The days of research sabbaticals and teaching-load reductions are taking, shall we say, their own sabbatical for a while. For those who are employed at teaching-intensive institutions and strive to maintain active scholarly agendas, this is a significant problem, especially if the cuts to such programs are timed with a book contract or significant grant opportunity.
There are other load tricks, however, that sometimes can help faculty members who are trying to sustain their scholarly production. I’ve seen teaching schedules consolidated to three or four days to allow for at least a bit of extended time to write. I’ve seen course assignments altered to reduce the number of preps in a given semester. I’ve seen enrollment caps in sections quietly reduced to cut down on grading loads. I’ve even seen courses shifted from fall or spring semesters to summer terms to free up a bit of time.
I am skeptical about the glory days of sabbaticals ever completely returning, so I’m curious to know what simple tricks are floating around out there. Any success stories?
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2 Responses to Simple Faculty-Load Tricks
22228715 - November 18, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I know it is not an option for everyone, but if summer teaching is not required or critical to department functioning, “just say no” to summer teaching, or choose to teach or create accelerated courses that are over in a shorter period of time. Either way, a large chunk of time during the summer was a great advantage for writing, for me and for some other colleagues.
grifft - November 19, 2009 at 8:38 am
I was teaching at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest with a heavy teaching load in a science (20 hours of teaching lab contact hours alone every spring semester). Although it made for very long days on Mondays through Thursdays, I consolidated my teaching into those four days, leaving Fridays as time to get into my lab to do research. To avoid being constantly interrupted, I refused to answer the lab phone (except when my department secretary or my wife made it ring in a certain pre-arranged way) and never answered a knock on the door. I managed to get enough quality research published to earn promotion from Assistant Professor to an endowed chair in fewer than 20 years. It works to “just say no” to summer teaching (if you can) but also to schedule your time so that you are not teaching every minute of every weekday too.