Professional Development Guidelines

Resources for PD Credit:

• Training classes and seminars offered at ACU
• Off-Campus training seminars, workshops, and conferences offered by professional companies
• Online webinars, books, videos, etc. relevant to the employee’s professional development. When submitting books for PD credit, 50 pages = 1 PD credit)
• ACU for credit courses whose content parallels or exceeds that of a professional seminar (1 class = 10 PD credits)
• Teaching Professional Development Classes (The first time a class is taught = double the hours spent teaching. The following times = 1 hour credit for each hour of teaching) Many hours of preparation and learning go into one class.

Reporting PD Credit:

Download a PD report template and record credits. PD reports should be submitted annually with performance appraisals to Human Resources.

ACU Professional Development Rating Scale:

A complete portfolio of Professional Development would include some training hours in each of the categories listed in the Guidelines. The recommended training hours per year are as follows:

• Non-exempt Staff  20 – 26 hours
• Exempt Staff  31 – 41 hours
• Executive Staff  48 – 61 hours

Professional Development for Performance Appraisals 

In keeping with the performance appraisal numerical ratings of 5 to 1, the following are professional development hour equivalents for the rating scale:

• Non-exempt Staff Recommended PD Hours = 20 – 26 Hours