teaching load survey results

[Ken Cameron]

Dear Plant Educators,

It looks as though we are beginning to launch into a discussion of teaching
loads again.  Most of you will recall that last summer I asked for responses
to a survey regarding workloads.  

On July 1, 1997 an electronic questionnaire was sent out to the entire
Plant-Educators computer newsgroup, the entire Biology-Educators computer
newsgroup, and individually to at least one science professor (usually a
biologist) at more than half of the 40 institutions ranked by USNews (1997)
within Tier III of National Liberal Arts Colleges -- the same as my institution.
	
The questionnaire asked "How many courses does each of your biology
(science) faculty teach in a given semester/year or more specifically, how
many classroom "contact hours" do you put in for teaching per semester?
What are your research responsibilities?"
	
Sixty-six replies were received from individuals representing a spectrum of
academic institutions.  These included 6 institutions ranked within Tier I
of National Liberal Arts Colleges, 5 within Tier II, 19 within Tier III, and
2 within Tier IV.  Summaries of all responses received are presented below.
In addition, the results of a similar survey conducted a few years ago by
Lewis and Clark College is presented for comparison -- see Tier III.

Although there is considerable variation among institutions in assigning
workloads, the majority appear to teach a semester's load of 12 contact
hours or less, in which instructional time in the laboratory is equivalent
to instructional time in the lecture hall.  

I must apologize in advance if I have misinterpreted responses, assigned an
institution to the wrong Tier, or offended anyone by specifically listing
names of institutions.  I have included no names of individuals, but felt
that the results were stronger if the colleges/universities were indicated.  

An enormous thank you to everyone who responded and offered advice on
correcting my obvious inequity.  Our college newspaper just did a story
based on these results (as you can imagine, I am not the most popular person
with the humaities faculty these days).  I hope these results are of value
to others as they have been to me -- Enjoy!!


NATIONAL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES -- FIRST TIER

Bucknell College, PA
Science Faculty: 10 contact hours per week.  Usually in the form of 1
lecture + lab course, 1 lecture only course, and undergrad. research each
semester.
Non-science Faculty: 9 contact hours (Three 3-hour courses) each term.
Research: Moderate expectations.

Davidson College, NC
Science Faculty: 5 "courses" per year (labs are courses).  Approximately
10-12 contact hours per week.
Non-science Faculty: 5 courses per year.  Approximately 7.5 contact hours.
Research: Independent study encouraged.

Grinnell College, IA
Science Faculty: 5 "courses" per year (labs, even multiple sections, are
counted as .5 course).   This is about 9 contact hours/semester.
Non-science Faculty: 5 "courses" per year.
Research: Expected especially during the summer months.
Comments: Yearly science loads range between 4.5 and 5.5 "courses"/year.
This system was put in place a few years ago.

Kenyon College, OH
Science Faculty: 3 "courses" (labs are courses) per semester equaling 9
contact hours.  Honors research courses and Research Strategies count as 1
faculty course credit.
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester.
Research: Students are involved in independent research.

Oberlin College, OH
Science Faculty: 9-11 contact hours per week, usually in the form of 3
lecture hours, 6 lab hours, and 2 seminar hours.
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Expected for tenure, promotion, salary increases. etc.

Swarthmore College, PA
Science Faculty: 5 "courses" per year (labs are "courses").  Approximately 9
contact hours per week.
Non-science Faculty: 5 courses per year.
Research: Strongly encouraged.
Comments: A typical science load would be 1 lecture and 2 laboratory
sections during a semester.


NATIONAL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES -- SECOND TIER

College of Wooster, OH
Science Faculty:  Officially 6 courses/year (labs count as 2/3 course), but
10 independent studies earn 1 course credit (3 semesters of IS are required
of all students) and Intro. Bio is taught as a team.  In reality, they teach
1 upper level lecture+lab course, about 25% of the Intro. Bio lectures, and
oversee 10 or more independent studies each semester.
Non-science Faculty: Same 
Research: "Not too oppressive"

DePauw University, IN
Science Faculty: No more than 12 contact hours per week, ex., 2 lecture+lab
courses during a semester.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: ?

Hampden-Sydney College, VA
Science Faculty: Four 3-credit hour courses per semester, or a combination
of lecture and lab courses totaling roughly 12 contact hours per semester.
Non-science Faculty: 12 contact hours.
Research: Junior faculty are expected to maintain active research with
undergrads.  
Comments: A typical biologist's load would be Intro. Biology lecture and
lab, and an upper level course with a lab each semester.

