For full time faculty: PPAC stands for Professional Placement and Advancement Committee. It is a faculty-led committee tasked with recommending approval for professional placement and advancement credit equivalents as outlined in the Clark College Policy 335.005. The policy states that "the College shall provide opportunity for tenure, tenure track, temporary full-time and special programs faculty members to pursue learning opportunities for study, research, and creative activities for the enhancement of the College's instructional programs and research interests" and that … "the College shall make provisions to recognize faculty members' professional advancement."

In short, professional advancement means that faculty move up in their salary steps. PPAC credits earned help faculty move up those steps faster. All faculty earn credit for professional experience, including their teaching work, but faculty can also participate in professional development to speed up the process of moving up their salary steps (as well as build skills, find community, and improve teaching and course design, of course!).

The PPAC application is now housed in a Canvas shell. If you would like access to the shell, please contact tlc@clark.edu.

The Teaching and Learning Center offers a quarterly training on professional development at Clark that covers information on PPAC and the application process. If you think you would benefit from attending that training, we would love to see you! Look for upcoming offerings on the Employee Training and Development Calendar.

If you need help with the technical aspects of submitting your application, you can contact the Teaching and Learning Center at tlc@clark.edu.
If you have questions about the approval process or the committee's decisions, you can contact PPAC at ppac@clark.edu.
If you have questions about where you are on the salary scale or how many credits you have towards moving up a step on the salary scale, contact Thao Schmidt at Human Resources: tschmidt@clark.edu.