Attending a summer conference? Planning ahead for professional development in the fall? Here is a reminder of the process for requesting and paying for professional development through the Center for Instructional Excellence. Our processes and policies apply equally to full-time and adjunct faculty. 

1. Review the Collective Bargaining Agreement language for guidance on appropriate types of professional development. As you’ll see, PD is not limited to professional conferences, but it is prioritized to support “the strategic directions of the College, department, or academic area.” 
2. Contact your department chair or director to discuss your PD proposal and get their approval. 
3. Fill out the PD Request Form for CIE. We create a new form for each fiscal year to help us track spending. Use this form for any PD request, whether or not it involves travel. 

• For professional development scheduled before June 30, 2026.
• For professional development scheduled after July 1, 2026.

1. Register and reserve your travel and accommodations using your own credit card, if possible. Talk to your chair or office manager if using your card is a hardship, and they can help with other arrangements. 
2. Pick up Swoop and/or an NMC flag for photo ops at your event! Contact Ryan Bernstein, who manages Swoop’s scheduling.
3. Write a short reflection on your trip for the Center for Teaching and Learning website and newsletter. Ryan will send you a form. Travel reports and photos will be posted on the website all summer.
4. Fill out a reimbursement form. Submit the form to your office manager, who can also help you with this part of the process.

• For an event that required travel, use the form Travel Reimbursement Request — Current on the Travel Request & Reimbursement page. You can request reimbursement for registration and flight costs before the event.
• For any PD that did not require travel and was under $2000, use the Request for Payment form.

Several years ago, CIE instituted a policy limiting faculty to one non-local conference (or equivalent PD event) every other year. This was a change from the previous first-come, first-served policy that had depleted the PD budget while conference requests were still coming in. We will continue the every-other-year policy for several reasons:

• Conference and travel costs have increased.
• Provisional faculty numbers are growing, with 12 faculty expected to be on provisional status next year. Provisional faculty are contractually required to participate in two PD events for each of their first three years at NMC.
• Perkins funding is shrinking. CIE is funding some training for occupational faculty that was previously paid for by federal Perkins grants.

We are also continuing our policy of reimbursing faculty up to $500 every year for local and online PD. This funding is available whether or not faculty have participated in a more expensive PD event. 

Safe travels and share pics!