Rhodes College, TN
Science Faculty: 6 or 7 "involvements" per  year.  A lab section is an
involvement, so is a senior seminar, etc. adding to between 9-12 contact
hours per week.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: Expected to publish once in a while for merit raises.  Undergrad.
research is encouraged.

Wheaton College, MA
Science Faculty: 9 contact hours per semester, typically involving 1 lecture
+ lab course and a non-lab course or additional lab section of Intro. Bio.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: Expected especially a program that involves undergrads.


NATIONAL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES -- THIRD TIER

Albion College, MI
Science Faculty: Equivalent of 2 lecture sections and 2 lab sections per
semester equaling 3 unit credits.  They receive 1 unit credit for each
lecture section and .5 unit credit for each lab.  This is about 12 contact
hours.
Non-science Faculty: 3 units per semester.
Research: Expected although not required to bring in big grants.

Austin College, TX
Science Faculty: 4 "contacts" per semester (typically 2 lectures and 2 labs
totaling 12 contact hours).
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses (= 9 contact hours).
Research: ?

Coe College, IA
Science Faculty: 5 courses per year on a trimester system (2-1-2) most with
a lab.  Never more than 12 contact hours/semester.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: Encouraged

Goucher College, MD
Science Faculty: 9 contact hours per semester.  Three hour labs count three
hours in the teaching load.  Three 50 minute lectures count as 3 full
contact hours.
Non-science Faculty: 9 contact hours except in Intro. Foreign Lang. where
the faculty may teach courses meeting 4 times a week adding to 12 contact hours.
Research: Minimal (1 - several publications/ 6 years) for tenure and
promotion, but there is now more emphasis on scholarship and on
collaborative faculty/student publication.

Guilford College, NC
Science Faculty: 3 lecture+lab courses per semester (lab hours are given 0
credit) so that a typical load is three 2.5-hour lecture courses and three
3-hour lab courses (= 16.5 real contact hours which might be counted as 18
under some systems).  This can be less when non-lab courses are offered, or
more when an extra lab section is opened, a senior seminar is offered, or a
lecture meets more than 3 times per week, e.g., in Physics.
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester, usually in the form of three
2.5-hour lectures (= 7.5 real contact hours which might be counted as 9
under some systems).
Research: Scholarly activity is expected for tenure and promotion.

Hampshire College, MA
Science Faculty: 9-11 contact hours per semester, usually involving 2
lectures and one lab per semester (sometimes only one lab per year).
Non-science Faculty: 
Research: All senior students do thesis research that faculty oversee.
Comments: Hampshire's system of intense independent student work makes
faculty workload issues difficult to compare with other institutions.

Hendrix College, AR
Science Faculty: 5 courses per year on a trimester system (some combination
of 2-2-1).  At least one of the courses, often both, will have a lab
section.  In other words no more than 12 contact hours per semester.
Non-science Faculty: 7 courses per year (3-3-2)
Research: Publication is not required for tenure.

Hiram College, OH
Science Faculty: 6 "courses"/year with labs equaling .5 or .25 course
credits depending on the level of assistance by part-time employees (note
that they have two 12-week terms and an intensive 3-week term).  During the
long terms, scientists normally teach 2 lecture+lab courses (12 contact
hours).  During the short term, they teach 1 course (with or without lab).
Non-science Faculty: 6 courses/year as above.
Research: ?
Comments: Biology has three MS level instructors who have responsibility for
the lab sections for 4 courses/year, so lab time can vary for the full time
faculty.  In fact, depending on the amount of assistance, contact hours
during the long terms can vary from 6-12 contact hours. It seems a bit
complicated.

Hope College, MI
Science Faculty: Standard load is 12 contact hours per week, but see
comments below.  Lecture and lab hours are counted the same.  How these
hours are divided varies between faculty members.  Sometimes it is one
3-hour lecture and three 3-hour labs.  Sometimes it is two lectures and two
labs.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: Independent study is a big part of the program
Comments: Since no teaching credit is given for supervision of research, "we
try to actually have each person do one 12 hour semester and one 9 hour
semester in recognition that supervising research is teaching.  In addition,
people with external grants and first year faculty are expected to teach 9
hours per semester.  We do not have the grants pay academic year salaries
though."

Millsaps College, MS
Science Faculty: Frequently 3.5 courses per semester (3 lecture+lab courses
and often part of a senior seminar section).  This is at least 18 contact hours.
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester
Research: More and more emphasis in recent years

Muhlberg College, PA
Science Faculty: Typically 2 lecture+lab courses/semester (= 11-12 contact
hours).  Labs receive 2/3 teaching credit so that actually they are teaching
3.33 courses (the college requirement is 3 courses).
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester (= ca. 9 contact hours),
although math and foreign lang. often add up to 12 contact hours.
Research: Independent student research is encouraged.

