4.3 Duties of Teaching Faculty
4.3.1 System Policy
The greater duties of members of the Teaching Staff are described in Regents' Rules 31004.4.3.2 University Policy
All University faculty are expected to perform certain duties:
- To teach their classes conscientiously;
- To provide extra‑classroom advice and assistance to students;
- To remain current in their disciplines;
- To engage in the scholarly activities of study, investigation, discovery, and creativity as evidenced by presentations, publications, exhibitions, community engaged research, or performances appropriate to their disciplines and by other scholarly activities that contribute to the advancement of education in the discipline and the public good;
- To contribute to the achievement of departmental goals and to participate in departmental activities;
- To serve and contribute to the welfare of their Colleges or School and the University; and
- To engage students in high impact practices and holistic learning to best prepare them for academic, personal, professional and civic success and leadership.
4.3.3 Academic Workload Policy Requirement
4.3.3.1 System Policy
Pursuant to Texas Education Code Section 51.402, the University of Texas System has established an academic workload policy, described in Regents’ Rule 31006. The Rule also establishes the reporting requirements associated with faculty workload.
4.3.3.2 University Policy
Faculty play a fundamental role in advancing the University and in fostering student success at all levels. The curricula the faculty design, the programs they offer, the learning environment they create, the instructional methods they employ, the research they conduct, the creative works they produce, the service they provide, and their professional engagement with students inside and outside of the classroom, including mentoring and advising, are important components of the educational experience and should be reflected in the academic workload and in all faculty assessment processes and instruments.
4.3.3.2.1 All individuals who hold paid tenure-track or tenured faculty appointments shall be assigned responsibility as instructors of record for organized coursework in each academic year unless they are on leave. Exceptions to this requirement require the written approval of the relevant Chair or Program Director, the Dean, and the Provost, and must be documented in a format that facilitates regular review and reporting.
4.3.3.2.2 During a regular long semester of the 9-month academic year, a faculty member who is not expected to generate research or creative work, or perform significant service responsibilities, shall teach a load equivalent to 15 semester credit hours of organized undergraduate courses.
4.3.3.2.3 Most faculty members have substantial non-teaching responsibilities, and their teaching loads shall be adjusted to accommodate those responsibilities. Adjustments shall be made based on approved college or school policies and department or program standards. These policies and standards will reflect the varying missions, teaching methods, and student needs associated with different academic units and course levels. The policies and standards will be maintained and published by the Office of the Provost.
4.3.3.2.4 For a faculty member paid partially from a source of funds other than state appropriations, the teaching load shall be proportioned to the percentage of salary paid from state appropriations. Decisions regarding funding sources for faculty salaries should be made with reference to item 4.3.3.2.1, above.
4.3.3.2.5 The Office of the Provost shall monitor implementation of workload policies and standards, and work with institutional research staff to prepare, validate, and submit required reports regarding workload.
4.3.3.3 College or School Policy
4.3.3.3.1 Each college or school shall develop a policy describing how workload is distributed for all faculty appointment types used in the college or school. For each appointment type, the policy shall identify workload ranges for different responsibilities, such as research and creative activity, teaching, service, and professional development. The possible faculty appointment types currently used by the University are outlined in Section 4.1 of this policy.
4.3.3.3.2 College or school policies shall ensure that policies for faculty evaluation, including tenure, promotion, annual evaluation, and post-tenure reviews, are aligned with the policies for workload distribution and to the type of appointment.
4.3.3.3.3 College or school policies shall be sufficiently flexible to permit department chairs and program directors to assign differential teaching loads that will meet department or program needs while enabling faculty members to pursue institutional, college, departmental, and individual professional opportunities and goals in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.
4.3.3.3.4 Prior to adoption, college or school policies on academic workload shall be approved by the Provost.
4.3.3.3.5 Until a college or school provides approved changes in faculty workload policy to the Office of the Provost for publication, the workload policy most recently in effect shall apply to that college or school.
4.3.3.4 Department or Program Standards
4.3.3.4.1 Faculty workload is assigned by department chairs, or program directors in the case of academic programs with faculty reporting lines, under the supervision of the relevant academic dean. Chairs and program directors shall engage departmental faculty to foster student success and advance the department or program mission.
4.3.3.4.2 Each academic department and each academic program with faculty reporting lines shall propose standards by which academic workload is assigned. Standards may be variable according to need, discipline standards, accreditation requirements, sector level (lower, upper, masters, doctoral), delivery mode (team, face-to-face, hybrid, online), service demands, research productivity, faculty appointment type, or other factors including faculty and course development strategies.
4.3.3.4.3 Department or program standards must ensure that the instructional needs of students are met efficiently within the unit’s allocated instructional budget.
4.3.3.4.4 New workload standards or changes to existing workload standards shall be proposed by a committee elected by department or program faculty and led by the Chair or Program Director.
4.3.3.4.5 Department or program faculty shall vote on the adoption of new workload standards or changes in existing standards. The standards must be approved by the Chair or Program Director, a college- or school-level committee representative of the appointment types of faculty employed by the college or school, and the Dean of the college or school, before implementation.
4.3.3.4.6 Departments or programs within a college or school may adopt a uniform set of standards applicable to the entire college or school. In such a case, the uniform standards must be approved by majority vote of all departments and programs in the college or school, by all chairs and program directors in the college or school, and by the Dean of the college or school before implementation.
4.3.3.4.7 Until a department or program provides approved changes in faculty workload standards to the Office of the Provost for publication through the relevant college Dean, the workload policy and standards most recently in effect shall apply to that department or program.
4.3.3.4.8 In rare cases, exceptions to departmental or program faculty workload standards may be granted to individual faculty members. Such exceptions require written justification and must be approved by the Department Chair or Program Director, as well as the Dean of the college or school. Documentation of approved exceptions will be maintained by the Office of the Provost in a format that facilitates regular review and reporting.