Academic Affairs Process and Procedures

Effective date: December 2014
Revised October 2016

Reassigned time is a reduction in the normal 18-credit yearly teaching load for academic-year faculty or the normal 24-credit yearly teaching load for 12-month faculty; the time that would be spent on teaching is reassigned to accomplish some other task. Reassigned time can be ongoing administrative work (e.g., reduction in teaching load for unit heads, university committee chairs, course coordinators, etc.), or it can be for a particular, limited purpose (e.g., reduction in teaching load for chairing a task force, working on a grant, etc.). Credits of reassigned time from teaching should equate to the effort associated with both in-class and outside class work for a similar credit class. For example, for three credits of reassigned time, the faculty should spend approximately 10 hours per week or 150 hours per semester. All reassigned time should be regularly reviewed, and we need to eliminate reassigned time when it is no longer necessary. To facilitate the more equitable handling of reassigned time, I will ask faculty with reassigned time to report annually on their achievements, and continued reassigned time should be dependent upon demonstrated quality and productivity. We remain committed to reducing faculty time spent on non-critical activities by providing administrative and support staff as resources permit.

PROCESS for authorizing all faculty who have time reassigned from teaching.

1. The dean or associate dean meets with the proposed recipient to clarify the following:
        a.  the number of credit hours of reassigned time;
        b.  that time is reassigned from the recipient's teaching load (not from the Significant Focus);
        c.  the specific task(s) that necessitates the reassigned time.
2. The appointment letter is signed and dated by the recipient and the dean. A copy is sent to the Provost's Office.
3. Each time there is a newly created reassigned time position or there is a new recipient to receive the reassigned time, the above process is repeated.
4. Reassigned time positions with the same tasks and the same recipients each semester can remain in place for three years. During that time the dean or associate dean simply reports that it is still active by initialing and forwarding a copy of the original letter to the Provost’s Office. However, to ensure that the reassigned time is still accomplishing its original purpose, every third year steps 1 - 3 above need to be completed.
5. Appointment letters for reassigned time positions with extra compensation must be generated each semester and sent to Human Resources for the recipient to receive the additional pay. 

By virtue of receiving copies of the letters generated in steps 1 – 4 above, and a list of still active reassigned time agreements, the Provost’s Office will generate an annual report on Reassigned Time and post on the Office of the Provost website.

Sample letter for faculty reassigned time with no extra compensation

Sample letter for faculty reassigned time plus extra compensation