Presbyterian College, SC
Science Faculty: 15 contact hours involving two 3-hour lecture courses and
three 3-hour labs or sometimes three 3-hour lectures and two 3-hour labs.
Non-science Faculty: Four 3-hour courses per semester (= 12 contact hours).
Research: Not required.
Comments: One person preps the freshmen labs and she gets 3 hours release
time for this.  Overseeing honors research earns them an added $500.
Anything over the normal contact hours is a paid overload.

Randolph-Macon College, VA
Science Faculty: Eight 3-hour courses per year but these are contact hours,
not credit hours.  Thus, a lab is a course.  They have a short January term,
such that normally they teach two lecture+lab courses during each of the two
long terms (12 contact hours) and one non-lab course during the Jan. term.
Non-science Faculty: Seven 3-hour courses per year (with January term this
is a 3-1-3 course load)
Research: ?

Transylvania University, KY
Science Faculty: 2 lecture+lab courses during each Fall and Spring term (12
contact hours).  During their 4-week May term, they teach 1 course (with or
without lab).
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Not required

Ursinus College, PA
Science Faculty: 12 contact hours usually in the form of 2 lecture+lab
courses per semester (sometimes 1 lecture with 3 labs during a semester).
Non-science Faculty: 12 credit hours per semester (usually three 4-credit
courses)
Research: ?

Washington College, MD
Science Faculty: 12 contact hours, involving 2 lecture courses and two labs
per semester.
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester.
Research: Expected to publish occasionally (once every 2-3 years).
Undergraduate research strongly encouraged.

Wells College, NY
Science Faculty: Two lecture+lab courses per semester (12 contact hours).
Non-science Faculty: Three 3-credit courses per semester (9 contact hours)
Research: All science majors do 3-4 semesters of independent research.
Faculty oversee this.

Whittenberg University, OH
Science Faculty: 2 lecture sections each semester usually with labs about 12
contact hours).  They receive .5 teaching credit for each hour in lab (some
labs are 3 hours, some are 4 hours).
Non-science Faculty: 
Research: Not a publish or perish situation, but encouraged

Lewis and Clark College, OR
Comments: Specific information is not available for this institution, but
the results of a survey completed 2 years ago that was initiated by Lewis
and Clark College (and that includes their statistics) is summarized below:
Target group? -- Biology departments at Carnegie II liberal arts colleges
with endowments similar to L&C's ($50M - $150M in 1996).  Including L&C the
sample size was 12.
Total undergrad. enrolment? -- Mean 1,800 (range 950 - 3,200)
Total FTE Bio Faculty? -- Mean 9.3 (range 5.7 - 16)
Total Bio majors graduated/year? -- Mean 44 (range 25 - 55)
Total non-secretarial support staff? -- Mean 2.2 (range 0.5 - 4)
Formal college-wide teaching load? -- o3 "courses"/semester reported for 6
schools; o5 "courses"/year for 3 schools; o9 contact hours/semester for 1
school; o12 contact hours/semester for 2 schools
Lab credit? -- o1 hour teaching credit for 1 hour in lab reported for 4
schools; o0.5 teaching credits for 1 hour in lab for 4 schools
Teaching credit for student research? --  3 schools reported a cumulative
credit for supervising research
Who teaches Bio labs? -- 7 schools reported assistance from professional
support staff
College-wide science requirement? -- o7 schools reported a 2 courses
requirement in which at least one must have a lab; o3 reported a 3 course
requirement; o1 reported a 1 course with lab requirement
Are science faculty expected to teach in the general education program? --
o2 schools said no; o3 schools said it's encouraged but not required; o6
schools said it was required usually in the form of a 1st-year seminar
Is publication expected for tenure/promotion? -- o11 yes; o1 no



NATIONAL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES -- FOURTH TIER

University of Minnesota-Morris, MN
Science Faculty: 13-20 hours of class time per week with 16 being average.
This is a result of 1-5 lab sections for particularly large lecture courses.
They also offer required senior seminars and biological writing courses.  
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Required for tenure and promotion.

Westmont College, CA
Science Faculty: 24 units per year.  Lectures receive 4 unit credits, labs
receive 3 unit credits, extra repeat lab sections receive 2 unit credits.
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: Some publication expected for promotion to full professor.
Comments: Some support for lab prep.  "We have just negotiated a teaching
credit policy with our provost.  4-credit science courses have three 65
minute lectures and one 3-4 hour lab.  Non-science have just the three 65
minute lectures"


OTHER FOUR-YEAR LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

Adams State College, CO
Science Faculty:  12 credit hours, usually three 3-hr lectures plus three
3-hr labs.
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: ?

