The official University Policy Manual is housed in the Office of the University Secretary. The University Secretary is responsible for maintaining new and updated policies and for maintaining this website. Should the official University Policy Manual conflict with any internal policies, procedures, departmental administrative rules, or guidelines, that may be contained in manuals provided by schools, departments, or divisions within the University, the official University Policy Manual controls.
Policy number: 2.26
Policy section: Academic Affairs
Revised Date:
1. Definitions
Definitions of capitalized terms are set forth in Appendix A.
2. Policy Statement
It is the policy of the University to appoint sufficient full-time faculty to ensure the quality and integrity of each academic program offered by the institution, to provide direction and oversight of these academic programs, and to support the mission and goals of the institution with respect to teaching, research, and service.
3. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that each academic unit of the university employs a sufficient number of full-time faculty to support its mission and to ensure the quality and integrity of academic programs. The policy further ensures that the institution employs a sufficient number of full-time faculty to fulfill basic faculty functions including curriculum design, development, and evaluation; teaching; identification and assessment of appropriate student learning outcomes; research, scholarship, and creative activity; and institutional and professional service.
This policy applies to all modes of instruction (i.e. face to face, online) and to all instructional sites.
4. Applicability
This policy applies to all academic programs offered at the university and to the departments, colleges, and schools in which they are housed. This policy is in addition to any other applicable University policies.
5. Questions
Questions regarding this policy are to be directed to the Office of the Provost.
6. Full-Time vs. Part-Time Faculty
Full-time, voting faculty are defined as faculty contracted to the university on an annual or recurring basis and whose assigned teaching load is four, three-credit courses per academic term, or the equivalent load through a combination of teaching, research, and/or service. Any full-time, voting faculty members may serve as Department Chairs, Program Directors, Assistant or Associate Deans, and/or Deans and may also serve on faculty committees with responsibility for curriculum review or oversight. Full-time, tenured, voting faculty may serve on promotion and tenure committees, in accordance with policy 2.3.
Academic Professionals, who have been hired as full-time staff, but who have appropriate academic credentials and who have for-credit teaching assigned as part of their in-load duties are considered full-time, non-voting faculty. Examples of full-time, non-voting faculty include the Dean of the Honors Program and university librarians with assigned teaching as part of their in-load duties.
Part-time faculty are those faculty contracted by the university on a contingent basis to teach individual courses or a group of courses. Academic staff, with the appropriate academic credentials, who teach courses at 糖心vlog视频 for extra compensation, are considered part-time faculty. The teaching load, by definition, of part-time faculty, is no more than 29 hours/week averaged across a calendar year. Part-time faculty are not considered voting faculty.
To avoid conflict of commitment, staff receiving extra compensation for instructing an academic course during administrative and general office hours must take time from their vacation accruals and report time as vacation.
For information on faculty ranks, academic titles, and voting rights, please see University Policy 2.3.
7. Program Faculty
In order to ensure there are sufficient numbers of full-time faculty, Deans (through Department Chairs and/or Program Directors, as appropriate) shall submit a report each May to the Provost detailing the percentage of full-time voting, full-time non-voting, and part-time faculty teaching in their areas of supervision in each of the two previous academic terms.
The total number of credit hours taught by part-time faculty in a given course prefix in a given academic term should not exceed 50%. If the total number of credit hours taught by part-time faculty in a given course prefix in a given academic term exceeds 50% in an academic term, the Provost will consult with the appropriate Dean to determine whether corrective actions are required (e.g. hiring additional full-time faculty or adjusting faculty in-load).
8. Direction and Oversight of Academic Programs
In order to ensure appropriate direction and oversight of academic programs, certain roles and responsibilities may only be undertaken by full-time, voting faculty.
- Curriculum Design, Development, and Approval – Curriculum design, development, and approval must be undertaken, reviewed, and approved by full-time, voting faculty. University administrators (i.e. Department Chairs, Program Directors, Assistant or Associate Deans) who oversee curriculum design, development, and approval must also be full-time, voting faculty. Voting members of curriculum committees at the department, school, or institutional level must be full-time, voting faculty.
- Assessment of Student Learning – Identification of student learning outcomes in academic programs and general education must be done by full-time, voting faculty.Assessment of student learning in academic programs and general education must be conducted by full-time faculty.Review of assessment results and decisions about curricular revisions or improvements must be undertaken by full-time, voting faculty.Each academic program must report the results of these academic assessments as well as the results of any efforts to improve curriculum that result from assessment, each year in an annual program assessment report.
- Evaluation of Faculty – Evaluation of faculty members must be undertaken only by full-time, voting faculty.University administrators (i.e. Department Chairs, Program Directors, Assistant or Associate Deans) who evaluate faculty, must also be full-time, voting faculty.Committees charged with evaluating tenure-line faculty (i.e. tenure committees) must be composed exclusively of full-time tenured, voting faculty, as described in policy 2.3.Committees charged with evaluating teaching and professional faculty must be composed of full-time, voting faculty (including both teaching and professional and tenure-line faculty).
Appendix A: Definitions
“Academic Program” refers to a designated course of study constituting an academic major or leading to an academic degree.
“Full-time voting faculty” refers to faculty contracted to the university on an annual or recurring basis and whose assigned teaching load is four, three-credit courses per academic term, or the equivalent load through a combination of teaching, research, and/or service
“Full-time non-voting faculty” refers to Academic Professionals, who have been hired as full-time staff, but who have appropriate academic credentials and who have for-credit teaching assigned as part of their in-load duties.
“Part-time faculty” refers to faculty contracted by the university on a contingent basis to teach individual courses or a group of courses.
Adopted: June 10, 2025