Background
Institutions of higher learning benefit when all full-time faculty members align their professional strengths and interests with organizational needs. Accordingly, these workload guidelines promote flexibility that allows all full-time faculty members to be highly productive while ensuring that the College fulfills its teaching, research, scholarship, and service missions.
All full-time faculty members are expected to teach and advise students, engage in research and/or creative endeavors and scholarly activities, provide service to the University, the public, and the profession, and participate in outreach activities appropriate to their rank and position. Faculty workload is defined by a combination of teaching, scholarship, and service, and faculty performance evaluation will be based on these areas. A faculty member’s teaching duties are assigned annually by the School Director and represented by workload percentages. Any changes to the standard workload percentages may be made only after consultation between the School Director and the faculty member. The changes are the decision of the School Director, with final approval from the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will consult with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs on all workload issues related to load adjustments based on research and creative accomplishments.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Teaching assignments will be designed to meet School and College curricular needs according to degree requirements, departmental educational philosophy, professional expectations and values, and departmental priorities.
- The generally established teaching assignment for full-time faculty is twenty-four contact hours per year. Teaching assignments for tenured and tenure-track faculty actively engaged in research and creative work, and producing research outcomes, are generally eighteen contact hours per year. Reducing teaching responsibilities for tenure-line faculty members provides an opportunity to develop a research record worthy of tenure and promotion and is predicated on a productive research and scholarship program that continues post-tenure.
- Teaching assignments for faculty on continuing or fixed-term teaching appointments typically consist of twenty-four contact hours per year.
- A course is defined as a credit-bearing offering that satisfies the University's standards for minimum enrollment and meets as a regularly scheduled class during the academic year. Suitable adjustments may be made for courses that include extended contact hours, such as laboratories, graduate courses, large section sizes, and other relevant factors.
- Those who take on other assignments may be assigned an alternative teaching assignment by their School Director, with final approval from the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
- Tenure-line faculty will typically receive a teaching assignment reduction within the first two years of the tenure-track period. Reducing teaching responsibilities for tenure-line faculty members provides an opportunity to develop a research record worthy of tenure and promotion to associate professor.
- All full-time faculty on continuing or fixed-term teaching appointments are encouraged to discuss their teaching, research, and service assignments with their department/program chairs and school directors to develop plans for their deployment that coordinate their professional strengths with institutional needs.
- The courses faculty members teach should enroll at least the minimum number of students as stipulated by University policy (see Penn State Policy C-3, Minimum Course Enrollment Threshold Expectations). Underenrolled and independent study courses may not be counted as part of the faculty member’s teaching load unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as a first-time offering. If a course is canceled due to low enrollment, the School Director, in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, will make an alternate workload assignment.
All schools consider professional accreditation guidelines when assigning teaching assignments to faculty members. Workload assignments ensure adequate opportunities for student-faculty interaction for all full-time faculty members, promote student success, and optimize the school's ability to deliver its curricula.
The Scholarship of Research and Creative Accomplishments
All full‐time faculty are expected to engage in scholarly and professional development activities and produce tangible outcomes. For tenured and tenure-track faculty, the requirements for such activity are determined by the promotion and tenure guidelines developed by the faculty of each School at the Behrend College and by University policies, such as AC21 and AC23. All School policies need to be approved by the Chancellor's office.
Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty Members
A productive program of research or creative activity consists of ongoing and sustained activities with tangible, peer-reviewed, or professionally reviewed outcomes. A flexible understanding of a productive research program is required in the Penn State Behrend environment, with its wide variety of academic disciplines, mix of undergraduate and graduate programs, and an equal evaluative weighting of teaching and research in workload assignment percentages. Academic schools are the primary units that establish research standards appropriate for their academic disciplines. A faculty member's research or creative activity productivity can change from year to year due to several factors, including, but not limited to, cycles of investigation and publication, temporary reallocation of effort to teaching or service responsibilities, and personal circumstances.
