VII. Faculty Workload

A. General Responsibilities

Unless otherwise indicated herein, faculty shall, unless excused by the Chief Academic Officer, meet all assigned classes, maintain office hours which are properly posted and approved by the Chief Academic Officer, attend academic processions and convocations (can be excused only by the President), attend Faculty Assembly meetings, and attend meetings of committees of which they are members. Faculty will not be required to serve on more than four (4) institutional, faculty, peer- review, and/or ad hoc committees during an academic year.

All full-time faculty are encouraged to engage in the life of the College, and beyond the required workload. College service, community service, active membership in professional associations or societies, and scholarly research all contribute toward the vitality of the College and should be included in an individual’s annual Faculty Development Report.

Faculty proposing the addition of a new course will fill out a Proposal for New Course form and sign it. Copies of the proposal will be distributed to all members of the academic department where the course will be taught, and a meeting will be held to discuss the proposal. After the proposal has been discussed in the academic department, the faculty member will submit it to the Instructional Programs/Curriculum Committee. The Instructional Programs/Curriculum Committee will set a meeting date and distribute a copy of the Proposal for New Course form to all members of the faculty as part of the agenda for the meeting.

The Instructional Programs/Curriculum Committee will approve or disapprove the proposed course, and submit the recommendation to the Chief Academic Officer. The Chief Academic Officer will recommend to the President either approval, with any appropriate modifications, or disapproval of the course.

One academic procession is normally held each year – on Commencement Day. Faculty members will participate and wear appropriate academic regalia. If faculty members do not own caps, gowns, and hoods, they may rent them through the College. The President may schedule additional academic processions as deemed necessary, with faculty participation required. Requests to be excused from an academic procession must be submitted in writing to the President for review and approval.

B. Teaching-Related Responsibilities

Faculty shall fulfill their teaching-related responsibilities throughout each semester by

1. Routinely Fulfilling the Obligations of their Teaching Schedules
   
   Faculty will teach twelve-fifteen (12-15) credit hours and fifteen-eighteen (15-18) contact hours per semester. Each lecture hour shall equate to one (1) credit hour and one (1) contact hour; each laboratory hour shall equate to one-half (1/2) credit hour and one (1) contact hour.
2. Publishing Course Overviews and Syllabi
   
   Distribution of well-developed overviews and syllabi that provide students with essential course information is a requirement for courses offered at Richard Bland College. At the beginning of every semester, a syllabus for each course should be forwarded to a faculty member’s department chair and to the Chief Academic Officer. College policies take priority over what is written in a syllabus, so all faculty members and their respective department chairs must ensure that all syllabi comply with College policies. Specific information covered includes:
   1. Richard Bland College Mission Statement;
   2. Relevant College curriculum goals and learning outcomes;
   3. Course prerequisites;
   4. Course objectives;
   5. A listing of course textbooks, workbooks, supplementary texts, and selected readings, along with other required or recommended resources;
   6. The professor’s schedule of office hours;
   7. The attendance policy for the class;
   8. Consequences of late submission of graded or assessed assignments, tests, quizzes, projects, ;
   9. The requirement for attendance at the final examination;
   10. The College statement requiring student adherence to the Richard Bland College Honor Code;
   11. The nature and approximate number of course activities, projects, and examinations;
   12. The course grading scale (g., 80-89% = B) and information regarding the weighting of course requirements in relation to the overall semester grade, including specification of a point value for class attendance and class participation (if so desired);
   13. Evidence offered that sufficient coursework will be submitted, or tests or quizzes administered, early enough in the semester that students can reasonably evaluate their progress in a class by the semester’s “drop/audit” date, and thus reach an informed decision as to the wisdom of dropping or continuing in a particular class;
   14. Dates important to the course, such as the semester’s date by which to drop a course without academic penalty, dates of examination, due dates for projects and papers, and the date of the final examination; and
   15. A disclaimer statement to the effect that changes can be made in the syllabus due to unforeseen circumstances.

