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Guidelines For Summer Teaching Course Load

Approved by the School of Education Faculty unanimously on April 29, 2020.

Preamble
Faculty in the School of Education have teaching, scholarship, service, and governance responsibilities consistent with the (a) William & Mary Faculty Handbook; (b) School of Education Bylaws; and (c) Procedures for the Evaluation, Retention and Promotion, and Award of Tenure for Members of the Faculty of the School of Education. The following guidelines have been developed regarding faculty opportunities to teach in the summer semesters. These guidelines focus on the application of summer teaching towards contracted fall and spring semester teaching loads. These guidelines represent a yearlong discussion initiated by the Faculty Affairs Committee to establish a set of practices that allow for the most effective and fair use of summer teaching opportunities. 

School of Education Guidelines for Summer Teaching Load
Certain agreed upon understandings provide the foundation for this document. An overview of these guiding assumptions, principles, and considerations follow:

  1. All course load assignments and expectations will be affected by the ability of Departments to (a) offer courses to students in a manner that allows for their timely completion of degrees and (b) meet established or new accreditation or specific faculty requirements, and to do so without hiring additional faculty. Therefore, all decisions regarding summer teaching course load should be made in consultation with Department Chairs and should be mutually beneficial for the program and the faculty member.
  2. Full time tenured, tenure-eligible, and non-tenure eligible faculty teaching required courses (courses required for students to meet perquisites and/or graduation requirements for a given program) during the summer semester can either:
    1. Apply the summer semester course credits to the following fall or spring semesters, or
    2. Teach the class in addition to contracted fall and spring course load for additional income consistent with University, School of Education, and program policies and procedures.
  3. The maximum number of credits that can be applied for the fall and spring semesters should not exceed 3 credits per semester.
  4. Faculty that apply summer teaching to their fall or spring course load must remain available to offer governance, advising, and other roles/responsibilities normally assigned within the School of Education and University during the fall and spring semester. A history of absence or failure to fulfill responsibilities during the fall and spring semester resulting from the application of teaching load to these semesters may result in future application of summer teaching to fall and spring semesters being denied at the Department Chair’s discretion. Governance to the School of Education and University should be negotiated by Department Chairs in consultation with the Dean.
  5. Faculty not contractually obligated to teach in the summer should not be required to do so.
  6. These guidelines apply for courses taught on any platform (face-to-face, online, or hybrid) and length as long as the course is three (3) credits and a required course not offered at other times in the year.