5.6.1 Full Time Faculty Working Hours and Teaching Load
Revised: August 6, 2007; November 1, 2020; October 1, 2022
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 is a normal load for a full-time faculty member. Such a workload represents an average for the two-semester (Fall/Spring) academic year. 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 work- load. The following shall be considered by the department chair 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
- Recruiting duties (based on program requirements)
- Number of students in class
- Number of advisees
- Curriculum development assignments
- On-the-job supervision responsibilities
In addition to these responsibilities, each instructor 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鈥檚 office. Each faculty member contracted for a 40-hour work week and are expected to be on campus a minimum of 30 hours per week, 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.
When the department chair determines that a faculty member鈥檚 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.