Faculty and Staff
Section 4
Faculty members are responsible for defining and executing the goals of the undergraduate program, and supporting and facilitating student learning of content knowledge and the development of professional skills. An energetic, accomplished, and diverse faculty is essential to an excellent undergraduate program. The program should, therefore, have mechanisms in place to recruit and retain a qualified and diverse faculty, maintain the professional competence of its faculty, provide faculty development and mentoring opportunities, and provide regular feedback regarding faculty performance.
The chemistry faculty, including both full-time and part-time faculty members, should have the educational background, expertise, and commitment to provide a sustainable, robust, and engaging environment for student learning. Anyone that teaches chemistry courses, regardless of location or mode of delivery, is considered part of the chemistry faculty and must meet institutional standards.
Essential Components
- Faculty members have either a Ph.D. in a chemical science or a Master’s degree in chemistry or in a related field that includes sufficient coursework in chemistry.
- Courses are taught by permanent faculty without excessive reliance on temporary or part-time faculty.
- Full-time, permanent faculty should be sufficient in number to teach at least half of the total chemistry course offerings.
- Faculty have a breadth of expertise that reflects the course content taught.
- Faculty members have the ability to communicate an understanding and appreciation of chemistry to others.
- All sections of a course that result in a grade on an official transcript from the institution, regardless of location or mode of delivery, are taught by qualified faculty members and use course materials with similar coverage and levels of difficulty.
Successful Practices
- At least 75% of the permanent faculty have a terminal degree in chemistry or an adjacent field.
- Full-time, permanent faculty should be sufficient in number to teach at least 75% of the total chemistry course offerings.
- Faculty have a breadth of expertise that reflects the subdisciplines of modern chemistry.
Aspirational Goals
- All permanent full-time faculty members have a Ph.D. or terminal degree in chemistry or an adjacent field (e.g., Ed.D.).
- Full-time, permanent faculty should be sufficient in number to teach all of the total chemistry course offerings.
Essential Components
- Qualified individuals outside the full-time, permanent faculty are only used to provide specific expertise and/or accommodate temporary term-to-term fluctuations in enrollments.
- Adjunct faculty hold a Ph.D. in the chemical sciences or a Master’s degree in chemistry or with a sufficient amount of coursework in chemistry.
- Adjunct faculty are given compensation equivalent to that of full-time, permanent faculty.
Successful Practices
- Adjunct faculty have access to facilities that support class preparation, confidential discussions, and other teaching activities.
- Courses taught by adjunct faculty are aligned, in curriculum and content, with those of full-time faculty.
- Student learning in courses taught by adjunct faculty should be evaluated to ensure it is comparable to that in courses taught by permanent faculty.
Aspirational Goals
- Adjunct faculty members are given professional development opportunities equivalent to those of full-time, permanent faculty.
- Adjunct faculty in good standing have the opportunity to be integrated into college activities and be given consideration for permanent positions.
Essential Components
- The number of support staff members should be sufficient to allow faculty to devote their time and effort to academic responsibilities and scholarly activities.
- One full-time laboratory technician per four full-time (or full-time-equivalent) chemistry faculty members is recommended.
- Part-time and student help are not adequate substitutes for full-time laboratory technicians.
Successful Practices
- A dedicated instrument technician is available to maintain instrumentation in working order.
- Administrative support for faculty is available.
- The department chair has a dedicated administrative assistant.
- There is a stockroom supervisor that is trained in maintaining a chemical inventory and hazardous waste disposal who liaises with the institution's chemical hygiene officer (see Section 3: Safety for more guidance).
Aspirational Goals
- There is administrative support available to assist faculty members that travel to conferences, workshops, and professional development opportunities.
- There is administrative support for faculty members preparing grant proposals and managing grant funds.
Faculty Workload
Section 4.4
Contact hours are defined as the actual time spent in the direct supervision of students in a classroom (face-to-face or online) or laboratory. Online activities that are developed as substitutes for classroom instruction should be assigned the same contact hour value as equivalent face-to-face experiences. Additionally, each laboratory contact hour should be assigned the same contact hour value as a classroom contact hour. Note: One contact hour = 60 minutes.
Contact Hours
Section 4.4a
Essential Components
General rule: All faculty regardless of rank or title have 15 or fewer contact hours per semester/quarter. Voluntary overloads are not included in this maximum.
