8-03.1 Procedure - Faculty Workload

SBTCE 8-2-103.1: “Each semester shall normally consist of 16 weeks for instruction. The desirable teaching load shall be 15 to 18 semester credit hours or 20 to 24 instructor classroom/lab contact hours.”

  1. Terms of employment

    1. Full-time teaching faculty are employed for a minimum of 40 hours per workweek. Teaching faculty are employed for 39 weeks (nine months) encompassing the Fall and Spring Semesters. The summer semester stands alone and is not a guaranteed employment period. Academic deans, assistant deans, department heads, and academic program directors are expected to work during the summer semester.  Non-teaching days and non-workdays are identified in the GTC academic calendar.
    2. Teaching faculty are exempt employees meaning they are expected to work with their direct supervisor to accomplish the expectations of their job. Their work schedule is flexible with coordination and approval from the academic dean through their direct supervisor.
    3. Faculty are required to be on campus to teach the face-to-face component of any course and to fulfill other direct and indirect instructional activities defined in paragraph 3e (1) if applicable.  Additional time may be required at the discretion of the school dean.
    4. Faculty must maintain availability to conduct college business and student services Monday through Friday.
    5. Academic Calendar Non-work days: Faculty may request to work during the non-teaching workdays indicated in the college academic calendar, such as spring break week. This option may be considered at the discretion of the school dean:
      • If there are no additional costs to the college, and
      • Classes are not canceled
      • If approved, alternate time off must be used within a 12-month period from the regularly scheduled non-teaching workdays.

  2. Teaching assignments


    1. Full-time faculty may be assigned credit or non-credit courses to fulfill their teaching loads. Their teaching schedule may consist of day, evening, weekend, blended, and/or online classes. Assigned classes may be taught at any of GTC’s campuses as well as off-campus locations such as career centers, local high schools, and/or business and industry sites.
    2. When instructors are assigned to teach courses on two or more campuses during a single workday, travel compensation will be provided according to GTC travel procedures. Adjustments in other on-campus activities may be considered.

  3. Teaching loads, schedules and related duties

    1. Required weekly teaching loads are determined by the dean for each department prior to the beginning of the semester. The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) may adjust the minimum teaching loads for specific semesters when warranted. The credit or contact hours described in this paragraph are teaching hours only and do not include other Direct Instructional Activities as defined in paragraph 3e (1). Course lecture/lab ratios and credit hours are defined by the GTC catalog description. If a faculty workload includes a combination of credit and contact hours, the entire load should be determined using contact hours.
    2. The faculty teaching loads for each fall and spring semesters are 15-16 semester credit hours or 18-20 contact hours for lecture/lab courses. The academic dean determines the required load each semester for all departments within their school. The summer semester stands alone and is not a guaranteed employment period. The equivalent full-time faculty load for the summer semester is 12 semester credit hours or 18-20 contact hours for lecture/lab courses.
    3. Faculty loads cannot be distributed between semesters.
    4. Full-time teaching faculty are required to post and maintain a minimum of 10 office hours per week to advise students and to assist students with their course work. A minimum of five (5) office hours must be on-campus hours. The remaining five (5) office hours may be virtual. Office hours should be scheduled around the instructional hours to accommodate students attending classes and may include availability outside of traditional business hours. Occasionally, other duties may conflict with the scheduled office hours and faculty are expected to adjust office hours as needed to meet other commitments. Office hours must be posted in the college’s advising software (i.e., Inspire.)
    5. Work 10 hours of non-assigned work which includes indirect instructional activities as described in IIIg.
    6. Semester schedules must be approved by the school dean and posted on the faculty’s Outlook calendar.
    7. An instructor’s duties include direct and indirect instructional activities.
      • Direct Instructional Activities include course instructional time, office hours, and other related assignments at the discretion of the academic dean.
      • Indirect Instructional Activities are not directly connected to teaching and may be on or off-campus and must be approved through the academic dean. These may include, but are not limited to, curriculum development/revision, committee assignments, special events, advising and registration, recruiting, professional development, industry/community contacts, technology training, accreditation activities, maintenance of instructional equipment, administrative duties and other activities as assigned. These duties do not typically qualify for release time.
    8. GTC considers the minimum class size to be 15 students. Classes may be conducted with less than 15 students at the discretion of the academic dean with justification on file.
    9. Full-time faculty who mentor students in the Creative Inquiry program must teach the course as an overload, approved by the department head and academic dean. The faculty member will receive compensation according to the number of students enrolled: $500 for one to three students, $750 for four to five students, or full course compensation for six or more students in a section.
    10. Cooperative Work Experience (CWE) cannot be used to meet required load and must be approved by the department head and academic dean. The faculty member will receive compensation of $150 per student to a maximum of five students.
    11. Staff teaching under a dual agreement will be paid the adjunct rate.
    12. Reduced teaching loads during the summer semester:
      • Faculty teaching 75% of a load based on credit or contact hours will be:
        • paid 75% of their full-time salary.
        • Required to post 7.5 office hours. Half of these hours are required to be on campus.
        • Required to work 7.5 hours of non-assigned work to complete indirect instructional activities.
      • Faculty teaching 50% of a load based on credit or contact hours will be:
        • Paid 50% of their full-time salary.
        • Required to post 5 office hours. Half of these hours are required to be on campus.
        • Required to work 5 hours of non-assigned work to complete indirect instructional activities.

