Teaching Assignments

Faculty are consulted regularly about their teaching interests and are encouraged to build capacity in several courses in more than one academic program. Assignments are made considering multiple factors to provide a challenging yet balanced teaching portfolio to each faculty member. The assignment process is initiated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (AADA). Assignments are made in late fall term for the entire next academic year. If changes to teaching plans are needed, the AADA will contact those affected.

Course Load

The normal teaching load for a full-time tenure-track faculty member is the equivalent of three residential semester-long courses. The normal teaching load for a full-time clinical faculty is the equivalent of four residential semester long courses. For Lecturers III or IV the course load will vary depending on the length of appointment (e.g., 9 versus 12 month) and effort (e.g., 100 percent or less). The normal teaching load for a research faculty member is zero courses, although research faculty are expected to engage in some pedagogical activities, this is usually associated with doctoral mentoring or mentoring undergraduate or master's student in the context of a research project or thesis. Research faculty may be asked to teach from time to time; at that time 25% of their salary will be paid through UMSI general funds per residential course taught.

Class Size

There is no normal class size; class sizes vary depending on the course. Generally, UMSI will not regularly offer a bachelor's-level or Master’s-level course that enrolls fewer than 15 students. In recent years, the UMSI average class size has been in the mid-30s. Classes with lecture and lab or group session components typically have a lecture size of 50 or more and lab or group sessions size of 20-25 each.

Doctoral Seminars

The Doctoral Committee regularly issues calls for proposals for doctoral seminars. Faculty should be aware that these do not always count as a full course in terms of teaching load. If a doctoral seminar has 6 or more students, it counts as a full course. If the seminar yields less than 6 students, the faculty member can teach it for half credit (.5 course) or cancel the class. The doctoral committee attempts to gauge potential enrollment prior to registration, but that is not always accurate. The 6 students can be from UMSI or from other schools or departments, although the expectation is that a majority will be from UMSI and that a majority will be doctoral students.

Independent Study Courses

As a general matter, individual faculty members have the right to accept or decline to supervise independent study courses. Faculty should not supervise more than two independent studies in a year without first discussing it with the associate dean for academic affairs. Faculty involvement is voluntary and not compensated. Independent studies are not always an effective way to educate students, and often come at a high cost in faculty time. Master’s students are not allowed to earn more than three credits toward their degree through independent study unless they obtain permission from the Associate Dean for Acdemic Affairs. This rule is to ensure that UMSI curricular and degree objectives are met. Faculty, especially junior faculty, should consider supervising independent studies only if there is mutual benefit. Lecturer and adjunct faculty interested in sponsoring a student for independent study should consult with the ADAA.

Independent study courses should not be the same content or subject as regularly offered courses. Independent study should also not be used as a means to compensate students for work that would otherwise typically be paid.

Independent studies can be initiated by students, faculty, or both. Students who propose to do independent studies should be told that faculty involvement is voluntary and uncompensated, and that it is up to the student to design a project that is of sufficient appeal to the prospective faculty member. A faculty member can propose that a student perform an independent study, usually to enable research activity on a project of mutual interest but an outcome must include student learning.

Master’s Thesis Option

Master’s students may apply to participate in the Master’s Thesis Option Program (MTOP). The thesis project must be supervised by a faculty member, and as such, functions much the same as a student-initiated independent study. The same concerns apply: the student must make a convincing case, and faculty members are not generally required to agree to supervise master’s theses. However, as long as the faculty member maintains productivity in other areas, master’s thesis advising is recognized as a valuable form of academic service, and UMSI does generally expect that all faculty will consider supervising a master’s thesis at least once every few years (if asked). Faculty should consult the Guidelines for Master's Theses at UMSI.

Load Timing

From time to time, faculty teach an “overload” (some number of credits above the normal load), with the approval (and sometimes at the request of) the ADAA. In these cases, UMSI prefers faculty to be compensated based on their normal salary rate. Faculty can “bank” courses. That is, an extra course taught in one year, without extra financial compensation, can be credited to the faculty member’s account to reduce teaching in a future year. However, faculty with banked courses from past semesters must apply to the ADAA when they wish to seek course reduction. The AADA will make reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests, but may not always accommodate them at the time requested by faculty.

Course Buyouts

From time to time faculty may wish to reduce their teaching load through a “buyout”. A one-course reduction can be arranged with prior approval from the ADAA. Generally such requests are granted with sufficient lead time (based on the annual curriculum planning schedule), though there may be exceptions if a critical teaching need would not be met. A one-course residential reduction results in a 25% (2.25 months of the academic year) reduction in normal academic year salary. This reduction can be funded through research or other grant funds (if permitted by the sponsor), through a reduction in effort (that is, through taking a lower salary for the year), or through other means. As long as there is not a conflict of interest or violation of sponsoring agency rules (see UMSI’s Conflict of Interest / Conflict of Commitment policy), UMSI generally is indifferent to the means of financing a course reduction.