Purpose
The purpose of this document is to define teaching responsibilities at FAS that are fair and consistent with pertinent university policies.
Full-time Teaching Loads
At FAS, the teaching load of regular professorial-rank faculty members is four courses/year equivalent to 12 credits/year. The teaching load of full-time non-professorial-rank faculty members is eight courses/year equivalent to 24 credits/year. Given the nature of the courses they teach, full-time non-professorial-rank faculty members in the Communication Skills Program have an annual teaching load of six courses/year equivalent to 18 credits/year.
The table below lists full-time academic titles at FAS with their expected teaching loads:
| Regular Professorial Titles (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor) | Four courses/year equivalent to 12 credits. |
| Associate Professors or Assistant Professors who were not promoted but retained their professorial title | Eight courses/year equivalent to 24 credits. |
| Research Professors | Teaching is not expected. |
| Professors of Practice | Teaching is not expected, unless agreed in the initial appointment. |
| Visiting Faculty in the Professorial Titles | Two courses/year equivalent to six credits, or as agreed in the initial appointment. |
| Adjunct Faculty | Teaching is not expected, unless agreed in the initial appointment. |
| Emeritus Professors | Teaching is not expected. |
| Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Instructors, and Assistant Instructors | Eight courses/year equivalent to 24 credits. |
| Lecturers and Instructors in the Communication Skills Program (CSP) | Six courses/year equivalent to 18 credits. |
| Research Associates and Research Assistants | Teaching is not expected. |
| Postdoctoral Fellows | As agreed in the initial appointment. |
| Affiliates or Research Affiliates | Teaching is not expected. |
Exceptions
If, for some unavoidable reason, a faculty member has a lower-than-expected load in a given semester, the teaching load is increased in the following semesters (or vice versa).
Any reduction in a faculty member's full teaching load (as indicated in the table above) requires a course release approved by the Dean. Waivers may be granted if a faculty member is heavily involved in research or is engaged in specific service or administrative tasks. The teaching load may not be less than one course/semester equivalent to three credits/semester, unless circumstances are extraordinary, in which case special permission must be obtained from the Provost. In all cases, the faculty member must remain in residence even if not teaching. For full-time non-professorial-rank faculty members, the teaching load may not be less than two courses/semester equivalent to six credits/semester.
Requests for exceptions to these guidelines shall be granted by the Dean and documented. Annual evaluation of workload policy exceptions will be conducted to minimize the need for such exceptions. Course release and zero teaching load requests must be submitted, with pertinent justification, by the department chair or program director on behalf of the requesting faculty member, via the Course Release Request Form and the Zero Teaching Load Request Form; both forms are accessible from the
FAS Guidelines + Forms page.
Compensation for Overload Teaching
Compensation for overload teaching means compensation that is paid by the University to a full-time faculty member for teaching in excess of the regular teaching load including overload teaching during fall, spring, and summer terms. Overload teaching assignments should be kept to a minimum and primarily limited to undergraduate courses or core graduate courses. A minimum of one course per semester equivalent to three credits is required for overload teaching to be eligible for remuneration.
Before the semester course schedule is finalized, any compensated overload teaching must receive approval from the dean. The request must be submitted, with pertinent justification, by the department chair or program director on behalf of the requesting faculty member via the Request Form for Compensation for Overload Teaching, accessible from the
FAS Guidelines + Forms page.
Workloads and Administrative Positions
| Dean | Four courses/year equivalent to 12 credits. |
| Special Advisor to the Dean for Faculty Affairs | Four courses/year equivalent to 12 credits. |
| Associate/ Assistant Deans | Two courses/year equivalent to six credits. |
| Department Chairs | Two courses/year equivalent to six credits. |
| Journal Editors and Directors of Programs, Centers, Institutes, Labs, Museums, or Galleries | As agreed in the initial appointment. |
Calculation of credits
Large-enrolment Courses
Because teaching and assessment practices change with enrolment, greater numbers of students mean more assessment effort and more students outside of class, which requires adjusting the credit load for large-enrolment courses (i.e. enrolment larger than or equal to 35 students). Adjustments for large numbers are only applied to single course sections and not the aggregate of all students over two or more sections of the same course. The formula to be used is as follows: Credit Multiplier = (Enrolment + 175) / 200.
The table below lists teaching formats at FAS with their corresponding credit calculation:
Lecture – L
Courses normally taught as lectures.
| One credit for 50-minute session. |
Lab – B
Laboratory course teaching means physical presence in the lab: a two-hour presence in the laboratory with the associated preparation and correction.
| One credit/two hours. |
Lab Lecture – BL
Lab lecture is the common lecture of a laboratory course, given to all students registered in the course. Overseeing a multi-section laboratory course involves TA training, giving lab lectures, and supervising correction and preparation.
| One credit for lab lecture + lab coordination. |
Recitation – E
Problem-solving sessions that accompany large lecture courses.
| One credit for 50-minute session. |
Coordination
Refers to the time spent meeting and planning with other instructors of a multi-section course (three or more sections and labs).
| One credit per course for lecture and recitation coordination.
No coordination credit is given for one instructor teaching several sections of the same course.
No additional coordination credit is given for large lectures already awarded extra credits for large enrolment.
|
Co-teaching
This applies to situations when more than one faculty member is teaching in one of two modes: joint or modular.
| – Jointly-taught courses require FAS Curriculum Committee/Graduate Committee approval and full-time presence/participation of involved faculty members. Both faculty members will be assigned full workload points as identified on banner. The department chair or program director must submit a request for approval of a jointly-taught course, with pertinent justification, on behalf of the requesting faculty member, via the Request Form for Approval of a Jointly-taught Course, accessible from the FAS Guidelines + Forms page.
– Modularly-taught courses involve faculty members who are assigned workload points in proportion to their teaching factor as identified on banner.
|
|
Proctoring/Grading | No credit is given for the course instructor. |
Other Teaching Formats:
Tutorial – U; Independent Study – I; Internship – N; Master’s Thesis – T; PhD Thesis – MD; Project – P; Capstone/Final-Year Project
| These teaching formats will be given no credit.
When appropriate, non-professorial-rank faculty members will receive one credit/semester for supervising six projects per semester. |
Pertinent Links