  4. Overload

    1. All overload decisions must be documented and approved by the academic dean and CAO.
    2. An overload will occur when an instructor exceeds the top end of the GTC range of required number of credit or contact hours. Refer to chart below.
    3. Overloads may be required by an academic dean as needed in the absence of available instructors. Consideration of other duties and locations will be considered when making class schedule assignments. Overloads may require additional instructional hours on campus.
    4. An individual faculty member may not assign him or herself an overload. CAO signature and approval are required.
    5. Teaching faculty with a reduced teaching load, such as release time to perform other duties (i.e., administrative duties), normally are not eligible for teaching overload compensation; however, extenuating circumstances may warrant overload compensation. Such extenuating circumstances are determined on a case-by-case basis by the academic dean and CAO.
    6. Compensation will be paid for overloads as follows:
      • For full-time exempt faculty, overload is an hourly rate computed based on the 9-month annualized salary divided by 2,080 and paid for contact hours or credit hours taught over the maximum loads described above. The hourly pay rate will be based on either the hourly salary of the faculty member or the adjunct rate, whichever is higher.
      • Overloads must be paid in the same semester earned. A faculty member's overload and/or secondary employment may not exceed 30 percent of the annualized salary during a fiscal year (SBTCE Procedure 8-2-100.1) if the secondary employment is with another state agency.
      • Overload payment will be based on the following:
      Faculty Overloads
      Method of Faculty Loading Start of Overload
      Fall & Spring Semesters      		 Start of Overload
      Summer Semester      		 Hours Paid
      Credit hours > 15 – 16 credit hours > 12 credit hours Total contact hours of the course + 3 hours for final exam
      Contact hours > 18-20 contact hours > 18-20 contact hours Total contact hours of the course + 3 hours for final exam

  5. Release Time

    1. Teaching faculty may be released from some or all of the normal teaching load to perform instructional-related administrative assignments that are not normally associated with the primary job assignment. Specific deliverables must be identified and recorded in the FPMS as an optional objective.
    2. When full-time faculty release time is requested, all supervisors in the individual’s chain of command must review and recommend approval. All release time must be approved by the CAO with specific deliverables as approved.
    3. All release time ends each semester and requires the full review and approval process, including sign-off by the CAO, to be extended.

  6. Administrative Supplements

    1. Faculty pay supplements are designed to compensate pay for permanent or temporary duties associated with supervisory and or management responsibilities. Supplements may also be used to compensate for special projects. Such supplements will end when deliverables are met. Supplemental pay agreements are completed annually or as needed and approved by the CAO.

  7. Non-Teaching Faculty Workdays

    Non-teaching faculty workdays are those days specified on the academic calendar that provide time for faculty collaboration, course prep, student advising, assessment, committee meetings, and professional development. On-campus requirements will be as follows:
    1. Full week of non-teaching faculty workdays:
      • Faculty are required to be on campus for 25 hours/week distributed as necessary across the week. This includes faculty that typically teach fully online courses. All remaining hours of the 40-hour work week requirement may be completed remotely.
    2. Single days of non-teaching faculty workdays:
      • Faculty are required to be on campus for an average of 5 hours/day. For example, if there are three (3) consecutive non-teaching faculty workdays, the faculty member must be on campus for 15 hours total. The hours may be distributed as necessary across the three days. It does not require 5 hours on campus for each of the 3 days. It could be 8 hours one day and 7 hours another day.  If it is a single non-teaching faculty workday, the faculty member is expected to be on campus for a minimum of 5 hours.