5 Faculty Load

Updated – July 2025

Teaching Load

A full-time teaching load is 15 credit hours (12 for science with labs) per regular semester (30 annually) for 10-month, full-time employees and 15 credit hours per regular semester with 6 hours in the summer semester for 12-month employees (36 annually).

The following release time is granted for full-time employees.

Position	Release
Dean	12 All Other
Dean	8 Science with Labs
Dean	15 Nursing
Full-Time Coach	9
Assistant Athletic Director	3
Athletic Trainer	9
Permanent Part-Time Program Chair	3
Math Lab Coordinator	3
Other Release Approved by Provost	Varies

Other faculty positions may be granted release by the Vice President of Academic Affairs for non-instructional duties as needed.

If an employee carries a load below the contracted amount, they may teach additional hours in the summer or another full semester as part of their regular contract or be assigned additional duties as assigned by their Program Chair or Dean.

Low enrollment and special problems courses paid per student are not counted as part of a faculty member’s teaching load.

Consideration should be given to the number of unique course preparations for a single instructor in any given semester. Faculty members in technical occupational programs or traditionally low enrollment courses may carry more or less credit hours and/or preps as part of their regular contract load on a semesterly basis.

All full-time faculty contract loads should be met before courses and sections are assigned to part-time or adjunct instructors.  Adjunct faculty members willing to teach in several modalities or at high schools or other approved sites may receive preference for in-class assignments. In the event of a cancellation that causes a full-time faculty member to drop below their contract load, a section should be reassigned from a part-time or adjunct faculty member, or a written agreement made for the faculty member to teach additional hours during the summer or next regular semester as part of their annual contract load.

Overload

Full-time faculty may be offered additional courses to teach at the current adjunct rate; however, they are not guaranteed additional courses above their contract requirement.  The Program Chair is not obligated to reassign a section from an adjunct faculty member if an overload section scheduled for a full-time faculty member is canceled.

Faculty must meet the following criteria before overload will be assigned:

1. Regular workload obligation is met. If a regular load class is canceled for low enrollment or other reasons, the overload class will be moved to their regular contract.
2. Full-time faculty are beyond their initial year of employment, fully credentialed (no plan of study), and have course success rates that are adequate as determined by Dean in conjunction with the Provost.
3. Meeting or exceeding current responsibilities as defined by their job description.
4. In good standing within the institution and not on a plan of improvement.
5. Approval from their Program Chair prior to teaching overload from a different department.

It is the instructional dean’s responsibility to ensure that faculty members are not assigned or do not assume a load that detracts from the quality of the work they are employed to perform for the institution.  Faculty in their initial year of employment with MSC are permitted overload at the discretion of their program chair.  It is recommended that faculty have no more than one overload course per semester in their initial year.

The maximum overload allowed for full-time faculty is two courses per regular semester.  Faculty members in technical occupation or health occupation programs (PTA, OTA, Nursing, VN) who meet their contract load through clock hours may teach more at the discretion of their program chair as long as they meet the above criteria.  Additional overload courses may be assigned when necessary with the approval of the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Office Hours

Full-time faculty are generally expected to work at least 37.5 hours per week even though job duties may require additional hours.  Those on a regular 10-month appointment are expected to be on campus from the first business day in August through the last business day in May except during scheduled campus holidays.

Faculty are expected to maintain a minimum of six scheduled on-campus office hours. Faculty should also provide flexible office hours by appointment to accommodate students’ schedules when necessary.  Other arrangements must be communicated to and approved by the faculty member’s Program Chair.  Other duties including, clubs, academic advising, and committee work are expected of all 10 and 12-month faculty. Faculty hired on other part-time or virtual appointments may have other student contact and additional duty requirements.

Approval to work virtually must be approved by the Provost. A faculty member’s weekly schedule and presence on campus may vary according (but not limited) to the following factors:

• Ratio of in-person v. online classes taught
• Ratio of on-campus and contracted concurrent courses taught at the high schools or other approved locations
• Overload classes taught
• Institutional committee responsibilities
• Service on additional hiring committees, steering committees, task forces, and special projects
• Mentoring responsibilities (new faculty and/or adjunct faculty)
• Volunteering in labs or other areas of campus
• Creating/maintaining master courses
• Meeting with students inside and outside of office hours
• Attending division and department meetings
• Participating in outward-facing community activities

Class Size

The standard class limit for online and in-person classes is 30 students.  Please see the table below for exceptions. Course limits may be lowered based on room capacity if a larger room is unavailable.  Other reductions in class size must be approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Subject Area or Course Type	Capacity
English Composition	24
Studio Art	14
Foundational or Corequisite	12
Science Laboratory (on-campus)	24
Individual Lessons (voice and music)	5 per campus
Special Admission Programs	Based on program cohort size

 Low Enrollment Courses

Low enrollment courses are defined as sections with an enrollment of less than 10 students.  Special problems, individual lessons, and athletic courses are excluded from this designation.

Low enrollment courses do not count toward instructional credit load and are paid at a pro-rated amount per student based on the total pay for the course divided by the low enrollment threshold.

Instructors should be notified in writing of the reduced pay rate before the beginning of the semester and the course canceled, if necessary, by the cancellation deadline.

Payment for the course will be calculated based on enrollment at census or the agreed amount at the cancellation deadline, whichever is greater.  If a course is not considered low enrollment on the cancellation deadline, it will be paid at the normal rate and not reduced due to attrition prior to census.

Exceptions

Low enrollment courses may be paid at the full amount and counted as part of the instructional load if any of the following exceptions apply:

1. The course is a program core requirement for an enrolled student to graduate during the current semester and no other sections or reasonable substitutions are available.
2. The course is a program requirement offered on a once-yearly rotation, it will not be offered again before an enrolled student’s anticipated graduation, and no other sections or reasonable substitutions are available during that time.
3. It is a foundational or corequisite course required for the student to progress and no other sections are available.
4. The course has been approved for full pay by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

 Excess Enrollment

For course sections where enrollment exceeds the class limit, faculty will be paid based on the combined limit and enrollment in all sections of the same course, with the same instructional delivery method, and taught by the same instructor. For example, two sections of online GVT-1113 with the same instructor have an enrollment of 28 and 33 students respectively.  Excess enrollment will be determined based on a total class limit of 60 with an overage of 1 student.  

Excess enrollment will be paid at a set amount per student based on course credit hours and the number of students enrolled on the day following census.

Once excess enrollment reaches the minimum size for an additional section to “make”, an additional section will be created and counted toward the faculty member’s instructional load, and regular or overload pay rules will apply.  If the faculty member is already at maximum overload, a new instructor will be assigned to the additional section or the additional overload must be approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.  Once a new section is created, the excess enrollment from the existing section will be shifted to the new section regardless of instructor.

Faculty Mentorship

Full-time faculty who oversee a faculty member who does not meet credentialing policy as a mentor will be compensated at the adjunct rate for 0.5 credit hours for each separate course taught by the mentee.  Mentorships will not be counted toward the faculty member’s full-time contract load until the mentor load reaches 3 credit hours.