UNF Faculty Association

Faculty Association	January 18, 2002

Written Response to Question

Responses to Questions about Engineering Faculty and Overloads
Neal S. Coulter
Dean, College of Computing Sciences and Engineering
January 18, 2002

Questions:

1. Should some engineering faculty (not in release time) be paid overload when their teaching assignments are often less than the average UNF faculty?
2. How many engineering faculty were paid overloads in the past? What were their teaching loads? And what were the rates at which they were paid?

Responses:
Question 1: This is a hypothetical question. Certainly there could be cases where overloads are justified in exceptional conditions, but such cases must be evaluated based on their specific merits.

Question 2: For at least the past four years, UNF engineering faculty members have never taught an overload course on a planned basis (i.e., scheduled before the term started). In the past year, some faculty members have assumed courses for extra pay after a term started because of faculty departures or illnesses. These were emergency situations when students were put at risk because courses were already in progress and with sufficient enrollments to continue. In each case, the affected faculty members were paid $5,000 to assume an extra course with no time for preparation. In each case, College administrators asked the faculty members to assume the extra courses so the students would not be adversely affected.

Specifically, these cases occurred in the 2001 spring term (three courses were assigned to faculty after a faculty member was reassigned during the term and subsequently went on medical leave for the remainder of that term) and in the 2002 spring term when a faculty member resigned from UNF during the first week of class. All extra courses were for 3 credits, and all were lecture courses.

For the spring 2001 case, the initial and final assigned instructional loads for the three faculty members were:

•	Faculty member A: EEL 4514, 3 credits; EEL 4514L, 1 credit; EEL 4750, 3 credits; EEL 4915, 3 credits. EEL 4514, EEL 4750, and EEL 4915 each meet 3 hours per week, while EEL 4514L is a laboratory that meets 3 hours per week. In addition, the faculty member was assigned one credit of Individual Study (EEL4905) and one credit of Special Topics (EEL 4931). Hence, his scheduled contact load was twelve hours per week before the added course, and fifteen hours per week after the added course.
•	Faculty member B: EEL 4610, 3 credits; EEL 4657, 3 credits. In addition, he was released from one course to head the preparation of an ABET review. The associated documentation was prepared during the spring 2001 term (and part of the following summer term); the review visit occurred in October 2001. Hence, he taught six hours each week before the added course, and nine hours each week after the added course--in addition to the assigned ABET duties.
•	Faculty member C: EEL 4314L, 2 credits; EEL 4744C, 4 credits; EEL 4914, 1 credit. EEL 4314L meets 6 laboratory hours per week, so the normal contact hours per week was eleven. In addition, the faculty member was assigned one credit of Independent Study. Hence, his scheduled contact load was eleven hours per week before the added course, and fourteen hours per week after the added course.

For the spring 2002 case, the initial assignment for the faculty member was EEL 3003 (3 credits), EEL 4657 (3 credits), and EEL 4657L (1 credit, 3 contact hours). This yields a total of nine classroom/laboratory hours per week before the added course, and twelve hours per week after the added course