Policies and Expectations at SVSU

Faculty Schedule

Standard Course Load: In Fall and Winter terms, a standard teaching load is 24 credit hours. Each faculty member normally shall have a teaching load of not less than 24 nor more than 38 credit hours over a three-semester appointment. For more information, see section D 4.1 of the Faculty Contract.

Office Hours

As stated in the Faculty Contract (section D 21), during semesters in which they are scheduled to teach, faculty will hold office hours for students and members of the academic community.

Scheduled hours will be posted on office doors. Faculty will be available for a minimum of five hours a week (reasonably calculated to provide availability). Four hours a week will be definite and posted and one hour can be set by appointment. Of the four posted hours, at least two hours will require availability in-person on campus at a posted location (office, classroom, lab, library, etc). The other two posted hours can be in-person or synchronously online (meaning immediately available).

Department chair shall receive complaints regarding the availability, as posted, of departmental faculty members.

Cancellations/Postponement of Classes

You may need to miss classes due to illness or for personal reasons (attending a conference, for example); such incidents are covered by sick leave or personal leave.

Faculty members accrue 60 hours of sick leave per year, up to a total of 180 hours (Contract section M 5.1.1), and 12 hours of personal leave per year (Contract section M 8.1).

Absences are reported to the department chair and faculty secretary. Informal arrangements are often made to cover classes; in these cases, sick or personal leave is not debited. In any case, you should contact your department chair and faculty secretary.

Personal Leave

As stated in the Faculty Contract (section M 8.1), Each faculty member will be provided a total of twelve (12) class hours and five (5) office hours of personal leave time during each fiscal year which he or she may use for such purposes as religious holidays, personal business, funerals, etc.; provided that twenty-four (24) hours notice will be given to the department chairperson and appropriate dean/director except in emergencies. Personal leave will not be debited if the class is rescheduled to a time convenient to the students or if it is covered by another qualified faculty member at no cost to the University. Except under circumstances of emergency, if a faculty member requires an absence which exceeds one day to conduct personal business, he/she shall submit a request to the office of the appropriate dean for approval prior to commencing such leave.

Professional Leave

As stated in the Faculty Contract, (section M 8.2), Each faculty member may be provided with up to twelve (12) class hours of professional leave time during each academic year, subject to the approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Professional leave will not be debited if the class is rescheduled to a time convenient to the students or if it is covered by another qualified faculty member at no cost to the University. Any office hours missed during the absence will be rescheduled.