Workload Guidelines for NTL Teaching Faculty
Note: These guidelines take effect in AY25-26 and will be referenced as assignments for that academic year are made. The guidelines in effect for the college during the AY24-25 can be found here on the Office of Faculty Affairs webpage.
Workload Guidelines for Non-Tenure Line Teaching Faculty
Purpose
Non-tenure line teaching faculty members in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD) make critical contributions to the fulfillment of the college’s educational mission. These college guidelines are intended to promote equity across academic units in establishing teaching faculty workloads. Academic units are expected to adhere to these college guidelines, develop a unit-specific guidelines providing further implementation detail, and communicate work assignments for the upcoming year in advance to faculty members in writing.
Definitions
In this guideline, the term ‘college’ refers to the College of Health and Human Development, the term “academic unit” refers to a department or school within the college, the term ‘academic unit head’ refers to a department head or school director, and the term ‘faculty member’ refers to a faculty member on a non-tenure teaching line.
Details
- The teaching load for a faculty member on a 36-week contract who focuses exclusively on teaching typically ranges between 18 and 24 credits with teaching assignments made annually by the academic unit head and communicated to faculty members in writing. Differences in load are determined by the academic unit head based on factors that may include, but are not limited to: whether a course is team-taught (with consideration given to the number, and roles, of participating instructors), the number of different new course preparations in a given semester, class sizes, availability of teaching assistance, and time demands inherent in certain types of classes (e.g., writing-intensive courses; laboratory courses, courses with other experiential learning components, etc.). A variety of instruction modes of courses can meet this requirement. The teaching load for a 48-week contract typically ranges between 24 and 30 credits. For contract lengths between 36 and 48 weeks, adjustments to teaching load can be made proportionate to the length of the contract.
- In addition, some faculty members may be assigned additional responsibilities by academic unit heads that require adjustment to teaching load. These may include administrative, academic advising, clinical, or research activities. Academic units are expected to have accessible local implementation guidelines around adjustments in non-tenure line teaching assignments. These guidelines can include a provision allowing for additional discretionary adjustment under exceptional circumstances.
- Engagement in other educational activities (such as supervising independent study courses, supervising student research experiences, supporting experiential learning opportunities, and providing mentorship of students around academic and co-curricular planning) is an important part of the faculty role and are expected in addition to the normal teaching load. Academic units can provide reductions in teaching assignments when these activities are determined to be high-impact and highly-time-intensive.
- If a course does not attract the minimum number of students as stipulated by University policy on under-enrolled courses, the course may be cancelled and will not count toward teaching load. If the course is cancelled too late to assign the faculty member a different course that term, the faculty member may be asked by the academic unit head to develop a plan to teach an additional course in a subsequent term. Courses that do not enroll the University minimum number of students may, however, still may be offered and count toward teaching load, if offering the course is determined by the academic unit head to be necessary to meet critical educational needs of students or the academic unit. If the preceding conditions are not met and a faculty member still has strong interest in teaching such a course, the course will not count toward teaching load but may be considered as contributing to service or outreach responsibilities if the academic unit head assesses that to be appropriate.
- Faculty members are expected to be involved in service activities. These may include service to the academic unit, college, and/or University, as well as service to the faculty member’s profession and service to society. Academic unit service assignments are made annually by the academic unit head, consistent with these guidelines and local academic unit guidelines.
- While research activity is generally not expected, in some instances research activity may be integrated into a faculty member’s responsibilities. Academic unit heads can provide reductions in teaching load when faculty members are engaged in substantive research activity, in particular extramurally-funded research activity.
- Faculty members are expected to engage in professional development activities that keep them abreast of developments in pedagogy as well as their individual fields.