Instructional Information Pertaining to Full-Time Faculty
Appointments
All full-time faculty are on one-year contracts. TSC publishes and implements policies regarding the appointment and employment of faculty members. TSC Board Policy DCA (LOCAL) notes that contractual employees shall be provided term contracts in writing, setting forth the length of the contract and other terms and conditions of employment. Faculty receive one of the following employment letters: nine-month faculty letter of employment or 12-month faculty letter of employment. The Board delegates to the College President the final authority for employment of contractual personnel [see TSC Board Policy DC (LOCAL)].
As per TSC Board Policy DGBA (LOCAL) and TSC Board Policy DMAB (LOCAL), a faculty member has a right to present a grievance, in person, to a member of the institution’s administration designated by the governing board of the institution on an issue related to the nonrenewal or termination of the faculty member’s employment at the institution. An institution may not by contract, policy, or procedure, restrict a faculty member’s right to present a grievance under this section. An institution may adopt a method for presenting, reviewing, and acting on a grievance filed under this section. For more information on the grievance process, please see the Human Resources website.
Summary of Responsibilities
Full-time faculty members’ responsibilities include a minimum of 40 hours per week for teaching, assessment, class preparation and management, office hours, consulting with students, professional development, committee work, and other service to TSC. For more information, faculty should refer to their instructor contract. Hours spent teaching overload classes are not included in the 40-hour minimum.
In addition to teaching, assessing, managing the learning environment, enhancing the student’s learning experience and advising/mentoring students, full-time faculty are expected to pursue professional development and participate in service activities.
Service
Faculty are expected to participate collegially in TSC and community service activities. TSC as an institution is committed to serving the community and service is a priority for TSC faculty. Indeed, TSC collaborates with numerous community members and external agencies to support service learning projects. Service includes:
- Serving on and playing an active role in TSC department, discipline-specific, or college-wide committees; and
- Participating in service through appropriate discipline-specific organizations, educational organizations, statewide boards and committees, and community organizations and activities.
Professional Development
Faculty are expected to pursue professional development by keeping abreast of developments in their academic fields and instructional techniques as well as contributing to the growth of colleagues and profession by sharing ideas, techniques, materials, etc. Professional development may involve:
- Participating in professional societies, reading discipline-specific journals, studying pedagogy, attending conferences, or making presentations;
- Maintaining required professional credentials, licensing, and continuing education hours as disciplinary standards dictate;
- Engaging in professional education which enhances both disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge (e.g., by taking graduate courses or internal classes offered by the College or professional development organizations); and
- Contributing to the academic discipline through research, publication or other endeavors as appropriate.
Faculty professional development is critical to assuring quality instruction. Because of its criticality, professional development is addressed as a component of the TSC Instructor Appraisal Process. Furthermore, TSC allocates funds for faculty to participate in professional development activities. Extra funds can be requested and granted for faculty who will present at a conference, to attend conferences or other events that directly teaching and professional growth, or for other exceptional circumstances.
Throughout the academic year, a variety of professional development on-site activities are offered to faculty. Professional development training and workshops are offered to faculty during convocation weeks for each long semester. Also, the Office of Educational Technology and Online Learning offers faculty training throughout the year for full-time faculty and part-time faculty.
TSC's primary communication regarding professional development opportunities is through TSC email and the TSC website. All convocation activities are posted on the website. In addition, all professional development opportunities are emailed to all faculty.
Throughout the year, faculty document their professional development activities to serve as evidence that they are remaining current in their respective disciplines. An inclusive list of all professional development activities for faculty can be found at the office of each Divisional Dean.