Purpose:
To provide guidelines for administering a program of professional development for employees. This policy draws together the relevant policies and procedures already in place, and provides implementation guidelines for administrators to follow in adapting these provisions to their own management setting.
Policy:
A university's most valuable resource is its people. Eastern Oregon University encourages its employees to participate in educational/developmental activities, thereby further enhancing the educational and scholarly mission of the institution.
By encouraging educational/developmental activities for individual employees, the University as a whole should benefit from the increased motivation, morale, and capacity for service that such activities promote. The temporary inconvenience incurred by providing release time is far outweighed by these long-range benefits. The opportunity for interaction between faculty, staff, and students should enrich the educational experience for all.
Strategies and responsibilities for employee development:
In addition to enrollment in academic courses, participation in educational/developmental activities may include developmental assignments, workshops, conferences, or training seminars such as those sponsored by the University.
The ultimate responsibility for determining the relevance, desirability, and timing of employee participation in educational/developmental activities rests with the individual's supervisor, within these policy guidelines.
Flexible strategies are encouraged to allow employee participation in educational/developmental activities, while balancing office workloads and maintaining essential services. These strategies may include:
· Rotating the opportunity for work-release time among office personnel.
· Adjusting the work setting by staggering work shifts and/or lunch periods, arranging for coverage by other employees/supervisor, or arranging for after-hours return as necessary.
· Coordinating the educational/developmental activities of participating employees to avoid placing an unfair burden on those employees who are not participating.
Guidelines for educational/developmental activities:
Definition
Approved educational-developmental activities may be directly or indirectly job or career related. This could include any activity which would enable staff members to become more effective in their current position; would prepare them for advancement within the department, division or University; or would enhance personal development and lifelong learning.
Work-release time
Supervisors should make every effort to provide the opportunity for all interested staff members to participate in one or more educational-developmental activity each year. Employees who are employed 1.0 FTE are eligible for work-release time equivalent to one 5 credit course per term (5 hours/week) for educational activities occurring during their normal work schedule. Academic courses taken at EOU for educational-developmental purposes which involve approved work release time must ordinarily be taken for credit.
Eligibility Requirement for Staff Fee Rates
Current employees are encouraged to take advantage of low staff tuition rates. Employees appointed at half time or more (not including temporary employees, graduate assistants, and other student employees) may register for a maximum of 10 hours of credit per term at the staff rate. Part-time employees who work less than half time are not eligible for staff rates.
The staff rate for tuition applies to all OUS institutions. Staff rates do not apply to the Division of Distance Education unless otherwise specified. Qualified employees may use the staff rate for tuition at the institution of their choice.
Employees on official leave are eligible for staff rates for tuition if the last FTE on record qualifies them for staff rates.
Funding for participation in educational-developmental activities:
Departments may pay for the cost of courses, conferences, and educational-developmental activities from their own budgets, if they decide that the activity will particularly benefit their operational effectiveness. Expenditures which would involve out-of-state travel are governed by regulations which require advance approval. If employees are required, as a part of their duties, to participate in an educational-developmental activity, the costs will be reimbursed or paid by the department.
Implementation:
Whenever human or material resources are reallocated, some cost is inevitable. Employees are expected to meet this challenge with fairness, a concern for the best interests of everyone, and a dedication to the educational mission of this University. Supervisors are expected to encourage staff to seek opportunities for participation in educational-developmental activities which will enable them to better fulfill their potential for service to the University, community, and state.
All supervisors are responsible for implementing this policy, and for adopting flexible strategies which promote participation in educational-developmental activities.
Revision reviewed by President's Staff: 1/08/01
Re-issued by: Vice-President for Administration
[Responsible for Accuracy: John S. Miller, Provost - Last Verified: 10/16/01]