At 7:58 AM 10/11/95 -0700, martin at SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU wrote:
>I am trying to get information on how other schools calculate teaching
>loads in the sciences. Specifically, I'd like to know:
> 1. What is your teaching load per semester?
At ECSU, faculty must teach 12 load credits per semester.
Some semesters you actually teach slightly more and other
semesters you actually teach slightly less. Any shortage
or overage is carried forward to the next semester. Loads
are adjusted by chair and dean to be sure that ALL faculty
have no more than 3 load credits (shortage nor overage)
carried forward.
> 2. How does your school calculate hours?
Each 3-hr per week lecture section earns 3 faculty load
credits. Each 3-hr per week lab section earns only 2.25
faculty load credits (0.75 credits per contact hour). But
in recent years science faculty have pressured the union to
negotiate better for us. We all know that labs are actually
MORE work than lectures...not less work. We have won a
system of "Supplementary laboratory load credits" that get
awarded to each department for disbursement to the faculty
members teaching labs. This contract concession gets us
about half-way back to 1 load credit per contract hour.
So for your purposes you might say we get 0.88 load credits
per contact hour in lab.
> 3. Do you have TA's?
Teaching assistants (undergrad only here!) are exactly that.
We do not have graduate TAs responsible for teaching labs
or lectures. The undergrads work as apprentices, assisting
in set-up, take-down, and answering questions during lab
sessions. The faculty member does all instruction in both
lab and lecture. The TA elects the position by registering
for a three-credit course called "Internship in Lab Preparation."
This earns the faculty member 0.25 load credits. Thus if one
uses three TAs for a lab, then the load is at parity.
> 4. Are the Sciences treated like the Liberal Arts with respect
> to teaching loads?
All faculty are required to do the 12 load credits regardless
of department at ECSU. This is a contractual agreement.
Interestingly, art production/practice courses are treated
as laboratory courses and earn the faculty member the 0.75 load
credit per contact hour. So, yes, science is treated exactly
as other liberal arts at ECSU. Our colleagues in math, just
now putting in computer lab experiences, are not happy being
treated as we have been with the 0.25 load-credit penalty for
teaching labs. We hope one day to get union and management to
agree to a 1 contact hour/1 load credit policy for ALL courses.
Apparently our union leaders and management team have memories
of lab courses where the faculty member did next-to-nothing
during the lab sessions. They obviously have not been in a
biology laboratory at ECSU.
ross
____________________________________
( )__________________________________)
\ Ross Koning \
\ Biology Department \
\ Eastern CT State University \
\ Willimantic, CT 06226 USA \
\ Koning at ecsuc.ctstateu.edu \
\ http://149.152.32.5/default.html \
\ Phone: 860-465-5327 \
) Fax: 860-465-5213 )
/__________________________________/
