Introduction

The College adopted the Academic Staff Professional Development Programme (ASPDP or the Programme).  ASPDP is primarily defined as a process to expand the educators’ awareness of the various tasks they must undertake to contribute to the effective education of their students and the accomplishment of the College’s objectives, and those tasks encompassing the associated learning and teaching, research and scholarship, professional updating, administration and management.

Aims and Objectives

• To allow academic staff to take responsibility for their on-going professional learning;
• To connect academic staff professional development with the College’s vision, mission and strategic goals;
• To foster quality learning and teaching at the College;
• To develop the knowledge, skills and attitude of academic staff so as to enable them to carry out their current and prospective roles more efficiently and effectively and gain greater job satisfaction;
• To provide activities which further the professional and career development needs of academic staff identified;
• To maintain and improve organisational effectiveness and efficiency;
• To improve and develop the ability of staff to respond constructively to change; and
• To develop a culture, which recognises that academic staff’s professional development is a continuous process and an evidence of staff performance, among academic staff at all levels, including individual staff members, supervisors and the College’s senior management, to have high level of commitment to improving performance on an on-going basis.

Professional Development Programme

Activities under the Professional Development Programme can be categorised into

(a) Induction / orientation programme; and

(b) CPD activities.

Academic Staff Induction Programme (ASIP)

Within the first year of service at the College, all newly joined full-time academic staff at Band 7 (i.e., Associate Professor) or below are strongly encouraged to complete the Academic Staff Induction Programme (ASIP), which comprises a total of 5 activities at the College and School levels.

They are:

College-level Activities

(a)   Academic Staff Induction Course (ASIC);

(b)   Learning and Teaching Seminars (LTS);

School-level Activities

(c)   School Induction;

(d)   Mentoring Programme; and

(e)   Peer Review.

At the College level, two components, namely the Academic Staff Induction Course (ASIC) and Learning and Teaching Seminars (LTS), are designed for the newly joined full-time academic staff.  Details are as follows:

(a)   ASIC is a 10-hour online self-learning course developed by the project team of eTeaching Literacy supported by the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS). This online course aims to provide basic pedagogical theories related to higher education and practical training on online teaching.  A total of 5 units, namely Pedagogy Essentials, Blended Learning, Outcome-based Assessment, Collaborative Learning, and Instructional Design, are delivered to the newly joined full-time academic staff via Blackboard.  After completion of the online self-assessment, individual staff member should capture a screenshot of the self-assessment result page and include it in the annual appraisal as an evidence for the appraiser’s review.

(b)   LTS are organised for academic staff in each academic year for the purpose of staff development on an on-going basis. Currently, there are three major themes under LTS, namely Internal Quality Assurance of TWC, External Accreditation by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ), and Development of Quality Outcome-based Programme (including Learning, Teaching and Assessments). All new academic staff at Band 7 (i.e. Associate Professor) or below are strongly encouraged to participate in at least one LTS under each of the 3 themes.

At the School level, three components, namely induction, mentorship and peer review, , are designed for the newly joined full-time academic staff.  Details are as follows:

(a)   School Induction should include but not be limited to the contents of (i) introduction of the respective Schools and the programmes offered, and (ii) demonstration of the usage of systems, such as Blackboard, PowerCampus, Employee Self-Service (ESS) System, which individual staff member will use. School Dean or his/her delegate is responsible for conducting the School Induction, preferably on the first day of duty of the newly joined full-time staff depending on the practical situation.

(b)   Under the Mentorship Programme, a mentor is assigned to each newly joined full-time staff member by the School Dean or Programme Leader for facilitating him/her to assume the teaching role. Normally, the mentor will provide support to the mentee during the first year of the mentee’s service at the College.

(c)   Peer Review by means of class observation is an important quality assurance process being used to enhance and promote high quality teaching and to facilitate teachers’ professional development. All newly joined full-time academic staff with learning and teaching duties shall complete peer review. Serving academic staff might also need to undergo annual peer review, subject to the respective School Dean’s discretion.