Provision for community college faculty development in collective bargaining agreements

Abstract

While the need for community college faculty development has evolved into a top priority issue over the last decade, collective bargaining has become a significant influence on the programs and policies of two-year campuses in many states. The following study examines the trends of collective negotiations as they affect inservice education, through an examination of collective bargaining agreements. The findings indicate that few colleges declare the purpose of faculty development to be increased teaching effectiveness or link participation in professional growth activities with reward for that participation. Few colleges include faculty on inservice planning bodies. However, facilitating policies for staff development exist in significant numbers of agreements, providing for inservice days, leaves of absence, sabbaticals, tuition reimbursement for formal study, and released time for innovative program development. In all, the trend is presently one of negotiation of provisions in a piecemeal fashion rather than one with the goal of establishing comprehensive professional improvement programs.