Rule 3359-20-03.2 | Full time faculty workload standards.
(A) This full-time faculty workload policy is enacted pursuant to section 3345.45 of the Revised Code and is intended to comply with the 2025 Standards for Instructional Workloads ("Standards") as published by the Ohio department of education and approved by the chancellor. This rule provides academic units the workload expectations and the administration of workload assignments within each unit. In assigning workload, all faculty are to be engaged in undergraduate teaching and undergraduate learning experience throughout the academic year.
(B) Pursuant to section 3345.45 of the Revised Code, workload policies are a management right and not appropriate subjects for collective bargaining; assignment of duties and workload are solely within the authority of the president or appropriate designee. Any policy adopted pursuant to section 3345.45 of the Revised Code or this rule shall be approved by the board of trustees and will prevail over any conflicting provision of any collective bargaining agreement.
(C) Pursuant to section 3345.45 of the Revised Code, each institution shall define faculty workload in terms of credit hours, whereas the "Standards" refer to percentage of time spent in teaching. The term "load hours" allows the translation of the percentage of time expended on any particular activity to an equivalent of teaching load stated in course credit hours. Faculty may be required to pursue a broad range of activities in addition to teaching, including research, clinical care, administration, service, special projects/tasks, etc. The standard load for all faculty on nine-month contracts is twenty-four load credits per academic year. For tenured and tenure-track faculty on twelve-month contracts, the standard load is twenty-four load credits per academic year and twelve in the summer. Unless otherwise defined in workload guidelines for the university or the unit, the basic unit for measuring teaching load is the load credit that represents one fifty-minute period of classroom activity per week per semester.
(D) Faculty workload
(1) Three activities, teaching, research/creative activity, and service, make up the faculty workload in most cases, but load may also include other activities such as clinical and administrative duties. In setting appropriate workload, the need for flexibility is recognized. Many differences exist among colleges and departments of the university, and these differences preclude the possibility that a single set of figures can be rigidly applied for all. Therefore, the emphasis given to each activity will depend on the mission of the individual unit. Adjustments to the subsequent recommendations requires the approval of the president or designee. For clarity, librarianship stands in place of teaching in university libraries.
(2) Teaching: The following thresholds for teaching load as a percentage of the unit's time allocation are consistent with the chancellor's standards:
(a) Baccalaureate department: (active four-year undergraduate programs with no, or limited, activity in graduate programs). For academic departments, or equivalents, with active Baccalaureate degree programs, the norm for teaching activities should be at least seventy-five per cent of a total departmental workload, with the remaining twenty-five per cent devoted to other scholarly activities, research/creative activity, service, and other professional activities such as clinical and administrative duties consistent with the department and university's mission. Full time faculty should be expected to devote most, if not all, of their teaching effort to undergraduate instruction.
(b) Baccalaureate/master's departments: (active baccalaureate and master's degree programs). For academic departments, or equivalents, with active baccalaureate and master's degree programs, the norm for teaching activities is at least sixty-three per cent of the total departmental workload with the remaining thirty seven per cent devoted to research/creative activity, service, and other professional activities such as clinical and administrative activities consistent with the department and university's mission. It should be expected that full-time faculty in these departments will devote more of their effort to teaching undergraduates than to graduate level instruction when possible.
(c) Baccalaureate/master's/doctoral departments: (active baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs). Departments, or equivalent units, with active baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs should have a norm of at least fifty per cent of the total departmental workload devoted to teaching. The remaining fifty per cent of workload time should be devoted to research/creative activity, service, and other professional activities such as clinical and administrative activities consistent with the department and university's mission. It is expected that full-time faculty teaching in these departments will be personally involved in undergraduate instruction when possible. The fact that a department offers a master's or doctoral degree is not sufficient indication of an active program. In deciding where a department is located along the continuum from active undergraduate programs to active graduate programs, consideration should be given to the research/creative activity levels of the faculty, including externally funded research, scholarly publications, and the average number of graduate and/or professional degrees granted annually.
(d) University two-year or associate degree programs: Faculty whose principal appointment is in university departments with any or all levels of degrees, but whose teaching is primarily in an associate degree program, with no, or limited, baccalaureate or graduate activity, should have undergraduate teaching as their major responsibility. Such faculty members may also have professional development and service as part of their workload expectations, as needed to further the mission of the program and the university. Faculty whose principal appointment is in a university department with any or all levels of degrees, but whose teaching is primarily in an associate degree program, with no, or limited, baccalaureate or graduate activity should be expected to devote at least eighty per cent of their total workload to teaching related activities, with the remaining twenty per cent devoted to professional development and service.
(3) ) It shall be the responsibility of the dean, in consultation with the senior vice president and provost, to determine the appropriate division of workload expectation for each unit in the college according to the unit's level of activity in the degree programs it offers.
(4) Standard service is expected of all full-time faculty including both tenure track, tenured, and non-tenure track faculty. Service to a combination of the following which shall include (a) and (b) below must be demonstrated:
(a) Department;
(b) College;
(c) University;
(d) Community;and
(e) Field of study.
