Re: Teaching loads

[Joe Heafner <heafnerj@VNET.NET>]

> From: Mariam Dittman <mdittman@GPC.PEACHNET.EDU>
>
> My college (public 2 year transfer institution) is looking at workload
> again.  I would like to know what your work loads are so that I can get a
> feel for what is common and/or acceptable.  Specifically what are the
> expectations for teaching lectures & labs and what are the expectations for
> service and professional development?
Catawba Valley Community College's (an open-door public two-year community college) "official" teaching load is 18-21 contact hours per week, which is professionally unacceptable. Faculty in certain areas (namely Allied Health) get a reduced load because of the way they interpret their accreditation requirements. Administration buys it. Forget research -- it doesn't exist here.

This huge load effectively prevents instructors from giving detailed attention to any one course. This load includes lectures and labs. As for professional development, my institution has no clue as to what it is. They think learning how to drive Microsoft Word (which I don't use by the way...) constitutes professional development. Basically, if it requires no institutional funding then it's acceptable. Funding is given on a very spotty basis (e.g. "Well you attended this AAPT meeting last year why do you need to go again this year?").

Our math faculty routinely have to teach 21+ hours, as much as 25 some semesters. More than 50% of our math and science classes are taught by part-time faculty, a dismal statistic if you ask me. It's possible to get a degree from this school and never even meet a full-time faculty member. Yet our administration will not allow us to turn students away simply because we don't have the fiscal, personnel, and physical resources to accomodate them.

I should also point out that recently SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) recently required one of our neighboring community colleges to adopt a 15 contact hour teaching load. Given how our own administration worships the ground SACS walks on, I don't know why they haven't fallen all over themselves reducing our teaching load to 15 hours too. Our teaching loads are supposedly tied to budgeting issues, but in my 9.5 years of teaching no one here as ever been able to explain to me where the numbers "18-21 contact hours" came from. I strongly suspect no one actually knows.

Not to change the topic, but how is it that SACS and other similar agencies have so much authority over schools when they're simply outside agencies with no direct contact with the schools? When preparing for a visit from SACS, our administrators effectively prevent certain faculty and staff members from having any contact with the visiting committee members. Gee...I wonder why?

Sorry to sound so negative on this issue, but that's the way it is here. I'm actively seeking employment elsewhere.


Cheers,
Joe

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