Albertson College of Idaho, ID
Science Faculty:  Usually 2 lecture+lab courses/semester, although often a
course has no lab, or sometimes there are multiple lab sections.
Non-science Faculty: Three 3-hour courses/semester
Research: ?

Augsburg College, MN
Science Faculty:  7 course credits per year on a 3 term system.  Faculty get
1 credit for a lecture course, .67 credit for a 4-hour lab, and .5 credit
for a 3-hour lab.  Normal loads are 1 lecture+lab course and a second
lecture course, or other combination as needed.  Contact hours are 10-14
during long semesters; variable during the January term.
Non-science Faculty: 7 course credits (presumably 3-1-3)
Research: Overseeing undergrad research
Comments: Biology has recently been given teaching credit for lab prep (.5
credit per course -- not per instructor) for each of 4 lab courses, they
divide this credit among the instructors of those courses (?).  They must
teach 2 of 3 January terms to pick up the required 7th credit. 

Barat College, IL
Science Faculty:  Usually 2 courses per semester each with a lab (8 credits,
but 12 contact hours).  Sometimes 1 lecture section with 3 accompanying lab
sections as in General Biology.
Non-science Faculty: 9 credit hours/semester (presumably 3 courses). 
Research: Broadly defined and required as part of professional development

Bellarmine College, KY
Science Faculty:  Respondent has 15 contact hours (5 hours a week of lecture
and 10 hours of lab)
Non-science Faculty: 9 contact hours or so.
Research: ?

Elon College, NC
Science Faculty:  24 credit hours per year in a three semester system.
Lecture+lab courses count 5 credits, all others are 4 credits.  Usually
works out as 2 lecture+lab courses during each of the two regular semesters
and 1 non-lab course during the short winter term or some combination thereof.
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: ?

Georgian Court College, NJ
Science Faculty:  12 contact hours per semester (lab hours are counted as
contact hours)
Non-science Faculty: Same, 12 contact hours.
Research: ?

Ithaca College, NY
Science Faculty:  Usually a single lecture+lab course per semester, but
often asked to pick up lab sections for the large Intro. Bio. course
(typically about 9 contact hours/semester in total)
Non-science Faculty: Unknown, but more than 1 course per semester
Research: Expected to oversee 3 hours of student research per week if possible.

Lebanon Valley College, PA
Science Faculty:  15 contact hours/semester (3 of lecture and 12 of lab or
some similar combination)
Non-science Faculty: 12 contact hours/semester (four 3-hour courses)
Research: ?

McKendree College, IL
Science Faculty:  24 credit hours per year (a three hour lecture = 3 credit
hours; a three hour lecture = 2 credit hours)
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: None required

Pembroke State University
Science Faculty:  12 credit hours per semester; a 3-hr lab counts as 1 hour.
Non-science Faculty: Same, presumably four 3-hr courses/semester
Research: ?

Philadelphia College, PA
Science Faculty:  12 hours/semester (3-hour labs receive 1.5-hours credit)
Non-science Faculty: Same, but typically in the form of four 3-hour lectures
Research: Expected

St. Michael's College, CA
Science Faculty:  15 teaching hours per year, where 1 hour of lecture earns
1 teaching hour, a 3-hour laboratory earns 2 teaching hours, and a 4-hour
lab earns 2.7 teaching hours.
Non-science Faculty: Same (most faculty teach five 3-hr lecture courses a year)
Research: ?

Texas Lutheran University, TX
Science Faculty:  12 teaching "hours" in which a lecture course receives 3
"hours" and a typical lab receives 1.5 teaching "hours".  They usually teach
3 lectures and 2 labs per semester (= 13.5 real contact hours)
Non-science Faculty: Four 3-hour courses/semester (= 10 real contact hours)
Research: Mostly not expected

Valdosta State University, GA
Science Faculty:  Officially 12 contact hours/week, actually closer to 15.
For example 1 lecture course with 2 lab sections and 1 lecture+lab course
during a semester.
Non-science Faculty: 12 contact hours/week
Research: Strongly encouraged
Comments: The 1993 upgrade from college to university means that research
will now be expected for merit raises, tenure, promotion, etc.  There is a
release time system in place depending on the grant money you can obtain.

Wilkes University, PA
Science Faculty:  12 formula hours/semester.  Each hour in lecture receives
1.0 formula hours; each lab hour receives 0.75 formula hours; hourly credit
is also given for overseeing senior projects.
Non-science Faculty: Same (presumably four 3-hour courses/semester)
Research: The respondent is involved as are students.  Probably not required.


