Faculty Responsibilities and Academic Policies

Faculty members are responsible for teaching, research, service to Iliff, service to the church and community, and service to the profession. Each faculty member is responsible for knowing the content of these regulations.

Normal Faculty Workload

The following definition of faculty workload seeks to integrate the various needs of the institution, the individual faculty member and the curricula of the School’s degree programs. Equity in overall responsibilities recognizes the specific abilities and assignments of each faculty member. The general guidelines presented here are intended to be sufficiently flexible to allow Faculty and the School to agree on efficient and effective assignments.

Academic Work Year

The academic work year for Faculty begins at the start of Faculty Retreat and ends on the day final grades are due in the spring quarter or the day of Commencement, whichever comes later.

1. In addition to meeting with their respective scheduled classes, faculty members are expected to be on campus to fulfill their faculty duties and responsibilities throughout this time period, except for the School’s vacation periods.
2. Faculty members are expected to meet with their respective scheduled classes. A faculty member should not be absent from classes for more than ten percent of the class sessions in a given quarter of the academic term. Any other special arrangements for absence from meeting with classes, will be made in consultation with the Dean.
3. Each faculty member’s contract-year for the purpose of establishing salary and benefits is from June 1 of each school year through May 31 of the following school year.

Normal Teaching Load

The typical teaching load for full-time faculty members in an academic work-year is 20 credit hours in a quarter system or its equivalent. The faculty load also includes institutional support activities, such as academic supervision, continuing education and other workshops, service on faculty committees and/or task forces, other special administrative assignments, student mentoring, etc. Occasionally, additional credit for institutional support responsibilities (e.g. two to four credit hours for chairing a major standing committee or a search committee of the Faculty) may be granted by the Dean in consultation with the Faculty Personnel Committee.

Teaching Credit Hours

The teaching credit hours for regular courses equals the student credit hours: a four quarter credit hour course equals four teaching credit hours.

1. Where diversity of field perspective is vital, the Dean may approve team-taught courses. Both faculty persons receive full-credit for teaching the course, provided that the faculty member is fully involved in the planning and implementation of the entire course including attendance in all class sessions.
2. Jointly-taught courses, normally, count only one-half toward teaching credit hours: e.g., participation in a four-quarter hour credit course will count for only two teaching credit hours. The jointly-taught course is one in which the faculty member is involved in the planning and implementation of the entire course, but attends and contributes substantially to only about fifty percent of the class sessions. Teaching credit for lesser amounts of involvement in a course is negotiable.
3. A reduction (normally up to four hours per year) of the regular teaching load in support of a well-documented research project may be granted by the Dean, in consultation with the Faculty Personnel Committee. Such a reduction may also be granted before or after a sabbatical leave, usually, however, with the understanding that this replaces the “research leave” for which application may be made between sabbatical leaves.
4. Through negotiations with the Dean, a faculty member may request a reduction of teaching load based on reasons such as service to the profession, or an extraordinary heavy load in advising master’s theses or doctoral dissertations. These alternative uses of a faculty member’s time should be consistent with the purposes of the School and the expertise of the particular faculty member. All such proposals are subject to the approval of the Dean in consultation with the Faculty Personnel Committee.

Course Enrollment

Course enrollment affects the workload for teaching. Course enrollment limits are set by the Dean in consultation with the Curriculum Committee, and are subject to periodic review as enrollment trends fluctuate every few years and as online teaching technologies change.

When course enrollment expands beyond the numbers set by the Dean and the Curriculum Committee, additional compensation, or teaching credit, or the support of a Teaching Assistant (as assigned by the Dean), may be granted at the discretion of the Dean, and as may be agreed to by the Dean and the faculty member involved.

Cancellation of Courses

Where student enrollment in a course is fewer than six, the course may be cancelled by the Dean. The Dean shall negotiate other ways for the faculty member to make a contribution to his or her professional field and/or to the School during the period when the course is cancelled. If a faculty member’s courses are repeatedly cancelled for lack of sufficient enrollment, the Dean will conduct an evaluation of the subject-matter, teaching style, course scheduling and format of the course, and the general relation of the faculty member to effective teaching and enrollment trends at the School.

