A-to-Z Index

Policy 1403
A&P Faculty and Classified Staff Training & Development

Date of Current Revision: December, 2011
Responsible Officer: Director of Training and Development

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to outline the university’s commitment to the development of its employees by providing and encouraging participation in a variety of job-related training and development opportunities.

2. AUTHORITY

The Board of Visitors has granted the president responsibility for the university’s effective operation, to include the development of its faculty and staff, and the authority to dictate policies and procedures in that effort.

The policy is also under the authority and in support of the following university defining characteristic:

The university will invest in the professional development of its people.

3. DEFINITIONS

Professional Development:
Participating in an activity – training event, workshop, conference, certificate program, literature review, etc. – for the purpose of learning and improving one’s job performance.

Administrative Faculty:
Administrative faculty members are required to perform work directly related to the management of activities of the university, department or work unit. They typically exercise discretion and independent judgment and generally direct the work of others.

Professional Faculty:
Professional faculty members must possess advanced learning and experience acquired by prolonged formal instruction and/or specialized work experience. This category includes such positions as counselors, librarians and other professional positions serving athletics, development functions or activities, education, research or student affairs.

Work-Related Education and/or Training
Education or training that is required by the university, law, or regulatory agency to keep present salary, status, or job. The required education must serve the functional purposes of the university. Or, education that maintains or improves skills needed in the employee’s present job.

A&P Faculty
A reference to either or both Administrative Faculty and Professional Faculty.

4. APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to classified staff, Administrative & Professional Faculty (AP Faculty), and wage employees.

5. POLICY

The university encourages and supports the professional development of employees to aid and improve job performance. Participation in job-related courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, and meetings directly related to the goals and objectives of the university will be supported as funding is available to enable high levels of job performance.

The university will provide assistance and guidance, through department heads and supervisors, to employees interested in increasing and maintaining their levels of job performance. The Training and Development Department will develop a wide variety of training opportunities and will also publish activities sponsored by the university and outside sources.

Participation in professional development is subject to supervisory approval and employee workloads.

JMU will not pay for training taken to meet minimum requirements of an employee’s present job, or for training that is part of a program of study that will qualify the employee for a new trade or business.

6. PROCEDURES

The responsibility of approving or denying tuition reimbursement requests falls within the employee’s department (see Policy 1401). However, Training and Development may be able to assist with the funding depending on availability and appropriateness.

Training and Development may reimburse employees for professional development activities toward job-related certification and licenses after the passing of the certification or license exam, based on active employment with JMU and availability of funds.

Advance payment or reimbursement for professional development, including job-related licenses and certifications, is at the discretion of the employee’s department.

Using JMU Employee Self-Service (MyMadison), employees can maintain a record of all professional development activities managed by outside vendors. All internal trainings will be entered into MyMadison by the appropriate training department - i.e. Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), Training & Development, Information Technology Training, etc. Faculty and staff members are provided an opportunity to examine their professional development records in this self-service functionality.

A systematic review of training needs will be made periodically to assess the training and development needs of university administrative and professional faculty and staff members. Such assessments will provide the basis for planning and programming university training activities.

7. RESPONSIBILITIES

The Training and Development Department is responsible for developing and publicizing a variety of training opportunities based on its research of the needs of university staff, A&P faculty, and departments. The primary purpose of the Training and Development Department is to assist employees in improving their job performance.

Supervisors are responsible for encouraging those they lead to participate in training and to allow for scheduling flexibility that frees employees to be trained.

8. SANCTIONS

Employees who violate this policy are subject to discipline commensurate with the severity and/or frequency of the offense and may include termination of employment.

9. EXCLUSIONS

Educational opportunities covered in Policies 1401, 1402, and 1405 are excluded from this policy.

Instructional Faculty members are not covered in this policy, nor are they under the purview of the Training and Development Department. Instructional Faculty professional development is addressed by the individual academic departments as well as such units as CIT and the Center for Faculty Innovation.

10. INTERPRETATION

The authority to interpret this policy rests with the president, and is generally delegated to the Director of Training and Development.

Previous version: March, 2010
Approved by the President: May, 2002

Index of Terms

Training
Training opportunities