The service year for Faculty is defined as the period from the first Faculty meeting before the opening of the fall semester through the Monday following commencement in the following spring semester. During the period of their contract, members of the Faculty must be on campus for a substantial part of each class day. When professional or personal affairs require that a Faculty member be away from campus for 1-5 class days, the department chair must be notified and must approve the absence. For longer absences the approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President must also be obtained. Normally, full time Faculty members in tenured or tenure-track positions teach five four-credit courses or their equivalent, and supervise a number of independent projects, or their equivalent, and participate in departmentally-sponsored academic programs such as senior seminars in each year. Full time Faculty members on term appointments normally teach six four-credit courses or their equivalent.
Officers of instruction contribute in many other ways to the education of their students, to the welfare of their department and programs, and to the general welfare of the College. Some of these are:
- Leading directed inquiries, conducting tutorials and independent study projects, and supervising honors projects.
- Keeping adequate office hours at times reasonably accessible to students.
- Advising students—both general academic advising and the advising of majors.
- Helping to maintain a vital curriculum by revision of existing courses and inauguration of new courses.
- Aiding students who seek admission to professional and graduate schools through advice and preparation of letters of reference.
- Carrying a fair share of the administrative work of departments, the Faculty, and the College.
- Attending all Faculty meetings and convocations.
- Maintaining and building library and other academic resources.
- Maintaining an active, involved professional life including scholarly work or artistic production.
A more detailed narrative description of the work of the Faculty comprises Section VII of this document.
Part-time officers of instruction are appointed for the teaching of a designated number of courses. Except for such contact with students outside of class time as needed for effective teaching, a part-time position does not carry the other obligations that are normal to full time positions. However, part-time Faculty who are extended Faculty membership assume these duties in proportion to the fraction of full time that they teach. (See Section II A.)
An officer of instruction shall not substitute nor appoint anyone to perform his or her College duties without the approval, in each case, of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
An officer of instruction, in accepting an appointment from the College, thereby agrees to conform to all regulations adopted by the Faculty, by the President, and by the Board of Trustees.