Tenured faculty members who maintain a productive scholarship program with tangible and recognized outcomes will retain a reduced teaching assignment. Teaching assignments may occasionally vary due to the involvement of tenured faculty members in various service and leadership duties. Any changes to the teaching assignments may be made only after consultation between the School Director and the faculty member. The decision on changes is that of the School Director, with final approval by the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
All tenured faculty members are expected to engage in research and creative activity and maintain a productive agenda throughout their careers. In cases where a faculty member’s research/creative productivity falls below expectations, the School Director, in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, will adjust that faculty member’s workload. This adjustment may include increased teaching and/or service assignments to ensure all faculty members maintain an equitable and productive workload.
During the annual and extended review processes, School Directors (or their designees) are responsible for evaluating the productivity of research and creative activities over the current and previous academic years and allocating individual tenure-line faculty workload assignments each year. The requirements for an active research or creative activity program are determined by the promotion and tenure guidelines developed by the faculty of each School of the Behrend College, school-specific workload guidelines, and University policies such as AC21 and AC23. Tenured faculty members who have not maintained an active program of research or scholarly activity and hence are not research-productive will have their workload and workload percentages adjusted accordingly. The workload adjustments will be determined annually on a case-by-case basis by the School Director in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
In cases where there is a sustained multiyear resurgence of high-quality research or creative activity productivity, tenured faculty should consult with the School Director to determine if a workload adjustment is warranted. If so, changes made by the School Director occur in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Tenured faculty with a record of exceptional research/creative activity may have their workload reassigned to support their scholarly productivity further. School Directors may grant teaching release time to individual faculty members, allowing them to engage in high-visibility research and creative activities, as well as those with a high likelihood of substantial external funding. A typical workload reassignment for an exceptionally productive program of research or creative activity may take the form of reduced teaching contact hours, accompanied by a corresponding workload percentage adjustment. The workload adjustments will be determined annually on a case-by-case basis by the School Director in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Tenure-line faculty should inform their School Director of any potential grant buyouts of courses when creating the draft course schedule. After conferring with the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the School Director should approve all buyouts.
Faculty members will be notified of any adjustments to their workload and workload percentages as part of their annual evaluation.
Non-Tenure Teaching Line Faculty Members
Full-time non-tenure line teaching faculty who have demonstrated a successful record of teaching while also meeting a high extraordinary level of research scholarship and creative accomplishment or service and outreach should consult with their School Director and department/program chairs regarding teaching load adjustments that may be to the mutual benefit of the individual and the institution. Any changes to the standard teaching load may be made only after consultation among the School Director, the faculty member, and the department/program chair. Any adjustments are at the discretion of the School Director, with final approval of the Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Successful and productive professional development is vital to non-tenure teaching line faculty's abilities to be effective in the classroom, active professionally in their fields, and successful in contributing to the University and the College. To retain and assist non-tenure line teaching faculty members, a flexible understanding of scholarship, service, and outreach is required in the Penn State Behrend environment. Academic schools are the primary units that establish standards appropriate to their academic disciplines. Occasional workload adjustments may be made for non-tenure line teaching faculty serving the College in a capacity that requires demonstrable and extraordinary time commitments. Such workload adjustments should be made thoughtfully and with the benefit of workload data.
The productivity of non-tenure line teaching faculty can fluctuate from year to year due to several factors, including, but not limited to, cycles of course offerings, temporary reallocation of effort to teaching or service responsibilities, and personal circumstances.
Faculty members will be notified of any adjustments to their workload and workload percentages as part of their annual evaluation.
Service and the Scholarship of Service to the University, Society, and the Profession
All full‐time faculty are expected to provide appropriate service to the University, the public, and their profession. The requirements for such service are determined by the promotion and tenure guidelines developed by the faculty of each School of the Behrend College, school-specific workload guidelines, and University policies such as AC21 and AC23. The School Director may make specific directions and suggestions.
Faculty evaluations, for salary or other purposes, should be based on the individual assignment the School Director assigns to the faculty member. All aspects of faculty workload—teaching, research/creative activity, and service—should be evaluated based on production and quality. That is, faculty members cannot simply opt to emphasize one area of their workload; they must consistently demonstrate that they are producing at a level that meets or exceeds school and college norms.
Revised:
February 22, 2011
August 18, 2016
April 16, 2025