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Guidelines for the use of Development Funding

Intent

Developing our talented people lies at the heart of our 2015 vision, which stands to position Swinburne as one of Australia's leading institutes.

The Performance and Development process is a mechanism designed to build the capacity, capability and sustainability of our workforce in order to ensure that, individually and collectively, we fulfil our potential and support the achievement of Swinburne's 2015 vision.

It falls upon the Executive Directors in partnership with the leadership team to ensure that all professional development activities undertaken by its employees within TAFE is in accordance with, or aligned to, the strategic direction of the School.

In so keeping this will support the achievement of the TAFE Division’s strategic plan ultimately designed to promote Swinburne’s 2015 vision.

Definition

Staff development encompasses activities in which staff members engage to enhance their knowledge, skills and abilities to perform their current role and to build their personal and professional capacity to benefit themselves and the University.

Scope

These guidelines apply to all fixed term and ongoing TAFE Teachers and administration staff employed at Swinburne University of Technology (“the University”) within the TAFE Division. This excludes the Sarawak Campus and TAFE sessional staff.

Guidelines

1. Use of the development funding by any individual means that s/he is committing to undertaking an annual performance and development process and completing necessary review stages (i.e., not using the development funding early in the cycle then failing to participate in the remainder of the process).

2. Development funding must be used on an activity that supports development objectives within the individual's performance and development plan. The activity(ies) must relate directly to the individual’s role and must align to, or support, the department’s operational plan. It is the Manager's responsibility to ensure this in the first instance when they are signing off on the use of the funding.  The Executive Director or elected delegate will then validate this across the School.  In the event that the development objective(s) are not validated, the reimbursement will not be processed and the department / business unit will be liable for the costs.

3. Development objectives should be included in the initial development plan established during the first stage of the performance and development cycle.  Development objectives may be updated throughout the year as required, in agreement with the manager/supervisor.

4. Full time TAFE Teachers and TAFE general staff that have a performance and development plan, whom have included a development objective relevant to their role which is aligned to the department’s operational plan (as approved by their Manager) will have access to $1000 development funds. Please note, development funds do not carry across cycles (eg. you can not carry $1000 from the 2010 cycle to the 2011 cycle).

5. The Development funding for part time staff will be paid on a pro rata basis (eg. staff working 0.6 FTE will be able to access $600). If time factions change throughout the cycle it will be based on the longest time fraction served in any one continuos period (eg. 0.6 FTE for 8 months and full time for 4 months then funding will be based on the 0.6 FTE). It is the Manager’s responsibility to monitor this accordingly.

6.  Examples of how funding can be used include the following types of approved development activities but are not limited to:

  • Short courses
  • Conferences (including costs associated with registration, travel & accommodation)
  • Workshops
  • Training sessions
  • Seminars
  • TAFE / HE course fees
  • Accredited programs and units of study

7.  Examples of how funding cannot be used include:

  • Technology/tools, i.e., computers, IT devices
  • Courses that have been paid via government funds (eg. HECS / HELP)
  • Books/informational resources that are not directly related to any of the items listed under point 6, as above.
  • Secondments
  • Professional membership/association fees

Staff are encouraged to look within Swinburne in the first instance when considering specific professional development activities and enrol accordingly where applicable PRIOR to looking at external providers.

If you are unsure about the use of the development funding, please discuss this with your Manager in the first instance or contact a member of the TAFE HR Team.

General Staff only

Please note with the introduction of the new Enterprise Agreement (EA) any general staff that are opposed to the online performance and development process, must still develop a set of performance and development objectives in a paper-based plan in agreement with their manager. A paper based performance and development template is available by contacting your HR Consultant. A copy must be kept by your Manager and forwarded to HR. The above guidelines will still apply in these circumstances.
General staff in TAFE will also be impacted by the negotiations the University is obliged to have with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) over the development of a revised process.

Reimbursing TAFE Performance and Development Funds

Once an individual has an approved performance and development plan which includes a development objective as per the above guidelines the department / business unit will initially pay for the development activity and record the transaction in a development funding register.

Employees should not, as far as is possible, unless by agreement with the Manager pay for development activities themselves.

Reimbursements to the department/ business unit for the development funding will then be processed centrally by the School on a biannual basis.

It is the Department / Unit Managers responsibility to ensure the development funding register is completed and emailed to the nominated School contact by the required dates to ensure reimbursements are processed accordingly.

Process Flowchart - Reimbursing TAFE Performance and Development Funds