Purpose: The purpose of this investment is to provide support to the region’s community colleges as they implement the Strong Workforce Faculty Institute at their institutions, by providing faculty stipends and Institutional Research support. The Faculty Institute is a professional learning opportunity for Career and Technical Education/ Career Education (CTE/CE) instructional faculty employed at the San Diego and Imperial Counties Community Colleges. The goals of the Strong Workforce Faculty Institute are to:

• Foster strong collaboration among faculty, researchers, and deans
• Encourage self-reflection, inquiry, and research-based decision-making
• Inspire teaching and learning from a culturally inclusive perspective

Faculty Institute 3.0 RFA Details: This project can take up to two years. The first year of the project is called Phase 1. During Phase 1, colleges will select CTE faculty to participate in the Faculty Institute. Faculty will receive a stipend to participate in the two in-person regional professional learning events. Faculty will also complete assignments in Canvas, participate in monthly meetings, and complete an Action Plan. Phase I also includes the coordination, assistance, and support of an institutional researcher, a CTE faculty lead, and a CTE dean to support the CTE faculty in completing the program assignments and Action Plan. The second year, Phase 2, is the operationalizing and support for collaboration between institutional research and CTE faculty beyond May 2025, as the CTE faculty implement their Action Plans. Over the two-year timeline of this project, each college can allocate the project funding in the way they determine is best for the college.

Requirements for Stipends: Each college must recruit a minimum of 15 (but no more than 25) full-time or part-time instructors to participate in the Faculty Institute as a cohort. Each participating faculty member may receive up to $2,000 in stipends. A college must recruit 25 faculty to request the full $50,000 for stipends; if a college recruits fewer than 25 faculty, then the reimbursement rate will be adjusted to the number of faculty participating. Colleges are encouraged to create a waitlist if more than 25 faculty members are interested.

For faculty to receive a $2,000 stipend, they must complete the following tasks with their college cohort:

1. Submit the letter of commitment to the Center of Excellence (COE), which outlines participant responsibilities
2. Complete assignments in Canvas, which includes an Action Plan
3. Participate in monthly meetings to complete the assignments
4. Attend two in-person regional professional learning events
   -Kickoff event: October 18, 2024
   -Wrap-up event: May TBD, 2025
5. Implement your Action Plan

At the first (kickoff) in-person professional learning event in October 18, 2024, faculty will:

• Learn from previous cohorts as they share effective Action Plans that made progress toward the Faculty Institute’s goals
• Meet their college cohort of faculty members and the Faculty Institute project team
• Attend an orientation that discusses the expectations of the Faculty Institute participants

The second (wrap-up) in-person professional learning event will be held in May 2025. At the wrap-up event, faculty will:

• Share lessons learned from participating in the Faculty Institute with other college cohorts
• Explore promising practices and learn how to operationalize their Action Plans

Requirements for Project Management and Institutional Research Support: Colleges may request up to $125,000 for project management and institutional research support. Provide justification of the budget requested on the Budget Grid form(s). Clarification and approval of the budget request will occur during the consultation meeting. NOTE: this is the final round of funding for institutional research support for Faculty Institutes. The funding must be used to support a project team consisting of:

1. One faculty lead from CTE/CE
2. One institutional researcher (or COE-employed Regional CTE Research Expert)
3. One CTE/CE dean or associate dean
4. One institutional research dean
5. One director of professional development or teaching and learning, or equivalent

The faculty lead from CTE/CE will be responsible for:

• Working with the CTE/CE dean or associate dean to recruit 15 to 25 faculty members
• Having faculty submit their letters of commitment by September 6, 2024
• Tracking faculty members’ progress on assignments in Canvas
• Scheduling, planning, and facilitating the monthly meetings
• Preparing project team members and faculty participants for the monthly meetings
• Attending both in-person professional learning events
• Providing progress reports about the Faculty Institute to the CTE/CE dean and institutional research dean
• Serving on the Faculty Institute Advisory Group’s regional community of practice

The institutional researcher (or COE-employed Regional CTE Research Expert) will be responsible for:

• Working with the faculty lead to plan and facilitate the monthly meetings
• Conducting an evaluation of the efficacy of the Faculty Institute at their college by comparing courses taught by faculty members in prior cohorts vs. courses taught by faculty members who have not participated in the Faculty Institute—the COE will provide guidance on this process
• Compiling data dashboards and reports related to the Faculty Institute
• Assisting faculty with completing the assignments, including one-on-one data coaching and office hours (if necessary)
• Attending both in-person professional learning events
• Attending the regional Data and Innovation Committee meetings
• Serving on the Faculty Institute Advisory Group’s regional community of practice

The CTE/CE dean will be responsible for:

• Supporting the faculty lead and institutional researcher in the monthly meetings
• Attending both in-person professional learning events
• Working with the institutional research dean to determine how the funding will be spent to operationalize/sustain the collaboration between researchers and faculty beyond May 2025
• Approving each Faculty Institute Action Plan from their college in collaboration with the researcher(s) assigned to the Institute

The institutional research dean will be responsible for:

• Assigning one researcher (at least 0.5 FTE or 23-25 hours/week for two years) to support the Faculty Institute
  Working with the CTE/CE dean or associate dean to determine how the funding will be spent to operationalize/sustain the collaboration between researchers and faculty beyond May 2025
• Attending a quarterly strategic meeting for institutional research administrators with the Regional Consortium and Center of Excellence
  Providing guidance to institutional researchers on data and reports for the Faculty Institute
• Providing guidance to institutional researchers as they evaluate the efficacy of the Faculty Institute at their college by comparing courses taught by faculty members in prior cohorts vs. courses taught by faculty members who have not participated in the Faculty Institute

The director of professional development or teaching and learning or equivalent will be responsible for:

• Attending both in-person professional learning events
• Serving on the Faculty Institute Advisory Group’s regional community of practice
• Working with the institutional research dean and CTE/CE dean or associate dean to continue the goals of the Faculty Institute in the college’s professional development programming

Project Outcomes: This professional development investment is designed to guide CTE/CE faculty to implement their culturally inclusive teaching practices by making research-based decisions. Faculty Action Plans are collected to document outcomes.

Funding Details: Each community college may request up to $175,000 from the Regional Consortium for the Faculty Institute: $50,000 is available for faculty stipends and $125,000 is available for project management and institutional research support.

RFA Timeline

• RFA release Date: March 2024
• RFA Consultation Meeting(s): March – April 29, 2024
• RFA Response Due Date: April 30, 2024
• Letters of commitment and participant list due: September 6, 2024
• Kickoff professional learning event: October 18, 2024
• Faculty Institute assignments due in Canvas: April 25, 2025
• Wrap-up professional learning event: May TBD 2025
• Faculty implement their action plans: May 2025 – June 30, 2026

Budget Grid Ι Phase 1 Budget July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 and Phase 2 July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
Signature Approval Form 

RFA Questions:

• How will you measure your cohort’s progress toward the equity strategies you selected above?
• What outcomes will you focus on that demonstrate these strategies have been achieved?
• How will data be collected for these outcomes?
• How will your college recruit faculty (full time and part time) for the Faculty Institute?
• What disciplines will you target and why? (Reminder: CTE/CE faculty must be prioritized for the institute as they have the first right of refusal.)
• Which SWP metrics will be addressed with this project? (Indicate in numbers or percentage)
• What TOP Codes will be addressed with this project?
• What SOC Codes will be addressed with this project?
  Equity Strategies Questions

Link to RFA 

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