Whenever possible, faculty will notify both students and the Chief Academic Officer in advance of significant changes being made to the overview and syllabus.

3.  Maintaining Class Rolls Faculty must verify official class rolls (student name, course, section) by each semester’s deadline so that Banner and Canvas information for class enrollments, and student directories, will be accurate, and also so that, if necessary, a student’s whereabouts on campus at a particular time of day can be ascertained.

4.  Ordering Appropriate Textbooks for their Classes Faculty are responsible for the timely ordering, through the College bookstore, of textbooks and other materials to be used in their courses. They should supply as much information as possible about each textbook (i.e., author, title, edition, publisher, paper- or hard-cover edition). To ensure timely delivery of textbooks, the bookstore must receive textbook orders for the summer session by April 1, for the fall semester by May 1, and for the spring semester by November 1. Professors needing complimentary, or “desk,” copies should request them directly from the publisher. Professors with duplicate copies of textbooks are urged to place extra copies on reserve in the library.The bookstore manager will be responsible for overseeing any and all enrollment changes and for handling book orders accordingly. S/he will promptly notify faculty of any information received regarding delays in the shipment or the inability of a publisher to provide a textbook by a required date. The manager will assist in obtaining delayed books or substitute books by the most expedient means.Each faculty member should carefully review the proposed textbook for each course s/he teaches well in advance of the semester intended for use. In evaluating such texts, faculty members are encouraged to consider comments from colleagues, students, and publishers, as well as reaching their own personal judgment regarding the usefulness of a particular text.

5.  Maintaining Scheduled Office Hours  At the beginning of the semester, each faculty member will provide the Chief Academic Officer a schedule of teaching and office hours.

a.  Full Time Faculty: Full-time faculty members are expected to schedule and be present in their offices a minimum of five (5) office hours a   week for student consultation. Faculty may perform two (2) hours of this obligation offering student tutoring or advising outside their offices (to be scheduled in coordination with the Assistant Chief Academic Officer of Student Success) in the Student Success Center.

b.  Adjunct Faculty:  Adjunct faculty members are expected to schedule and be present in their offices one hour per week per course taught, up to three hours per week.

6.  Keeping Class Attendance Records Faculty are required to keep complete and accurate records of student attendance for all classes taught.

7.  Administering Final Examinations Final examinations will be given for all scheduled academic classes.These examinations will be conducted at the established examination time. An exception is made for Lab classes (which may hold their exams during the last week of the semester) and online courses (which will conduct their exams according to the policies laid out in their syllabi).Special exceptions to these rules, such as take-home final exams, must be discussed with and approved by the Chief Academic Officer at the beginning of the semester in which the exam is scheduled to be given. Faculty will retain a copy of each student’s final examination for at least one (1) year, to be produced, if necessary, in the event of grade appeal or litigation. The Chief Academic Officer shall keep a copy of any examinations that result in a grade appeal for three (3) years.

8.  Determining and Posting Final Grades Final grades should be turned in to the Registrar’s office via the College’s Banner system within forty-eight (48) hours of the conclusion of a course’s final examination. Final grades for Friday and Saturday classes must be received in the Registrar’s office by 10:00 a.m. the following Monday. Official grades will be made available to students by the Registrar’s office. Faculty electing to post their own grades may do so, but students may not be identified by name, social security number, student identification number, or in any other manner that would conflict with the student’s right to privacy.

9.  Accommodating Drop/Withdrawal Policies, and

10.  Communicating with their students and department chair in the event they are unable to meet with their classes.

C. Faculty Absence from Class

A faculty member unable to meet a class or classes (e.g., illness or car trouble) will notify the appropriate department chair, make an effort to notify his/her students, and submit a Faculty/Staff Absence Request/Report. This report shall offer an indication of what students from the missed class(es) will do to compensate educationally for the lesson which is cancelled, if such cancellation occurs.

D. Laboratory Supervision

In all laboratory situations, the faculty member is responsible for direct supervision and instruction in the laboratory. Even though student assistants are used at times, no student will be expected to take charge of or direct the laboratory.