SADDLEBACK COLLEGE - FLEXIBLE CALENDAR PROGRAM
IN ORDER TO OBTAIN FLEX CREDITS, CONSIDER:
1. Presenting a professional development activity during fall or spring in-service week.
2. Attending a scheduled activity during fall or spring in-service week. A "scheduled" activity is one that appears in the fall or spring in-service week printed program.
3. Attending a professional development activity that does not appear in the fall or spring in-service week printed program.
4. Undertaking and completing a self-directed individual activity.
THE PROCESS INVOLVED and REPORTING FLEX ACTIVITIES.
1. Present a professional development activity during fall or spring in-service week.
	Access the link in the next row and provide the information requested. Click the "Submit Form" button and the information is sent to the Flex Coordinator. The information you provide may appear exactly "as is" in the in-service week program, or it may be edited. By presenting an activity during in-service week, you obtain one hour credit for each hour of presentation, plus two additional hours for preparation. No addition preparation time is awarded.
	Present a flex week activity: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/presenter.htm
	Report your presentation activity on the electronic form that will be sent via college email after in-service week ends. Find your presentation activity on the form and select the number of the report menu equal to 3 times the length of your presentation. After submitting this form, your hours/credits will be recorded.
2. Attend a scheduled activity during fall or spring in-service week. A "scheduled" activity is one that appears in the fall or spring in-service week printed program.
	All activities appearing in the in-service week program meet approved guidelines. If you wish, you can complete all 38 annual flex hours simply by attending scheduled events.
	Reporting your attendance at in-service week is very simple. Wait for the electronic reporting form to be sent to you via college email after in-service week ends. Every event in the program will be listed. Simply look for those you attended, and select the hours of your participation from a menu to the right. By clicking the "Submit Form" button, your hours/credits will be recorded by the Office of Instruction. One hour of participation in such an activity equals one flex credit.
3. Attend a professional development activity that does not appear in the fall or spring in-service week printed program.
	Definition: By "attending" an activity is meant that you are a "learner", an audience member, a student, an observer - anyone but the presenter of the activity. Examples of this type of activity are: meetings, lectures, conferences, seminars, workshops, courses, skills labs, etc. In each case, you are not the organizer or force behind the event. Such activities generally are advertised well in advance, provide and agenda or explanatory information, have stated purpose and goals, and lasts for a pre-announced number of hours. Presenters of such activities often are professors themselves, subject area experts, or general educational or other institutions with no officially named presenter being known in advance. One hour of participation in such an activity equals one flex credit.
	Note regarding reporting hours: It is recommended that you attend activities whose dates and times are known in advance. "Chance" or unplanned meetings do not qualify. You may obtain as many hours for the activity as were announced prior to it, and which you attended, but you may not earn more hours than the announced number, no matter how long you attend. As a corrolary, if you attend fewer hours of the activity than were available, report the lenth of time you atttended.
	Reporting your attendance at these activities is done on a flex report form. The form is available in three versions as shown in the next rows.
	To report the activity online and paperless, visit the link below: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report0.htm (web page)
	To report the activity online using the "paper" form as your guide, visit this link: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report1.doc (document)
	To report the activity in your own handwriting or printing, visit this link, download and print the form: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report2.doc (document)
4. Undertake and complete a self-directed individual activity.
	Definition: By self-directed individual activity is meant an activity of your own creation; one that you plan, execute, and complete during the current reporting period. As in the case of all professional development activities, the goal is improvement in staff, student and/or instruction.
	Note: It is not uncommon for individual activities to include attendance at meetings, workshops, lectures, etc. However in this case they are only components of the larger personal undertaking. Individuals activities cause make you both teacher and learner.
	IMPORTANT: Unlike activites 2 and 3 above, an individual activity requires you to provide your division flex representative with information about your planned individual activity project before commencing.   How? Download and complete this form. Sign it and take or send it via campus mail to your division flex representative. Your division representative will review and forward the form to the Office of Instruction, or ask you to forward it. The main reason why an activity plan would not be approved would be that it did not meet state guidelines, or that it would not likely result in staff, student or instructional improvement. Begin your individual activity, complete and report it during the current academic reporting period.
	Reporting your individual activity: Once you complete this undertaking, you still have to report it, and provide evaluative information. You also will be asked to provide date, times and locations during which you worked on the project.
	As in the case of activity 3 above, the reporting form is available in three formats. Use the one you prefer.
	To report the self-directed activity online and paperless, visit the link below: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report_ind_0.htm
	To report the self-directed activity online using the "paper" form as your guide, visit this link: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report_ind_1.doc
	To report the self-directed activity in handwriting or printing, visit this link, download & print the form: http://www.saddleback.edu/gov/senate/report_ind_2.doc
Back to Flexible Calendar Program page.