Faculty Teaching Load

1.0 Scope: 

Applies to all full- and part-time faculty, including adjunct faculty.

2.0 Purpose:

The purpose of this procedure is to ensure fair and consistent processes for the assignment and calculation of load across instructional areas of Northland Pioneer College (NPC).

3.0 Definitions:

ACRES -The Academic Curriculum Review and Evaluation System (ACRES) – This system is an online curriculum development/review tool and working repository. NPC utilizes a tailored version of the system developed by the state of Arizona.

Adjunct faculty - A temporary, part-time position which is approved to work all or part of any semester. Adjunct faculty positions are not eligible for medical benefits and are limited to teaching a maximum of 12 credits per semester (9 in Summer). 

Clinical Instruction - An on-site work experience supervised by faculty allowing students to practice and demonstrate their developing client care skills and competencies. Students also participate in preceptorships when faculty assign them to a professional who instructs, supervises, and evaluates the students.

Contact Hour - Hours of instruction per week as identified in course forms located in ACRES, and based on Carnegie Hours. A Carnegie Hour is a unit of measure of contact hours in which a single Carnegie Hour equals a 50-minute block of instructional time. 

Contracted Load -The load expectation outlined in a faculty contract based on part-time or full-time employment and length of contract.

Full-time Faculty – Faculty who are assigned primarily to instructional responsibilities and who are assigned 30 load points for a 9-month contract, or 33 load points for a 10-month contract.

Lab Instruction - A hands-on learning environment including synchronous access to the instructor (either face-to-face or virtually) applying scientific methods, practical skills and/or creativity in the acquisition of knowledge. Examples: painting, pipetting, tying knots, curling hair, sawing lumber, and computer programming.

Lecture Instruction - A formal sharing of knowledge in a learning environment, either in person or via technology in connected classrooms, engaging the audience through exposition and active-learning methods (demonstrations and questions) while encouraging critical thinking and personal introspection.

Load Point - Units used to calculate faculty compensation and contracted time. Each load point presumes a combination of contact and prep time, dependent on modality (lecture/lab/clinical–refer to section 4.5 for further detail).

Load Release –Assignment of load points for activities in addition to instruction. Examples include chairing an Instructional Council subcommittee or instructional department.

Multi-course Lab - Classes in which students enroll to take one of several department courses being offered during the class period. Example: A Welding section may include three or more courses offered simultaneously during a class period.

Overload Points - Load points assigned to faculty in a single semester greater than ½ the Contracted Load for the contracted period (i.e., 9-month; 10-month).

Overload Compensation – Additional compensation paid to a Faculty member who has been assigned Overload points, which is calculated in accordance with Section 4.3 below.

Part-time Faculty – Faculty primarily assigned to instructional responsibilities and who are assigned less than full-time load (including load points from load release).

Practicum Instruction - Field experiences in which students apply their learning in real-life situations and events. The purpose of practicum is to assist in the development of the essential skills, knowledge and dispositions of a profession through exposure to practical experiences in the field. Practicum includes both engagement in professional practice and reflective supervision with a college instructor to meet specified outcomes. The required number of hours and levels of supervision on site vary by program of study. Example: Supervised student teaching/Capstone classes.

4.0 Procedure:

4.1 Faculty Load Assignment

Load Assignment may consist of a combination of instruction, load release, and other responsibilities as determined between the faculty and the supervising Dean such as curriculum development, special projects, committee assignments, or administrative duties.

4.2 Assignment of Load Points by Instructional Modality

Load Point calculations are determined by the combination of contact hours as identified in course forms located in ACRES at the following rates:

a. Lecture Instruction - Courses that are taught via lecture, whether face to face, by distance, or virtually are assigned as 1.0 load point per lecture Contact Hour.

b. Lab Instruction - Courses that are taught in a lab setting are assigned a minimum of 0.7 load points per contact hour.

c. Practicum Instruction - Courses that require a practicum component where the instructor is responsible for supervising practicum in addition to lecture are assigned a minimum of 0.7 load points per practicum contact hour.

d. Clinical Instruction- Courses that require a clinical component where the supervisor is responsible for teaching and supervision in a clinical setting are assigned 1.0 load point per clinical contact hour.

