Pages

Saturday, August 31, 2013

New Job, Getting Started

Hello colleagues,

I'm looking forward to beginning my work as the SD57 Pro-D Fund Administrator next week. For those that don't know what this is, it is an elected position in the PGDTA, provided with .5 release, and responsible for:

  • Pro-D Fund applications for in-district and out-of-district events (see form attached) 
  • Applications and support for special inquiry projects
  • Support for SD57 Mentorship Program and other shared initiatives with Curriculum & Instruction Dep't 
  • Contact for BCTF Pro-D information and professional learning issues/strategies for teachers 
  • Organization of Zone Conference (April 4, 2014)
  • Chair and work with elected Pro-D committee for aspects of all of these responsibilities
  • Various projects, reports, and meetings, e.g. as part of the PGDTA Executive 
The guidelines for accessing the Pro-D Fund are laid out in section 12B of the PGDTA Policies & Procedures manual (in Contract & Policies folder inside the PGDTA folder on 57Online). The Fund is filled by a $150 per member grant from the school district -- this varies from district to district with ours somewhere in the bottom-middle. Our practice, somewhat unique in the province, is to allow less frequent access to the fund but cover more substantial costs. We set aside money in "trimesters" in order to budget for fall conference travel, the Zone Conference, and other events and projects. Our committee sorted out some tricky applications in June and I'm sure new challenges await. Within a somewhat complex policy framework, we try to strike a balance between fairness to all members and accommodation of individual requests. By the way, there are at least two openings on the Pro-D Committee that need to be filled (by election at a Staff Rep Assembly).

I see a number of paper and electronic applications for PD funding, I will begin working through these next week as quickly as I am able to get up to speed on the process and software. Thanks for your patience and please feel free to contact me with questions or dialogue about Pro-D by email (gthielmann @ sd57.bc.ca) or at the PGDTA office in the afternoons at 250-562-7214.

0 comments:

Post a Comment