December 6, 2024
The College of Agricultural Sciences prides itself on providing rich educational experiences to its students, including a range of learning opportunities outside the classroom. Examples include engagement of students in experiential learning (e.g., international and domestic study experiences); undergraduate research that often includes one-on-one but also small-team instruction, and internship supervision. The College considers this multi-dimensional richness to be a hallmark of our educational programs.
This policy describes a broad outline of teaching expectations that provide for fair and equitable instructional loads among faculty in the College. These guidelines only address academic teaching expectations. Teaching as part of an Extension appointment is not part of this policy. Department heads/unit leaders are responsible for the implementation of these guidelines.
- Faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences generally have blended appointments among Teaching, Research, and Extension. A faculty member with, for example, a 50% teaching appointment is expected to carry a 2+2 (typically 6 credits per semester) teaching Teaching appointments falling outside these common benchmarks would be adjusted on a proportional basis guided by the appropriate department head/unit leader.
- All faculty members on any portion of a teaching assignment should teach at least one formal course (or equivalent in team-taught courses) per academic year. In this context, X94, X95, X96, and 600 level courses are not considered formal Foreign studies courses (X99) would be considered as formal courses if the offering is used to designate a regularly scheduled class that meets minimum enrollment criteria. The work represented in these common-number courses - independent study and mentoring student research projects - is still considered an important indicator of faculty productivity and should be considered in annual performance evaluations and promotion and tenure decisions. Faculty participation in advising and mentoring of student organizations should likewise receive consideration in annual performance evaluations and promotion and tenure decisions, as they represent our College's commitment to the highest quality educational experience for our students. These, however, do not fulfill a formal faculty teaching appointment.
- Faculty who are team-teaching courses should be credited proportionately for their percent of contribution to the course. Department heads are encouraged to monitor team-teaching to make sure faculty are teaching up to load.
- Under-enrolled courses will not count toward fulfilling faculty teaching expectations, unless specifically approved by the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education or the Assistant Dean for Graduate Education as appropriate. Courses with multiple sections where enrollment is constrained by space, access to equipment, or other resources will be evaluated on a case-by- case basis. Under-enrollment and exceptional circumstances are defined by university policy (Academic Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual Section C-3). It is recommended that departments review regularly under-enrolled/low enrolled courses to determine if courses can be offered in alternate years while still allowing students to make academic progress. Additionally, decisions on capping enrollment in course is a discussion that occurs between the faculty member and department head.
- Courses taught under experimental numbers will count for two semesters toward workload requirements. Experimental courses must be submitted for permanent course numbers after two Requests for exception to the two-semester policy need to be approved by the academic unit leader/unit leader and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education or the Assistant Dean for Graduate Education as appropriate.
- Faculty should ensure that courses are evaluated using appropriate assessment instruments and acceptable assessment procedures. Both student and peer evaluations are expected. Guidance on assessment of teaching can be found in AC 21 & 23 - Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for nontenure line and tenure line faculty, respectfully.
- It is strongly recommended that course and lab offerings follow the university's standard common class meeting schedule. This reduces scheduling conflicts for students and provides the opportunity to secure class/lab room locations. We do understand the need to schedule labs during nonstandard times given facility, resource, and material constraints. Also, only 45% of departmental course/lab meeting times should fall between 10 am and 2 pm during the fall and spring semesters.