Underload

If in a given year, a faculty member’s teaching credit load is below what is normally required (20 credit hours of teaching), the Dean will make provision for additional teaching responsibilities within the same academic work year, or in consultation with the faculty member will make provision for an alternative use of the faculty member’s time.

Overload

If the Dean requests in writing, and the faculty member agrees in writing to a teaching overload during the academic work year, the School will compensate the faculty member at a per-quarter- hour rate equivalent to the current adjunct faculty pay-rate.

Course Offerings

The curriculum is set by the ranked Faculty as whole. Course offerings are planned and decided upon by the Faculty involved in the respective curricular areas, and in consultation with the Dean’s Office.

1. The Dean will periodically request that faculty members meet with their area colleagues and the Faculty as a whole to discuss and recommend course offerings.
2. All course offerings should be in accord with the general requirements and purposes of the School’s degree programs and the needs of the student body. These will then be reported to the Dean and to the administrative staff responsible for scheduling the Dean’s Office.
3. Faculty members must seek approval from the Curriculum Committee for new courses or for substantive changes in current course content for existing courses by using the appropriate form. The Curriculum Committee should make periodic reports of its decisions about new courses and substantive course changes to the Faculty Council.
4. It is the responsibility of the Dean (or a person designated by the Dean) in consultation with faculty members, to assure that current course descriptions of regularly offered courses are accurate and available.
5. It is the responsibility of the Registrar to assure the accuracy of course numbers, titles, and course descriptions.
6. The Curriculum Committee will periodically review course offerings in accord with principles such as: whether a course has been taught within a three-year period, whether a course is in accord with degree requirements and learning goals, and report its findings and recommendations to the Faculty Council and the Dean’s Office. The Curriculum Committee shall make recommendations to the Faculty Council and the Dean’s Office about: deletion of courses, course enrollment limits for residential, online, and hybrid classes, changes in course titles and descriptions, requests for new courses, etc.

Syllabi

Prior to the beginning of each quarter, each faculty member will have prepared a syllabus for each course to be taught in that quarter. Syllabi should minimally include the following: a description of the course including academic catalog copy, degree and course learning goals, grading criteria, and a schedule of readings and other assignments. Syllabi should include reference to Iliff’s policies regarding ADA accommodations, Incomplete Grade requests, and the violation of academic integrity by plagiarism. Any policies included on the syllabus must be consistent with the Student Handbook. Fully developed and completed syllabi should be present in the School’s course management system by the deadlines for each academic term set by the Dean’s Office, and in accordance with federal policies.

Academic Schedules

Faculty are responsible for submitting the courses they plan to offer in the following academic year by the deadline set in the Dean’s Office. The schedule of course offerings for the academic year will be prepared by the Dean’s Office for review by the Faculty Council no later than the middle of the Spring Quarter prior to the academic year represented by the respective course schedules. The Dean is responsible for adjudicating the final course schedule based on maintaining a balance of course offerings each quarter, regulating faculty deployment, and assuring that course requirements for each degree program and for denominational ordination requirements are being met.

Deciding Course Content

Faculty members are responsible for planning and presenting the content of courses and respective teaching materials, which includes:

1. Establishing course objectives and requirements for each course, and making these known to the students.
2. Submitting book request lists to the Library, identifying required course texts and publishing them in the course management system in accordance with federal guidelines and policies, and preparing other appropriate electronic and published resources.
3. Preparing, administering, and grading papers and examinations within a timely framework during each academic term and at the conclusion of each term.

Meeting Classes

Faculty members are expected to meet their classes punctually and to conduct their classes at a level appropriate for graduate theological education.

For valid reasons only (e.g. illness, death in the family, or other circumstances discussed with and approved by the Dean), faculty members may need to miss class sessions. In such cases, they should make arrangements for appropriate substitute instruction in consultation with other Faculty or with the Dean. If a class must be cancelled, the faculty member should provide notice to the students in the class directly or through the Dean’s Office.

Evaluating Student Work and Submitting Grades

Faculty are expected to provide significant evaluations of student work within a reasonable period of time. Such evaluation should include a substantive critique of papers, class presentations and assignments, exams, etc., in addition to the assignment of grades. Normally student work should be evaluated and returned within two weeks after it is submitted. Final course grades must be submitted by the deadlines announced each academic term by the Registrar. Failure to do so impacts disbursement of financial aid to students, and thus could be cause for monetary fines or other disciplinary action against the faculty member by the Dean.

