Graduate Faculty Workload
From MWSU Graduate School Policy Portal
Faculty teaching courses in which graduate students are enrolled shall have a workload range of 22-24 credits. If the faculty load exceeds 24 credits the faculty member should be paid for overload or allowed to bank house in accordance with the Graduate Course Banking Guidelines. The total workload for a faculty teaching graduate students should not exceed 26 credits in an academic year.
If a course is a graduate-only course (600 level), calculate a faculty workload of 1.33 workload credits for what in an undergraduate situation would give 1.0 workload credits.
If a course is cross-listed and enrolled in by both undergraduate (400 level) and graduate students (500 level) credit, calculate a faculty workload of 1.33 workload credits for what in an undergraduate situation would give 1.0 workload credits.
If no graduates enroll in the graduate level cross-listed section of a course (500 level section), calculate a faculty workload as if it were an undergraduate only course.
If a graduate student is enrolled in an undergraduate course (often to fulfill a deficiency), faculty workload will be counted at the undergraduate rate since only undergraduate course requirements are in place.
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Low Enrollment Courses
If the Academic Dean (in consultation with the Graduate Dean) determines that the enrollment in a graduate course is not sufficient, the course can be cancelled or offered with the faculty member receiving the equivalent independent study workload. We do not have hard and fast rules about when low enrollment will apply to graduate courses, however, at this time courses with only 1 or 2 students enrolled will always be treated as low enrollment. Courses with enrollments of 3 or more will be treated on a case by case basis. Courses with enrollments of 6 or more will always be given full workload. Note that for low enrollment courses which are being offered for the first time at the institution (not just by the faculty member) additional workload credit may be given above the standard independent study rate. Please note that chairs should carefully consider the Course Offering Guidelines when scheduling graduate courses.
Policy Guide Statements
Faculty are reminded that guidelines regarding workload for undergraduate courses are in the current Policy Guide.
Laboratory and studio contact hours are multiplied by two-thirds in calculating equated hours for teaching loads. Independent Study is equated as one-half load hour per student up to six students with a maximum of three load hours for six or more students.
Faculty workloads for coordination of internship/practicum students will be set at a 0.5 load hours per student up to five. From 6 to 20 students, the maximum load assigned will be 3.0; beyond 20, the coordinator will receive 0.25 load hours per student
Scenarios
Colisted 400/500 Courses
- A 500 level course colisted as a 400 level course is offered for 3 credit hours and has 10 undergaduates enrolled in the 400 level course and 1 graduate student enrolled in the 500 level course. The faculty member receives 1.33x3=4 load hours
- A 500 level course colisted as a 400 level course is offered for 3 credit hours. No graduate students enroll in the 500 level course. Faculty member receives only the 3 hours of unergraduate load.
500/600 Level Lecture Courses
- A 600 level seminar course is offered for 1 credit hour. The faculty member receives 1 x 1.33 = 1.33 load hours
- a 600 level lecture course is offered for 3 credit hours. The faculty member receives 3 x 1.33 = 4 load hours
- A 600 level course is offered for 4 credit hours. The faculty member receives 4 x 1.33 = 5.33 load hours
Lab and Studio Courses
- A 600 level lab course is offered for 3 credit hours with 5 contact hours per week. The faculty member receives 2/3 x 5 x 1.33 = 4.33 load hours
- A 600 level studio courses is offered for 2 credit hours with 4 contact hours per week. The faculty member receives 2/3 x 4 x 1.33 = 3.55 load hours
Thesis and Internship Courses
- A credit bearing graduate thesis is being supervised. The faculty member receives the independent study workload of .5 x 1.33 = .67 load hours per thesis student enrolled in thesis credits. A graduate faculty member can receive a maximum of 3x1.33=4 load hours per semester for thesis supervision. Only the instructor of record for the thesis credits receives load.
- A credit bearing graduate internship is being supervised. Faculty member receives the internship workload of .5 x 1.33 = .67 load hours per internship supervised with a maximum of 2.5x1.33=3.325 load hours at this rate. A graduate faculty member supervising 10 graduate credit bearing internships would receive 3 * 1.33 = 4 load hours.
Low Enrollment
- A 600 level graduate course has only two students enroll. Instead of cancelling the course, the faculty member would receive .5 x 2 x 1.33 = 1.33 load hours for teaching the course. With one student enrolled, the faculty member would receive .67 load hours.
