $1,500 to help ensure that more faculty are served). Under ordinary circumstances, funding will not be available to more than three persons to attend the same event.
How often can I apply for funding?
Faculty may not apply for funds more frequently than once every other year.
What is the application deadline?
Applications must be received no later than the 6th week of the quarter to request funding for the following quarter. Project funds are limited and will be allocated as worthy requests are received, so it is recommended that faculty submit their applications by the earliest possible deadline.
To find out more or to apply, visit the Faculty Professional Development Funds Application.
Other Professional Development Funding
Other possible funding resources may be available. These resources are typically pre-planned to fund for annual conferences or LWTech trainings:
- Department funding. If available. Contact your dean.
- Grants (Title III, Perkins for Prof-Tech Faculty) To be used only as grant guidelines permit. Typically these are for LWTech internal trainings.
- Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Typically used for funding speakers and other EDI related professional development, including EDI related conferences. If available. Contact Robert Britten, Executive Director of EDI.
- Office of Instruction If available. Contact Rhonda DeWitt, Manager of Engagement and Learning. Typically reserved for pre-planned attendance at annual conferences such as ATL and WACC.
- Open Educational Resources (OER) Development Contact Library for Open Educational Resources Development Funding. Typically funded by Instruction and Perkins.
- Prof-Tech Faculty If available, Perkins grant may be available to cover some professional development needs for prof-tech faculty only. To be used only as grant guidelines permit. Contact Vicki Chew, Dean of Instruction.
- Tuition Waivers at WA State public colleges. Check out HR's FAQ's for information on class waivers at LWTech and other WA State public colleges.
- You will receive a Weekly Faculty Workshops update in your LWTech email.
- Training communications also come from Human Resources, such as LEADS, and from the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Council.
- Each year our college typically sends a few faculty to the following conferences
- Assessment, Teaching and Learning (ATL) Conference hosted by Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)
- Faculty and Staff of Color Conference (FSOCC)
- Washington Annual Canvas Conference (WACC)
- Inquiries to Vicki Chew, Dean of Instruction or Rhonda DeWitt, Manager of Engagement & Learning on any of these listed.
If you need help getting started with Canvas, contact the eLearning department to make an appointment.
If you are looking for a robust (3-weeks, asynchronous, approx. 20 hours) Canvas training, visit our system's Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) training registration page.
For Professional Technical faculty that are required to take a First Aid CPR training, we typically offer one during Fall Inservice – Opening week.
Careers in Ed offers boot camps and other trainings for professional technical instructors at educational institutions of Washington State.
SBCTCoffers Online Training on Canvas, How to Use Open Educational Resources and more.
Other Faculty Resources
Do you like the idea of reducing the cost oftextbooks or learning materials for your students? Or be given the chance to see if there's openly licensed resources you can remix to fit your course learning needs? Check out Open for Learning for details and information on who to contact in regards to Open Educational Resources (OER), or contact LWTech Library Staff for more information.
As you prepare for class, check out the Academic Calendar to plan around any holidays, advising, and inservice days.