Rule 3362-2-12 | Faculty workload.
(A) Purpose
Shawnee state university is primarily an undergraduate institution with some graduate level programs. Teaching is the primary means by which a faculty member contributes to the institutional mission. The university recognizes that the undergraduate teaching mission is the foundation upon which flexibility is granted for the achievement in scholarship, research, commercialization, and service. Besides classroom teaching hours, faculty workload also includes classroom preparation, research or scholarship, service, advising, and commercialization which advances the university mission. Under the authority of section 3345.45 of the Revised Code, the board of trustees establishes the following faculty workload rule.
(B) Scope of authority
(1) All faculty members will be assigned a full (one hundred per cent) workload based upon their full-service, full-time, or part-time status.
(2) At Shawnee state university one hundred per cent workload shall equal thirty-three to thirty-four credit hours/or credit hour equivalents (CHE) spread over the fall and spring semesters in an academic year.
(C) Definitions
(1) Credit hour: In accordance with the credit hour definition stated in 34 C.F.R. 600.2 and in agreement with Shawnee state university policy 2.17 credit hour assignment, one credit hour of teaching workload is equivalent to seven hundred fifty minutes of faculty-led instruction (in-person or online) and at least fifteen hundred minutes of out-of-class planning, preparation, assessment, and revision over the term in which the course is delivered.
(2) Substantial: As used in this policy related to research, scholarship, commercialization, and service, substantial activity is of a quantity and quality that is ongoing, productive, and with the aim of exceeding basic expectations.
(D) Undergraduate teaching requirement
Across each department in which undergraduate programs are assigned, all faculty will engage in teaching undergraduate students.
(E) Teaching workload duties
Teaching workload obligations include meeting all sessions of assigned classes, class preparation, timely grading of and return to students of assignments and examinations, and maintaining of office hours and/or other methods of permitting students in their classes to meet with them.
(F) Full-service faculty workload
(1) The normal fall and spring semester classroom teaching load for continuing contract, tenure-track, and tenured full-service (FS) and full-service temporary/visiting (FST) faculty is greater than or equal to twenty-four credit hours.
(2) The minimum twenty-four credit hour teaching load expected of FS and FST faculty represents at least seventy per cent of their total workload.
(3) Faculty (FS and FST) workload also includes required research, scholarship, commercialization, or service which advances the university mission. The research, scholarship, commercialization, or service must be substantial, measurable and will comprise no more than thirty per cent of the total FS and FST faculty workload.
(4) Faculty with significant leadership positions within the department, university, or union including those serving as department chairs, academic program directors, graduate program directors, or the faculty director of the graduate school receive reassignment of their teaching workload for performing these administrative duties. A faculty member holding such a position may receive up to twelve credit hours per academic year toward their teaching workload for this work.
(5) Research, scholarship, commercialization, and service activities are assigned credit hour equivalency as shown in the table in appendix a of this policy.
(6) Faculty members will be accountable for meeting expectations in teaching excellence and substantial research, scholarship, commercialization and/or service.
This shall be evaluated during annual performance evaluations conducted in accordance with policy 2.26 faculty annual performance evaluation.
(G) Full-time instructor and clinical faculty workload
(1) The normal fall and spring classroom teaching load for full -time instructors (FTI) and full-time online instructors (FTO) on the semester system is thirty credit hours. The normal fall and spring classroom teaching load for full-time temporary instructors (FTT) is fifteen credit hours during only one semester of the academic year.
(2) Teaching load for full-time instructors (FTI) shall represent up to ninety per cent of their total workload. The remaining time shall be dedicated to service in the form of committee meetings, scheduled office hours, etc.
(3) The normal fall and spring classroom teaching load for clinical faculty (CF) on the semester system is twenty-four credit hours.
(a) Teaching associated with clinical lab or field experiences, clinical instruction, and clinical supervision shall represent up to eighty per cent of a CFs workload.
(b) The remaining time shall be dedicated to service in the form of committee meetings, participation in accreditation requirements, scheduled office hours, etc.
(c) CFs may also be assigned regularly scheduled hours in a student practice lab and receive credit hour equivalency (CHE) to a regularly scheduled lab course.
(4) Service workload CHE for FTIs and CFs will be determined according to the table listed in appendix a of this rule.
(H) Part-time faculty workload
(1) The maximum normal fall and spring semester classroom teaching load for part-time faculty on the semester system is nineteen credit hours.
(2) Part-time faculty are not expected to engage in other duties, but are expected to fulfill all teaching obligations as listed in paragraph (E) of this rule.
(I) Compliance with faculty workload policy expectations
(1) All faculty covered by this policy may face administrative review of their compliance in completing their assigned workload.
(2) A department chair or school director may report to the appropriate college dean, any concerns regarding compliance for faculty who hold temporary contracts and who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
The dean will meet with the faculty member to discuss concerns and determine the administrative action that should be taken. Actions may include censure, remedial training, for-cause termination, or other disciplinary action.
(3) A department chair or school director may report to the appropriate college dean any concerns regarding compliance for faculty who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, regardless of tenure status or eligibility.
Concerns shall be addressed according to the procedure set forth in the collective bargaining agreement to address complaints concerning violations of university policy, or through the post-tenure review process, if appropriate.
(J) Prevailing provisions
(1) Until August 22, 2027, the 2024-2027 collective bargaining agreement between Shawnee state university and the Shawnee education association article ten non-tenure track faculty and article twelve workload and course load responsibilities prevail over any conflicting provisions adopted in this policy and accompanying appendix.
(2) Beginning August 23, 2027, this rule, faculty workload, and any amendments hereto, prevails over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into after August 22, 2027.
Last updated December 26, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Supplemental Information