Professors’ workload policy recommended

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

An ad-hoc committee of university regents and faculty representatives approved a new workload policy Monday that includes guidelines designed to better regulate how professors spend their time.

Regent Jill Derby, committee chairwoman, said the policy gave the individual institutions flexibility to design their own policies while setting systemwide requirements to make sure professors are accountable for their contracted duties.

The guidelines, which must still be approved by the full Board of Regents at its August meeting in Reno, mandates that university professors teach 18 units a year, state college professors teach 24 units a year, and community college professors teach 30 units per year. Most classes consisted of three units.

After some debate Monday the committee also opted to allow individual faculty members heavily involved in doctoral-level education, such as teaching doctoral classes or overseeing dissertations, to have a reduced course load.

Regent Steve Sisolak opposed the option because he said he thought "heavily involved" should be better defined to make sure it didn't become a loophole for several professors to earn reduced loads.

The new policy requires each institution to develop detailed guidelines for their departments to better regulate nonteaching activities that are still part of professors' workload, such as research, service work and individualized student instruction such as overseeing independent studies, internships and graduate work.

The policy also directs the chancellor to compile a report on faculty workloads every other year.