OTHER INSTITUTIONS

Appalachian State University, NC
Science Faculty:  9-12 contact hours/semester (lab hours = lecture hours)
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Described as not very burdensome

California State University -- Sacramento, CA
Science Faculty:  12 weighted teaching units (WTU) per semester, where three
lectures per week = 3 WTUs.  Three lab hours per week = 2 WTUs.
Non-science Faculty: Same (i.e., 4 lecture courses/semester)
Research: ?

Clark Atlanta University, GA
Science Faculty:  9 contact hours/semester (e.g., 2 lectures and 1 lab)
Non-science Faculty: 12 contact hours/semester (usually four 3-credit courses)
Research: ?

Eastern Connecticut State University, CT
Science Faculty:  12 load credits per semester where 3 lectures earns 3
credits, but each 3 hour lab earns only 2.25 credits (i.e., 0.75 per contact
hour)
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: ?
Comments: Their union recently negotiated a system of "supplementary lab
load credits" that are awarded to each department where they are disbursed
to those faculty teaching most labs.  In effect this increases the value of
lab credits from 0.75 to 0.88 per contact hour.  Also, any undergraduate TAs
for lab courses earn the faculty member 0.25 load credits.  All of this
combined means that they are nearly at a 1 credit to 1 contact hour system. 

Eastern Michigan University, MI
Science Faculty:  12 contract hours per week (1 lab hour = 1 lecture hour).
Some courses use graduate students to teach the labs.
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Presumably?

Hudson Valley Community College, NY
Science Faculty:  16 contact hours/semester
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: None required

University of Delaware, DE
Science Faculty:  Respondent reported 10 contact hours per week on a 75%
teaching responsibility.  Amount of research dictates teaching load. 
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses per semester
Research: Small activity and no grants by the respondent

University of Kentucky - Louiseville, KY
Science Faculty:  2 lecture+lab courses per semester
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Required

Michigan Technological University, MI
Science Faculty:  4 courses per year with T.A. help in labs (over 3 quarters)
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Expected to obtain grants, research, and publish

University of New Orleans, LA
Science Faculty:  1 lecture and 1 lab section/semester is a half load
according to the respondent.
Non-science Faculty: ?
Research: Required

University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, WI
Science Faculty:  12 contact hours/semester (lab hours = lecture hours)
Non-science Faculty: 3 courses/semester (equaling 9-12 contact hours)
Research: ?

University of Wisconsin -- Fox Valley, WI
Science Faculty:  15 workload hours per semester, but every 50 minutes of
instruction = 1 full workload hour so that a 60 minute lecture counts 1.2
workload hours, and a 3-hr lab section actually earns 3.6 workload hours.
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: ?

University of the Virgin Islands, VI
Science Faculty:  12-14 load hours per semester calculated as follows: three
50-minute lectures = 3 load hours; 3-hour labs = 2 load hours; large student
weekly seminars = 2 load hour; small student weekly seminars = 1 load hour;
16 student research contact hours = 1 load hour
Non-science Faculty: Same?
Research: Expected?

Vanderbilt University, TN
Science Faculty:  Faculty with research funding teach one 3-hr course per
semester (supervising a graduate student TA for lab).  Faculty without
funding teach 3 or 4 courses per  year.
Non-science Faculty: Unsure, but respondent believes it to be about 2
courses per semester.
Research: Required

Wake Forest University, NC
Science Faculty:  Typically 1 lecture course (lab taught by a TA) and 1
lecture+lab course/year
Non-science Faculty: Three 2.5-hour/week courses, sometimes only 2
Research: Expected

Washtenaw Community College, MI
Science Faculty:  15 contact hours/week.  Beyond that is overtime.  Lab
hours are equal to lecture hours.
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: None, presumably

Wingate University, NC
Science Faculty:  12 contact hours/semester (e.g., 1 lecture and 3 labs)
Non-science Faculty: Same 
Research: Expected as a part of professional development.  No penalty for
not researching -- no merit pay either.
Comments: New policy allows pay for overloads, although each lab hour
overload only gets an extra half hour pay rate. 

Xavier University, OH
Science Faculty:  12 contact hours per semester (lab hours = lecture hours)
Non-science Faculty: Same
Research: Presumably expected
Comments: Some faculty are reassigned to 9 hours teaching if they have
research funding.  4 of the 14 Biology instructors teach labs only and they
have a full-time lab coordinator as well.







 
Kenneth M. Cameron, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Guilford College
5800 West Friendly Avenue
Greensboro, NC  27410

Tel: (910) 316-2296
Fax: (910) 316-2950

"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth?  
Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?"
		-- Henry David Thoreau, Walden