Sample chart of calculating assigned load:

4.3 Overload Compensation: Fall and Spring Semesters

a. A full-time faculty member is considered in overload during any semester when the assigned load points for the semester are greater than ½ of the contracted load. A 9-month faculty member assigned more than 15 load points per semester, or a 10-month faculty member assigned more than 16.5 load points per semester, would be in overload and entitled to additional compensation for those overload points as set forth in this section.

b. Determination of load is made upon completion of the second week of each semester and load sheets are sent to Faculty for review.

c. Overload compensation is calculated by multiplying the number of overload points by the faculty member’s appropriate adjunct rate.  Overload compensation is determined and paid each semester.

EXAMPLE:

Overload Points  = Total Load Points – ½ Contracted Load

        = 18 – 15

                = 3 Overload Points (OL Points)

If the Faculty member is at a Level 3 adjunct rate, then the Faculty member would receive

               3 OL points × 893.00 (adjunct rate) = $2679.00

in Overload Compensation for the semester.

4.4 Overload Limits

a. Full-time faculty are limited to 12 overload points per semester or summer session, excluding Load Release activities.  

b. Exceptions to the overload limitation may be made as a joint agreement between the faculty and respective department chair. The department chair then submits a recommendation to the dean for approval.  

c. If the dean disagrees with the overload recommendation, an appeal for overload exception may be made to the Vice President for Learning and Student Services. 

d. In addition to, or in place of overload compensation, Faculty may be asked to provide a specific service to a group or community organization (e.g., leadership training for a local business, additional high school partnerships, substitute workshops for school districts, etc.) through a special status contract or addendum. Special status contracts or addendum are not counted towards Contracted Load.  Compensation for special status contracts or addendum will address compensation for those additional services or duties and are completed with Faculty and Dean approval.  

4.5 Summer Load Compensation

a. A faculty member who provides instruction and who agrees to participate in other college service responsibilities (e.g., search committees; ad hoc groups, meetings, etc.) during the summer session is compensated based on assigned load points for the term. Summer load for faculty who both instruct and participate in college service is calculated by prorating the full-time faculty load rate based on annual contracted salary via the formula

Annual Contracted Salary/Contracted Load = Per Load Rate

b. A faculty member who provides instruction only, but who does not choose to participate in other college service responsibilities during the summer session is compensated at the adjunct faculty rate for the assigned summer load.

4.6 Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct Faculty load points are determined using the same load formulas as full-time faculty. Compensation is determined by multiplying the assigned load points by the appropriate adjunct rate for the instructor. Current adjunct rates can be found by on the college website, Human Resources page (https://www.npc.edu/human-resources.  )

For example: Using the 2021-22 Adjunct Rates:

Level 1-$814

Level 2-$840

Level 3-$893

4.7 Multi Course Lab Sections

a. Faculty who are scheduled to teach multiple courses and sections simultaneously in a single block, and in which students may only enroll in one course within the block, are loaded at the highest contact hours and load points for which students are enrolled.

Example:

CCP099 –  2cr (all lecture) = 2 load points

MAT109 – 3cr (all lecture) = 3 load points

Courses are scheduled together on W 1:00PM-3:44PM, and students may only enroll in either CCP099 OR MAT109. Faculty receive a load assignment of 3 load points for MAT109, since it is loaded at the higher rate.

b. Faculty who are scheduled to teach multiple courses and sections simultaneously in a single block, and in which students may enroll in multiple courses within the block (receiving contact hours for all courses), are loaded for the maximum number of total contact hours and load points for which students can enroll and receive credit. If three courses are scheduled in a block and a student can receive contact hours to receive credit for all three courses, then load points are assigned based on all three courses. If a student can only receive credit for two of the courses based on contact hours, the load points assigned are based on the total contact hours for the two courses.

Example:    

CON102 – 3cr (all lecture) = 3 load points

CON120 – 3cr (2 contact hours of lecture/2 contact hours lab) = 3.4 load

Course is scheduled W 1:00PM-6:50PM

Courses are scheduled together for a single 5 hours and 50-minute block. Students may enroll in both courses and receive credit for both courses. The assigned Faculty member would be credited with 6.4 load points.

c.If course Contact Hours are divided among instructors and lab assistants, the instructor is loaded only for those hours of their responsibility.