Supporting Academic Integrity

Failure to use quotation marks to set off quoted material, or failure to cite resources on which major discussion on papers or examinations has been based, constitutes plagiarism which is discussed more fully in the appropriate sections of the Student Handbook. Faculty must report plagiarism cases to the Dean. Students found guilty of plagiarism may have the course grade reduced, may be given a grade of “F” for the course, and may be dismissed from the School. A second offense by the same student will normally result in dismissal from the Iliff School of Theology.

Course Evaluations

Course evaluations are solicited for all courses taught by each faculty member each school year. The evaluation instrument used should incorporate the course evaluation form approved by the Curriculum Committee. Processes for evaluation of courses are created by the Curriculum Committee and administered by the School’s I. T. Department. Student anonymity will be protected in the entire course evaluation process.

Offering Independent Study Courses

Ranked, full-time Faculty members may offer independent study courses in their respective academic disciplines at their discretion. The work shall involve both one-on-one instruction with the faculty member and student work comparable to other residential and distance teaching programs. Individualized instruction should be limited to meeting unique educational and student needs and, in all cases, ensure regular and substantive interaction between the student and the faculty member. Faculty members are strongly advised to evaluate all independent studies on the basis of Pass (P) or Fail (F) grades. Degree requirements are not normally offered as independent studies. Policies and procedures governing independent studies are established by the Curriculum Committee, printed in the Student Handbook and administered by the Dean.

Master’s Theses

Part of the normal workload of ranked, full-time Faculty members is to serve as Readers of master’s theses. In consultation with the Dean and/or the Director of the degree program, faculty members serve as Readers of master’s theses. The thesis topic should be appropriate to the faculty member’s area of expertise.

Meeting Deadlines

Each faculty member is responsible for meeting the appropriate deadlines established by the Dean’s Office, the Registrar, the Library, the President’s Office, and the Business Office.

Additional Teaching or Employment

Full-time Faculty members may occasionally engage in additional teaching or employment outside of the Iliff School of Theology as long as they meet of their responsibilities at the School.

Additional employment should usually relate to the Faculty member’s expertise and goals. It should not average more than one day per week, and in no case may interfere with his/her responsibilities as a faculty member of the Iliff School of Theology. Except with the approval of the Dean, it should not involve expense to the School. Examples of appropriate additional employment include:

1. Teaching a course at another academic institution.
2. Teaching continuing education workshops or seminars not sponsored by the School.
3. Consulting services or counseling services.
4. Teaching a course at the School as an overload.
5. Serving a church in a part-time capacity.

Summer Term Teaching

1. A full-time faculty member may not teach more than four-credit-hours for compensation, as determined by the current pay-rate being paid to faculty for the Summer Quarter, without the permission of the Dean.
2. Guidelines for applying summer term teaching to normal faculty teaching loads for the academic work year are as follows:

1. 1. It is the responsibility of the Dean and the individual faculty member to protect adequate time for research and writing when making decisions about summer term employment and teaching.
   2. If a full-time faculty member teaches a full-load in the summer term as a third quarter of teaching, then that person forfeits the option to teach for added compensation in that summer quarter, or in any other quarter of the school year.
   3. If a full-time faculty member teaches a full load in the summer as a third quarter of teaching, then that person may be freed from all teaching responsibility for a quarter of that same school year.
   4. Faculty members seeking to alter their typical three-quarter sequential teaching load (i.e. Fall, Winter, and Spring), may do so only with the Dean’s approval.

Continuing Education and Special Programs

The School may inaugurate various programs in continuing education for non-degree students. Presentations or service to such programs will be considered as a portion of the faculty member’s service to the School, or to the academic profession, upon the request of the Dean and agreement by the faculty member.

1. Ranked Faculty shall normally consider short-term (generally single-session), agreed-upon continuing education courses, workshops or seminars as part of their Service to Iliff, without further compensation. Reimbursement for travel or other costs shall be in addition to salary.
2. Should the needs of the School required a ranked faculty member to offer a multiple-session continuing education course, workshop, or seminar in addition to a full teaching load, that faculty member shall receive an honorarium or stipend in addition to normal salary as may be agree to by the Dean and the faculty member.

