FLEX

Flex Week Fall 2024 

Theme: Community, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

Pre-Flex and Flex Week Program and Session Descriptions

Pre-Flex Week: Monday, August 5 — Friday, August 9

Pre-Flex-at-a-Glance

Flex Week: Monday, August 12 - Friday, August 16

Flex-at-a-Glance

Convocation Day Fall 2024 Webpage w/ Recording and Resources of Convocation (Keynote Speaker: CCC Chancellor Sonya Christian, PhD)

Recorded Sessions from Flex Week 

Here's How to Log Flex Hours in ProLearning for Watching These Flex Sessions.

For Flex-related questions:
Cara Kreit
ckreit@marin.edu

COM Flex/Professional Learning Program

Flex/professional learning activities are open to all employees. All faculty have a Flex obligation that must be completed as part of their contract. Classified professionals are encouraged to attend Flex activities that are of interest or relevant to their positions.

Faculty FLEX Obligation

Full-time faculty have an obligation of 40 hours for the academic year. Flex hours are due by Friday, May 24, 2024.
Part-time faculty have an obligation based on instructional load. Your Flex obligation is listed on your contract and your ProLearning home page.  Fall hours are due Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

ProLearning

ProLearning is a personalized professional learning management site where you can access a Workshop Calendar, register for (REQUEST) events, and view your Flex transcript.  The calendar shows COM events and professional learning activities sponsored by the Chancellor’s Office and other partners. After each COM session, the presenters or Flex coordinator will mark attendance, and you may be asked to complete a short evaluation before events move from the active to the completed section of your transcript. 

To access ProLearning, log into MyCOM and choose ProLearning from the list of applications. 

Looking for additional professional learning activities? Go to ProLearning and Search for Teaching

You can access thousands of videos and online courses from the Chancellor’s Office, LinkedIn Learning, Skillsoft, and more when you click on the Search for Training button on the ProLearning welcome page. You can use titles and topics to search for training and add filter options based on duration, type, subject, and provider to find courses that will work for you.  After completion, the events will automatically appear on the completed section of your transcript. 

Flex Information 

For faculty information about the Flex program, open the Flex Information Brochure (updated July 2024) or read the FAQs below.

FAQs about Flex, the Flexible Calendar Program, and Using ProLearning
What is Flex?

The California Community Colleges Flexible Calendar Program allows colleges to set aside a specified number of days/hours for professional development (Flex) activities in lieu of teaching each semester (Title 5, Section 55720). Each year, schools must offer a total of 175 teaching and professional learning days, so each added Flex day means one fewer day of classroom instruction. Currently, COM has five Flex days per semester.

For more details about this program, read the California Community Colleges FLEX Guidelines.
 

Who must participate?

All full and part-time credit and noncredit faculty must participate in Flex. Faculty are paid for this time as part of their contract. Faculty who do not complete their Flex obligation will have their pay adjusted. 
 

How is my Flex obligation determined?
Full-time Faculty

Full-time faculty have a 40-hour Flex obligation for the academic year. Full-time faculty have from July 1 until the last day of spring finals to complete their yearly Flex obligation.

Part-time Faculty Flex obligation

Part-time faculty have a Flex obligation of 20 hours/semester which is prorated based on assigned instructional load. In the case of librarians, counselors, school nurse, and Child Development Program faculty, the obligation is based on workload. Part-time faculty must complete their Flex obligation by the last day of finals each semester. 

# of Units Taught

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Hours of Obligation

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# of Units Taught

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Hours of Obligation

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Where can I find my Flex obligation?

You can find your Flex obligation on your contract and your ProLearning Welcome page, where it is updated on the first day of each semester. For full-time faculty, your obligation is set at 40 hours for the academic year. 

How can I fulfill my Flex requirement?

The easiest way to complete your Flex requirement is to attend professional learning activities during Flex week. There are more than enough sessions offered to fulfill your obligation, and you get the added bonus of learning about important information and resources, meeting with colleagues and building community.  You can also attend Flex sessions throughout the semester, complete online training modules, go to off-campus conferences or workshops, or complete other individual activities. 

Full-time faculty are required to attend the mandatory Flex day each semester which includes Convocation and department meetings. 

Part-time faculty are encouraged, but not required, to attend Convocation and department meetings. 

What happens if a full-time faculty member misses a mandatory Flex day?

Full-time faculty members who do not attend Convocation or department meetings on the mandatory Flex day must submit an absence report.

What kinds of individual activities are acceptable?

