3.3.2 Faculty Obligations
Revised: August 6, 2007; November 1, 2020
The primary responsibility of a faculty member is to provide quality instruction for the student. To accomplish this goal, 16 to 21 contact hours based on an average class size of 21-35 students is a normal load for a full-time faculty member. For online classes, classes will be capped at 25 students. Such a workload represents an average for the two-semester (Fall/Spring) academic year. For 10.5-month faculty, the summer load is 3-6 contact hours in either the first or second summer session, depending on the terms of their contract. For 12-month faculty, the summer load is 9 hours over the full summer semester. If summer enrollment is not enough to justify full-time employment, additional professional responsibilities may be assigned.
Department chairs will be expected to adjust the workload of the members of their departments to meet the minimum requirements of the stated workload. The following shall be considered by the department chairs in determining course load:
- Location of class (on or off campus)
- Open lab duties (based on variation in academic discipline/course requirements)
- Tutorial responsibilities (based on variation in academic discipline/course requirements)
- Committee work (no more than 3 institutional committees)
- Number of preparations and/or new preparations that are part of course load
- Recruiting duties (based on program requirements)
- Other college-related activities
- Number of students in class
- Number of advisees
- Curriculum development assignments
- On-the-job supervision responsibilities
In addition to these responsibilities, each faculty will be expected to spend several hours each week on campus involved in advising students and helping students on an individual basis. Office hours should be posted on or near the door of the faculty member’s office. Each faculty member is contracted for a 40-hour work week and are expected to be on campus a minimum of 30 hours per week while under contract, including classroom instruction, office hours, and other responsibilities.
When the College institutes communicable disease campus access restrictions, these hours may be conducted via phone, email, virtual appointments, or on campus following imposed restrictions.
Faculty must notify ITS of plans to travel out of the country while actively teaching a course.  ITS staff will work with the faculty to determine likelihood and advisability of account access while traveling.  Where possible, ITS will supply faculty the means for access.  If access is not possible and/or advisable, the faculty will notify their department chair and the Vice President of Instruction.
When the department chair determines that a faculty member’s employment responsibilities (instructional plus additional duties as required and/or assigned by the department chair) are being fulfilled, the department chair may recommend to the Vice President of Instruction an overload contract for additional instructional duties. Maximum overload allowance (without further approval) is defined as up to 2 courses or 12 contact hours (whichever is greater) over currently assigned teaching load, per semester. Depending on program/department needs, the appropriate department chair and/or supervisor may recommend to the Vice President of Instruction and the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs & Institutional Planning to exceed the maximum overload allowance based on assigned teaching load per semester.