ERLI Professional Development Policy

The goal for ERLI administration is to provide a collaborative workplace in which there is opportunity for continued professional growth as faculty contribute to not only ERLI and ERAU, but to the larger field of TESOL. As such, ongoing professional development for faculty is an integral aspect of achieving ERLI's mission of providing high quality English language instruction and academic preparation for our students. As such, opportunities for professional development are made available to both full-time and part-time faculty.

Full-time faculty:

Professional development for full-time faculty encompasses three areas.

Working with the ERLI Director or Academic Coordinator in weekly and/or bi-monthly meetings to improve their skills based on issues arising from classroom observations pertaining to planning, instruction, assessment, and students. Such exchanges directly contribute to professional development.
Participating in class observations with the director, Academic Coordinator or a fellow faculty member. For each observation, the observer and the faculty member will meet for a pre-observation meeting and will meet again after the observation once each has had time to reflect on the class. These observations do not constitute a formal class observation for evaluation purposes.
Participating in professional development activities within the broader field of TESOL. Full-time faculty should include at least one such professional development activity as a goal in their annual performance evaluation form and, when appropriate, complete that activity within the upcoming year. Professional development activities may take the form of one of the following:
- Staying abreast of best practices in the field of TESOL through webinars, conferences, online courses, or readings, and applying new practices in the classroom.
- Participating in the University's Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence teaching sessions.
- Engaging in structured collaboration on best practices in instruction and assessment with ERLI and ERAU instructors as well as affiliates in the field (SSTESOL, SETESOL, TESOL, etc...).
- Work on longer term special projects that support ERLI's mission.

Part-time faculty:

Part-time faculty should participate in at least one professional development activity each full semester at ERLI. By the Friday following final exams of each semester, they should submit a brief written report detailing their professional development activity along with a reflection of the experience.

Professional development activities for part-time faculty take the same form as those for full-time faculty with the exception of work on longer term special projects.