Such standard service includes attending unit level and college level meetings as called by chair and dean, all required faculty orientations or trainings, etc., timely communication with students, elected membership on college or university-level committees, active participation in annual review and RTP committees, active participation in curriculum development and revision, active participation in required program assessment, active participation in recruitment and retention of students, as well as other activities as defined by the unit or the chair. Standard service may include activities not listed in this rule.
Release may only be assigned for significant service. Requests for this release must include evidence that the service activity requires equal hours to the credits of release (i.e. three credits of service release is equal to the number of hours required to teach a three-credit course). Such an assignment normally would replace RSCA workload assignment (as described below), although in some rare cases, the service may replace the teaching workload assignment.
Service release cannot exceed three credits unless approved by the dean.
All service shall be documented for the annual review and be considered in the assignment of workload. Those faculty not participating in service activities shall be assigned additional teaching load to replace RSCA credit hours as defined in this paragraph.
(5) Research/scholarship/creative activity. The assignment of RSCA activity is based on the mission of the unit as defined in paragraph (D)(2) of this rule with a maximum expectation of twenty per cent of the load (six credits) for baccalaureate serving departments, thirty-seven per cent (nine credits) of the load for baccalaureate/masters serving departments, and fifty per cent (twelve credits) of the load for baccalaureate/masters/PhD serving departments. There will be no expected RSCA load for NTTs or associate's degree-only serving departments.
In consultation with a faculty member, a department chair or school director may assign a deviation of the number of RSCA workload credits. Such a recommendation is made by the department chair or school director and must be approved by the dean. The basis for such deviation may include, but is not limited to, external grants to support scholarly activity.
Additionally, in accordance with ORA-00-08: Cost Requirements for Externally Funded Proposals, faculty members are allowed to "buy" additional credits of RSCA workload using external grant funds. Such credits may be used to reduce teaching workload assignments and must be approved by the chair/director, dean, and provost.
(6) Clinical supervision and education. In departments or schools where clinical education is part of the curriculum, a full-time faculty member may be assigned workload hours to conduct clinical supervision or education. Such an assignment normally would replace RSCA workload assignment, although in some cases (if the department or school needs to dictate), the clinical workload assignment may replace the teaching or service workload assignment. All such assignments must be approved by the chair/director and the dean.
(7) Administration. In some cases, full-time faculty on nine-month appointments may be assigned administrative duties as part of their workload. Such an assignment normally would replace RSCA workload assignment, although in some cases (if the department or school needs to dictate), the administrative workload assignment may replace the teaching or service workload assignment. All such assignments must be approved by the chair/director and the dean. The preferred compensation for administrative duties will be in reassigned workload. Allowance will be paid under rare circumstances and only for duties separate from and in addition to those that are compensated by reassigned workload.
(8) The chart below references the averages across the unit for tenured and tenure-track faculty. Depending on the mission and workload guidelines of the unit, the averages may vary but shall not be less than minimum unless approved by the dean.
| Department | Minimum Teaching Requirement | Maximum Assignment for Research/Creative or Clinical/ Admin Activities |
| Baccalaureate | ≥75% (18 cr) | ≤25% (6 cr) |
| Baccalaureate/Master's | ≥63% (15 cr) | ≤37% (9 cr) |
| Baccalaureate/Master's/Doctoral | ≥50% (12 cr) | ≤50% (12 cr) |
| Associate degree or Two-Year Programs | ≥80% (21 cr) | ≤20% (3 cr) |
(9) It is expected that the non-tenure-track faculty load will consist entirely of teaching activity unless otherwise approved by the chair and dean. Standard service is expected as defined in paragraph (D)(4) of this rule. Any reassigned load shall be for significant service or special projects, not to exceed three credit hours per academic year, as articulated in the appointment or workload letter..
(E) Any full-time faculty member who fails to comply with the requirements of their workload assignment may be subject to appropriate disciplinary action for just cause, regardless of tenure status. Such disciplinary action may include censure, remedial training, oral or written reprimand, suspension, or termination of employment. Disciplinary action shall be administered only for just cause and, if applicable, pursuant to the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.
(F) Guidelines.
The office of academic affairs, in consultation with the faculty and appropriate administration, shall develop and maintain workload assignment guidelines encompassing the implementation of and adherence to this policy. Such guidelines shall include definitions of and metrics for assigning teaching, research, service, clinical, and administrative responsibilities. Deans shall work with department chairs and school directors, who, in consultation with the academic units' tenured and tenure-track faculty, will recommend an effective unit-level workload policy, consistent with this board rule and the workload assignment guidelines set forth by the office of academic affairs. The policy shall be individually tailored to the role and mission of the specific unit and may include specific guidance or examples. Consistent with the workload expectations for each unit, faculty may propose changes to unit level workload policy. However, assignment of workload at the unit level shall at all times also remain a management right.
Last updated January 15, 2026 at 12:15 AM
Supplemental Information
Amplifies: 3359
Prior Effective Dates: 11/13/1997, 6/25/2007, 1/31/2015, 10/20/2019, 12/16/2023