Policy 1403
AP Faculty and Staff Training & Development

Date of Current Revision: September, 2008
Responsible Officer: Director of Training & 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 with 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.

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.

4. APPLICABILITY

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

5. POLICY

The university encourages and supports the professional development of employees. 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 & 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

Departments or Training & Development may approve reimbursement or advance payment for any professional development opportunity that is directly related to the goals and objectives of the university, subject to available funding.

Training & Development will reimburse employees for course work 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 (JESS), employees can maintain a record of all professional development activities managed by outside vendors. All internal trainings will be entered into JESS by the appropriate training department (i.e. Center for Instructional Technology, 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 faculty and staff members. Such assessments will provide the basis for planning and programming university training activities.

7. RESPONSIBILITIES

The Training & Development Department is responsible for developing and publicizing a variety of training opportunities based on its research of the needs of university staff, faculty and departments.

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 & Development Department. Instructional Faculty professional development is addressed by the individual academic departments as well as such units as CIT and CFI.

10. INTERPRETATION

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

Previous version: January, 2007
Approved by the President: May, 2002

Index of Terms

Training
Training opportunities

 

Policy 1403 PDF Version