Strategic Planning II

Committee 4: How Will We Plan for Appropriate Instructional Capacity and Equitable Teaching Loads?

Committee Co-chairs:

• Jennifer Lloyd, Past-President, Faculty Senate
• Timothy Flanagan, Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs

Committee Members:

• Gail Hagenah, Nursing
• Earl Ingersoll, English
• Richard Lumb, Criminal Justice
• Gary Owens, EOP
• Robert Schneider, Physical Education & Sport

Revised Committee Questions:

1. Is student credit hour the most appropriate measure of faculty instructional workload?
2. Should the College establish a goal of a stated proportion of student credit hours taught each year to be taught by full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time non-tenure-track faculty, vs. other faculty?
3. Should the College establish a standard ratio of FTE students to FTE full-time faculty for planning and budgeting of faculty resources?
4. What are the relevant factors that should be considered in determining a faculty member’s instructional workload?
5. According to the Faculty Roles and Rewards Committee, instructional workload is based on the assumption that full time faculty members are engaged in an active program of scholarship and creative activity.
   • Should the expectation of scholarly and creative activity apply to full-time non-tenure-track faculty?
   • Can the committee develop an operational definition of "active program of scholarship" for input into instructional workload measurement? How and by whom should this standard be administered?
6. Should instructional workload measures for full time and part time faculty be similar or distinct?
7. How should academic advising be considered in terms of faculty instructional workload?
8. How should other elements of the faculty role (scholarship and service) be considered in relation to faculty members’ instructional workload?
9. Should SPC4 incorporate the planning questions being addressed by the Provost’s Task Force on Part Time Faculty (PTFPTF) as a formal part of SPC4’s charge? Note: The Task Force is now called the Provost’s Task Force on Associate Faculty. The Provost’s Task Force planning questions are reprinted below:

   Provost's Task Force Planning Questions

   Current Situation

   1. What is the best way to measure the level and use of part time faculty? Should the College focus on headcounts? On the percentage of course sections taught by part time faculty? On student credit hours produced by part time faculty?
   2. Has the level and nature of use of part time faculty changed at SUNY Brockport in recent years? Is the College using more part time faculty? Where has growth in the use of part time faculty been most apparent?
   3. How does SUNY Brockport’s use of part time faculty compare with similar institutions? Are there credible standards or benchmarks that help us to understand if we are using part time faculty too extensively or inappropriately? What standards or benchmarks should SUNY Brockport develop to guide in planning and evaluating its instructional staffing?
   4. In which majors and courses are SUNY Brockport students likely to encounter part time faculty? Are some programs too dependent on part time faculty? In particular, what portion of the College’s General Education Program is taught by part time faculty?
   5. Resource considerations aside, when is the use of part time faculty beneficial, or at least acceptable. Under what conditions is the use of part time faculty not beneficial, to be avoided whenever possible?
      
      Appointment
   6. How are part time faculty identified and recruited by academic departments? What recruitment strategies are used to create qualified pools of prospective part time faculty?
   7. What changes are needed in the processes used to administratively appoint part time faculty (forms, procedures, payroll, human resources, parking, etc.)
   8. Are changes needed in compensation policy or practices in relation to part time faculty?
   9. How well does the College retain qualified and high-performing part time faculty? What helps in retention, and what leads to attrition?
      
      Development
   10. What processes and strategies do academic departments use to introduce and orient part time faculty to the College, to the curriculum, to academic policies and procedures?
   11. How can departments effectively integrate part time faculty into the intellectual and collegial life of the department?
   12. How effective are our arrangements for provision of office space, clerical support, technological support, and professional development opportunities (training, coaching, mentoring) for part time faculty?
   13. How well are part time faculty supervised and evaluated? Whose responsibility should this be, and what strategies would foster effective supervision, evaluation, and professional development of part time faculty?
       

 

Questions or Comments?

Questions or comments can be directed to committee co-chairs or to Colleen Donaldson, Strategic Planning Coordinator:

Colleen Donaldson, Strategic Planning Coordinator
Office of Academic Affairs
SUNY Brockport
350 New Campus Dr.
Brockport, NY 14420
(585) 395-5118
cdonalds@brockport.edu