C. Faculty Contracts
1. Contract
Faculty members must sign a contract with the university at the time of their hiring. All employees of the university except tenured faculty are employees-at-will as defined by Michigan law. Continued employment with the university is based upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, satisfactory performance and continued need.
2. Benefits
Faculty should consult the Employee Handbook for policies regarding employee benefits and other HR-related policies.
3. Faculty Course Load
Full-time faculty members are contracted for a load of 24 credit hours per academic year. Course load is generally split as equally as possible between the fall and spring semesters. Approval from the appropriate dean, in consultation with the provost, must be obtained for course load to be carried into the summer semester. All full-time faculty members must attend to administrative duties during the summer semester. This includes, but is not limited to, committee work, consultation by telephone and email regarding academic matters, and assisting advisors in recruiting prospective students.
- Course Load Limitations and Scheduling
(i). Any credit hour(s) taught above the course load required for a given semester will be paid overload during the semester in which it is earned at the current overload rate. The overload rate is $700 per credit hour.
(ii). Any credit hour(s) taught below the course load required for the Fall and Spring semesters will be required to be covered during the Summer semester or be deducted on a pro-rata basis from the faculty member’s pay.
(iii). Any faculty member who carries a course load less than 24 credit hours during the academic year without approval by the Provost will be compensated at a pro-rata amount of their full-load salary.
- Course Load Limitations and Scheduling
(i). Unless an exception is made by the administration, a course needs at least six students enrolled at the beginning of a semester to count toward a full- or part-time contract. Courses of five students or less shall be paid at the independent study rate.
(ii). A faculty member who has entered into a contract with the university for an academic year as a full-time or part-time instructor shall not be disqualified from receiving the full contract salary if one or more of their classes fails to attract the required number of students:
(1) If the shortfall of students occurred through no fault of the faculty member, and
(2) If such class were in the Office of the Registrar's rotation of classes, and
(3) If such class was scheduled to be offered in the official list of classes offered for a given semester.
(iii). If low course enrollment in any course described in subsections (1), (2) and (3) above decreases the number of credit hours in the faculty member’s load below his/her credit hour requirement for a semester, then, in such event, the faculty member and his/her supervisor shall work in good faith to find alternative course(s) to teach or additional duties to perform in order to fulfill their contract.
- Course load reductions are generally granted for the following:
(i). Deans/Directors – decided by the provost
(ii). Department Chairs – 6 credit hours (3 per semester) for departments with at least three faculty members
(iii). Doctoral Studies – 6 credit hours (3 per semester up to a maximum of 24; see Graduate Study Subsidies). NOTE: Anyone receiving course load reduction for doctoral studies will not be eligible to receive adjunct or overload pay.
4. Load or Compensation for Special Courses:
- Independent Study courses - $100 per student per credit hour. These are generally discouraged and should only be granted in circumstances that affect a student’s ability to graduate. Requires approval from the Dean of the School.
- Internships and Practicum courses are paid at the independent study rate until enrollment reaches 7. Internships and practicum courses that require significant off-campus contact hours may qualify for additional compensation or be factored into a faculty member's load. Such arrangements require a workload calculation and approval from the provost.
- Sciences Courses with Labs – 1 extra credit hour for a 4-credit hour course.
- Team-Taught Courses may be offered with 2 or 3 teachers. Before being scheduled, team-taught classes must be approved by the appropriate department chair or Dean (the department in which the Teacher of Record is a member). Participating departments must also plan for and budget enough money to cover the stipends necessary to operate the desired courses.
(i). The Teacher of Record is the one responsible for organization of the class, development, and oversight of the syllabus, attendance tracking, calculating and tracking of grades, and other normal faculty duties consistent with any other contracted class. The other team members are responsible for a minimum of 1/3 of the teaching load and any grading appropriate to their respective material. All team members are also expected to attend and participate in all of the class sessions in order to nurture the desired team-taught atmosphere.
(ii). Team-taught classes will be handled contractually in the following way:
Teacher of Record: 3 credit hours
Team Members: $900 stipend each
- Stipends or load reduction may be approved by the Provost (in consultation with the respective Dean/Director) for non-teaching duties such as the following:
(i). Inordinately heavy advising load
(ii). Special projects
(iii). Scholarly research