ASSIGNMENT OF TEACHING AND SERVICE WORKLOAD PROCESSES AND POLICY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Originated: March 9, 1998
Revised: October 25, 2000

Teaching Workload Assignment

Each College of Business faculty member's teaching load is assigned by the respective department chair in consultation with the faculty member and the dean. Teaching loads for the spring semester are normally assigned early in the fall semester, and teaching loads for the summer and fall semesters are normally assigned early in the spring semester. Adjustments are sometimes necessary at the beginning of a given semester due to enrollment and/or changes in the number of faculty available.

Unless an exception is approved by the dean, the number of hours taught each fall and spring semester must be consistent with both university policy index A-18 (Faculty Workload) and the nine hour teaching load policy described below (the teaching load for department chairs is described in university policy index E-7A, Chairman Teaching Load). Summer teaching loads are assigned according to the department's summer employment policy, which is adopted by the department and approved by the dean.

The department chair typically takes many factors into consideration when determining teaching assignments, including (but not limited to):

--demand for course sections and number of faculty available

--each faculty member's area(s) of teaching expertise and/or area(s) in which expertise needs to be developed

--each faculty member's scholarly productivity (especially when considering assignment to teach graduate courses)

--the number of preparations that each faculty member will have, and whether or not each course is a new preparation

--each faculty member's service workload

--the degree to which the resulting courseloads will provide balanced and equitable treatment across the department's faculty

--accreditation requirements

--each faculty member's preferences

Policy for Nine Hour Teaching Loads

As stated in university policy A-18, the standard teaching load is twelve semester credit hours of instruction in organized undergraduate classes each long term semester, with adjustments as indicated in the policy. In addition to the adjustments indicated in university policy A-18, when recommended by the department chair and approved by the dean, a reduction to nine hours may be made in the College of Business for:

1. a faculty member who has strong intellectual contributions within the last five years, preferably including refereed journal articles, and who provides evidence of continuous productivity, or

2. a new tenure-track faculty member (two years of service or less at SFASU) who is currently engaged in activity that seems likely to produce intellectual contributions within the next two years (e.g., submissions or research grant in progress.)

In no case is the reduced teaching load permanent. Prior to establishing the teaching schedule for each semester, the chair will review the faculty members' eligibility for a reduced load based upon the criteria described above.

Service Workload Assignment

Except for elected positions, departmental service assignments are normally made by the respective department chair in consultation with the faculty member. College service assignments are normally made by the dean in consultation with the department chair and faculty member. University service assignments are normally made by the university president in consultation with the dean, department chair, and faculty member. Some positions are appointed or elected on a particular time schedule, while others occur as needed.

At each level, the factors taken into consideration in making service assignments typically include (but are not limited to):

--department, college, and university needs along with the number of faculty available

--each faculty member's area(s) of expertise and/or area(s) in which expertise needs to be developed

--each faculty member's scholarly productivity and teaching workload

--each faculty member's rank, tenure status, and degree status (especially whether "ABD")

--the degree to which the resulting assignments will provide balanced and equitable treatment across the faculty

--each faculty member's preferences

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