According to the Chancellor’s office, FLEX activities may include: 

  1. Course instruction and evaluation 
  2. Staff development, in-service training, and instructional improvement 
  3. Program and course curriculum or learning resource development and evaluation 
  4. Student personnel services 
  5. Learning resource services 
  6. Related activities, such as student advising, guidance, orientation, matriculation services, and student, faculty, and staff diversity 
  7. Departmental or division meetings, conferences and workshops, and institutional research. All department meetings during Flex week qualify for Flex credit. To qualify for Flex credit outside of Flex week, department meetings must have a professional learning focus. Regular meetings to deal with updates and normal housekeeping issues do not qualify. 
  8. Other duties as assigned by the district 
  9. The necessary supporting activities for the above These activities might include: 
  • Attending a conference related to your field 
  • Serving as a club adviser or student mentor 
  • Working with librarians to evaluate the library collections 
  • Mentoring another faculty member 
  • Participating in a Faculty Inquiry Group 
  • Attending a COM-sponsored presentation 
  • Serving on a hiring committee (max. 5 hours).

All activities should be linked to the comprehensive plan for staff development and to the goals and objectives of the Flexible Calendar Program. In addition, the staff development plan and the flexible calendar program should be linked to the goals and mission of the college.

What kinds of activities are not acceptable for FLEX credit?

You cannot claim Flex credit for:

  1. Activities related to the normal preparation of classes, such as selecting textbooks, preparing syllabi and class materials, and grading, which are required parts of your job and your compensation as an instructor 
  2. Activities for which you receive special compensation 
  3. Activities that conflict with your classroom or office hours 
  4. Participating in ongoing committees that are part of your professional service to the institution. 
What is ProLearning? 

ProLearning is our professional learning management system. With ProLearning, you can: 

  1. View a calendar of upcoming professional learning events 
  2. Register for Flex sessions and activities 
  3. Access thousands of online training offerings from Lynda.com, Skillsoft, and Keenan 
  4. View a transcript of your professional learning activities 
  5. Access the California Community College’s Vision Resource Center, developed to promote and support the goals of the Chancellor’s Vision for Success 
  6. Connect with colleagues at COM and throughout the CCC system. 
How do I get to ProLearning? 

Log into MyCOM and select ProLearning from the list of applications. This will take you to your Welcome page, where you will find links to the Workshop Calendar, training suggestions, Flex Dashboard, Your Transcript, featured training, a social feed, and your Faculty Flex Obligation.

How do I record my Flex activities? 

All professional learning activities should be recorded in ProLearning.

  • If you attend a scheduled Flex session, the presenter or Flex coordinator will use the sign-in sheets or, in the case of Zoom sessions, the list of participants to mark your attendance in ProLearning. After attendance has been marked, you will get a prompt to fill out a quick online evaluation. After this, the session will move from the active to complete section of your transcript.
  • If you find and complete online training offered in ProLearning, it will automatically be added to your transcript.
  • If you do individual activities, you will need to go to My Transcript in ProLearning and follow the instructions to add external training. This video will also walk you through the steps. 
I attended a Flex session, but it's not listed on my transcript. What happened?
  • Attendance might not have been marked yet. Pro tip: Check the workshop calendar. If the event you're asking about is still on the calendar, attendance hasn't been marked. After each session, the presenter or Flex coordinator must manually mark attendance. It takes time to gather all of the rosters and mark attendance, especially for the larger events.
  • For Zoom sessions, we download Zoom usage reports or use the participants list to mark attendance. Sometimes, people log into Zoom with just a first name, a telephone number, or on someone else's account. When this happens, we can't always match information with an employee. If you think this is the problem, contact Beth Patel.
  • Once attendance is marked and an evaluation completed if required, the session will move from the active to completed section of your transcript. Toggle between the two sections of your transcript, and you might find your missing sesion. 
  • There is also an archived section of your transcript for sessions that you registered for but did not attend. Occasionally, a completed session might accidentally be moved to the archived section. If this happens, it can easily be restored to the completed section. 
How do I check my completed Flex hours? 

Open ProLearning, click on the Flex Credit Dashboard button, and follow these steps:

  • Select the tab for the desired time period
  • Use the Options drop-down menu to Refresh the page
  • Hover your mouse in the top right corner of the chart to access a second drop-down menu to View Details, Export to Excel, or Refresh. When you select the view details option, you will see a list of activities and hours completed within a certain time period.
Do I need to submit any paperwork at the end of the semester?

No. At the end of each semester for part-time faculty and at the end of the spring semester for full-time faculty, the Flex coordinator will run a training report that includes the number of Flex hours required and the Flex/professional learning activities that have been completed by each faculty member. You can view your completed activities in your transcript and the Flex Credit Dashboard. You do not have to print or submit anything.  

If you have questions about Flex or ProLearning, contact Contact Cara Kreit at ckreit@marin.edu