Faculty Mentoring and Availability

The academic and professional mentoring of students is a significant responsibility of all faculty members. The goal of the mentoring process is to help each student develop his/her own personal, academic, and professional potential. As part of mentoring, faculty are expected to make themselves available for advising masters and doctoral theses that fall in the areas of their expertise. Each student should have sufficient opportunity to consult faculty members. This shall include responsiveness to student communication by email and requests for meetings.

Instructional Advising

Faculty must be available for advising students with regard to their work in classes taught by the faculty member.

Doctoral Degree Advising

The Assistant Faculty Director of the Iliff School of Theology’s and the University of Denver’s Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) in the Study of Religion assumes primary responsibility for the academic advising of all new JDP students. At the request of doctoral students, faculty members serve as official mentors, meeting informally but regularly for professional guidance and advice. Those faculty members currently serving as advisors and mentors are recorded in the JDP Office.

In distinction to academic advising, faculty members also serve on dissertation committees as the dissertation advisor (chair of the committee) or as a committee member. These roles are normally recorded in the JDP Office and in DU’s Office of Graduate Studies at the time of the student’s dissertation proposal defense. The dissertation advisor/chair has primary responsibility

for overseeing the student from the point at which she/he agrees to become the dissertation advisor until the student completes the dissertation. Serving as the dissertation advisor also includes working with the student on two comprehensive exams in the winter quarter of the student’s third-year in the program. Because doctoral students are dependent on specific advisors, faculty members must continue to work with dissertation advisees while on sabbatical and research leaves in order to avoid delaying students’ progress towards degree completion.

Advisees should be notified of anticipated sabbaticals or research leaves as early as possible, preferably at the time of the application for leave, and again once the leave is approved. Because of travel or other demands incumbent on faculty during sabbatical that may limit contact, the student and advisor should agree in advance on a schedule for interaction.

Service to the Institution

Iliff School of Theology Faculty participate in the academic administration of the School through shared governance. Faculty members are expected to attend meetings, contribute their ideas and experience during the decision-making process, and accept their fair share of the work. Heavier than normal involvement in non-teaching activities (such as service to a major program or new initiative) shall be compensated by stipend and/or a reduction in teaching loads as may be agreed to by the Dean and the Faculty member. Such adjustments should normally be negotiated at the time of accepting the assignment.

Committees

Faculty members are expected to serve as asked on standing committees, ad hoc committees, and student committees, and to assume occasionally serving on special task forces or committees at the request and in negotiation with the Dean or the President. Service on committees should be distributed equitably among the Faculty by the Dean.

Faculty Council

Each faculty member is expected to attend all meetings of the Faculty Council except for reasons of professional obligation, family needs, or illness. Faculty should notify the Dean when they will be absent from a meeting of the Faculty Council.

Academic and Community Functions

Except when on sabbatical, each faculty member is expected to attend all academic functions such as Commencement, the Honors Convocation, the Opening Convocation in the Fall, and installation ceremonies, at which the presence of the Faculty is explicitly requested. As a courtesy, the faculty member should notify the Dean when absence from any of these functions is necessitated. Faculty members are encouraged to attend worship services, public lectures, and other events sponsored by organizations and students of the School.

Faculty Retreat

Faculty Retreat is an important moment in the life of the Faculty. Each faculty member is expected to attend the annual faculty retreat, which is normally scheduled to meet during the week prior to the beginning of the Fall Quarter. Faculty members on sabbatical are encouraged to attend faculty retreat unless research travel prohibits her/his attendance. Absence from faculty retreat must be negotiated with the Dean.

Faculty Colloquia and In-Service Trainings

Colloquia of the faculty and in-service training sessions, formal or informal, may be called by the Dean or the President. Attendance at these functions is normally expected as they are important events in the life of the School in guiding the intellectual and professional development of faculty.

Service to Religious or Other Community Groups

The School encourages its Faculty to offer their academic and professional expertise to religious groups and to engage in other forms of service within and across the community.