IV-8. Teaching Course Loads

A.        The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will make teaching assignments for each semester. The Associate Dean may consult with the Dean and with the faculty, individually or as a group, before finalizing teaching assignments.

B.        The benchmark expectation is that each tenured or tenure-track faculty member will teach ten credits per academic year.

C.        In making teaching assignments, the Associate Dean may vary from this benchmark expectation to the extent that he or she deems appropriate. In deciding whether to vary from this benchmark expectation, the Associate Dean may consider, among other things:

1. Whether the faculty member is teaching two sections of the same course during the same semester;^[1]
2. Whether the faculty member is teaching two sections of the same course during the same year;
3. Whether a course will require a new prep for the faculty member;
4. Whether the death, illness, resignation, or absence of another faculty member makes it unusually difficult to cover a required course or a popular elective course during a particular academic year;
5. Whether an unusually large or small number of students are likely to enroll in a course;
6. Whether a course is in the first-year curriculum;
7. Whether a course requires a faculty member to give intensive one-on-one attention to students;
8. Whether the faculty member is tenured;
9. Whether the faculty member is about to be considered for tenure;
10. Whether the faculty member is an unusually productive or unproductive scholar;
11. Whether the faculty member is serving in an administrative capacity or otherwise has unusually heavy administrative demands;
12. Whether the faculty member has a compelling professional reason for a course load reduction, such as a unique scholarly opportunity that would be extraordinarily beneficial for the faculty member and the School of Law; and
13. Whether the faculty member has a compelling personal reason for a course load reduction.

D.        The Associate Dean may regard the benchmark expectation as an average that should be attained over a two- or three-year period, thus allowing the Associate Dean to permit a faculty member to have a heavy teaching year (e.g., two three-credit courses in the fall and two four-credit courses in the spring) followed by a light teaching year (e.g., one four-credit course in the fall and one two-credit course in the spring). Such a schedule may permit faculty to be more productive scholars.

E.         To the extent possible, the Associate Dean should schedule courses so that faculty members do not have to teach on every weekday, so as to help faculty maintain scholarly productivity.

 Adopted by the Law Faculty, June 13, 2002
Placed in catalog, August 6, 2002

Other Policies in this section

• Mission and Vision Statements
• Admissions Policies
• Academic Standards Policies
• Faculty Related Policies
  • Faculty Meetings
  • Standing Committees
  • Department Structure of School of Law Faculty
  • Appointment Process: Tenure Track Faculty
  • Appointments Process: Dean
  • Promotion, Tenure and Evaluation
  • Standards for Promotion, Review, and Tenure
  • Teaching Course Loads
  • Unpaid Leaves of Absence
  • Outside Employment and Consulting by Full-time Fac
  • Outside Employment and Consulting by Full-time Fac
  • Faculty Office Hours
  • Adjunct Faculty
  • Reimbursements
• Other Policies