[one-half-first]Policy Number: 210[/one-half-first]
[one-half]Effective Date: 06/23/86[/one-half]
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[one-half-first]Policy Title: Teaching Loads[/one-half-first]
[one-half]Revised: 01 May 2006; 01 July 2010; 17 August 2015; 29 March 2016; 23 May 2017; 13 September 2019[/one-half]
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[one-half-first]Approval Date: 21 June 1986[/one-half-first]
[one-half]President’s Signature: on file[/one-half]
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Teaching Loads
- The normal teaching load for both graduate and undergraduate full-time faculty is 12 credit hours per semester and 24 credit hours per academic year. For purposes of calculating teaching load, there is no difference between graduate and undergraduate credit hours. Due to uneven enrollments and the need to maintain flexibility in teaching assignments, however, 24 credit hours per year is considered the minimum assignment. Teaching assignments may, if needed by the program, be unbalanced between semesters as long as the total credit hours taught for the academic year equals the annual teaching requirement for the faculty member. A faculty member’s Letter of Appointment may designate that the faculty member is to teach up to 30 credit hours per year if needed by the program. Modifications to this requirement may be made as needed. It is expected that an increased teaching assignment will correspond to a modification of expectations in the areas of Professional Activity and Service such that both would be identified as reasonable.
- When full-time faculty members are assigned teaching responsibilities beyond 24 credit hours per academic year, they will be compensated at the normal adjunct rate for all credit hours taught above 24, unless the faculty member’s Letter of Appointment has been modified to require an increased teaching load as described in Section A. Faculty who elect non-assigned, by-arrangement teaching responsibilities to serve students by teaching in excess of their required teaching load will not be compensated for overload teaching as a result of such a voluntary choice.
- Faculty members with administrative or other responsibilities may be assigned reduced teaching loads to allow for the performance of those duties. This reduction must be approved by the Dean, Provost and President, and will be specified in the annual notice of appointment. Faculty members with such modified teaching loads will not receive additional compensation if they teach more credit hours than specified by the notice of appointment unless their teaching load exceeds 28 credit hours for the year, in which case they will be compensated at the normal adjunct rate for all credit hours taught above 24.
- Faculty teaching in a graduate or accelerated program outside their normal academic program and above the normal 12 credit-hour per semester teaching load will be compensated at the normal rate for adjunct faculty in that program unless it has been established that this is part of their normal teaching load.
- In the case of either increased or reduced teaching loads, the faculty member’s Letter of Appointment may be modified, if appropriate.
- Teaching load limitations placed upon individual academic programs by accrediting agencies will be respected.
- In no case shall a faculty member be assigned to teach more than 18 credit hours in a semester or 30 credit hours during an academic year, exclusive of voluntary, by-arrangement courses.
- Adjunct instructors will in no case teach more than 9 credit hours in any semester. Other than in an exceptional or emergency situation, and only with approval of the Provost, an adjunct instructor will not teach more than 18 credit hours in an academic year.
- Staff with teaching responsibilities will not be scheduled to teach more credit hours than specified in their notice of appointment and will not receive additional pay for teaching in excess of that amount. Staff without teaching responsibilities established in their contract and/or job description will not be scheduled to teach more than 6 credit hours in any semester.
- This policy does not address summer sessions or programs that run on a 12-month or accelerated schedule except as noted in Section D.