Contact hour exceptions
- Teaching loads as high as 18 contact hours per week may be assigned, provided that the average teaching load for all chemistry faculty does not exceed 15 hours per week for the academic year, and that the higher teaching load is only in effect for one term in that academic year.
Faculty with >15 contact hours in a single semester or quarter are compliant if:
- The contact average for the academic year is < 18.
- OR no single semester/quarter exceeds 18 contact hours.
- AND one or more of the following situational variances is met.
Situational Variances
- They are covering for family or medical leave; or under unusual circumstances (resignation, death, etc).
- The faculty member is a lab manager/ coordinator/temporary faculty member with no service or research responsibilities.
- The department must be compliant with a union contract (if the number of contact hours is < 18 in any given semester).
- Instructors are teaching courses with:
- Duplicate course offerings OR
- No research or admin duties OR
- No expectations for additional course development OR
- No expectation for lab set up OR
- Courses previously taught by the instructor.
Successful Practices
- Fifteen contact hours is an upper limit; a smaller number should be the normal teaching obligation.
- Faculty and instructional staff members in the most effective programs usually have substantially fewer contact hours, particularly when they supervise student research projects or assume administrative or support activities.
Aspirational Goals
- Faculty teach significantly fewer contact hours per week to provide for additional time for professional development.
Teaching Responsibilities
Section 4.4b
Essential Components
- No faculty member should be responsible for more than 25 students in a laboratory at one time.
- Regular office hours are kept to meet with students.
Successful Practices
- Faculty members supervise 20 or fewer students in laboratory courses.
Aspirational Goals
- Faculty members have additional support in the form of learning (teaching) assistants or peer-to-peer tutors.
Institutional Responsibilities
Section 4.4c
Essential Components
Full-time faculty:
- Fulfill service responsibilities to the department, the campus, and the community.
- Actively participate in curriculum development.
Successful Practices
Full-time faculty:
- Participate in activities that include research, teaching, or other professional practice, academic activities, scholarly events, institutional committee memberships, and service on panels.
- Assess and improve curriculum
- Keep abreast of new. developments in chemistry and new educational pedagogies.
- Utilize evidence based teaching methods.
Part-time faculty:
- Participate in service to the department, the campus, and the community.
- Take part in the development of new courses and curricular innovations .
Aspirational Goals
Full-time faculty:
- Participate in community service, partnership, and, or, outreach events.
- Seek out funding for curricular improvement or research.
- Engage in scholarship in chemistry, chemistry education, and teaching effectiveness.
Funding
Section 4.5a
Essential Components
The institution provides financial support for
- Sabbaticals.
- Attendance at professional meetings.
- Professional development workshops or other opportunities.
- Access to additional resources.
Successful Practices
The institution provides
- Full funding for participation in professional activities, including conferences.
- Funds for membership to professional organizations,.
- Additional support for continuity during sabbaticals and leave,.
- Support for adjunct faculty professional development equivalent to that of full-time, permanent faculty.
Aspirational Goals
The institution provides
- Full funding for participation in multiple professional development opportunities each year, including
- Conferences where the participant presents a poster or talk.
- Regional meetings.
- Workshops or other training.
- Funding for page charges and open access on peer reviewed publications.
- Support for writing grant proposals and managing grant funding.
Mentoring
Section 4.5b
Training and Outreach
Section 4.5c
Essential Components
- The institution supports and encourages connections to local industry and government.
- The institution provides regular training in the areas of safety, technology, DEI, and assessment (see Section 3: Safety and Section 12: DEIR for more guidance on training).
Successful Practices
- Faculty have opportunities for externships, job shadowing, and other workplace experiences with their program partners or other businesses.
- The institution promotes and supports chemistry faculty in efforts to improve and broaden their expertise in instruction.
- Training for effective classroom instruction, academic advising, participation in departmental committees, and student recruitment is provided and encouraged.
Aspirational Goals
- Continuous development of the curriculum through assessment, applied research or scholarly activity is encouraged.
- Participation in professional organizations is encouraged, including, but not limited to
- National organizations like ACS, NOBCChe, SACNAS.
- Local ACS sections.
- Other 2YC focused organizations.
- Teaching focused organizations.
