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[dr_seuss]

At my university, summer teaching means extra paychecks and as a result there are always several competitors for a few slots.  In our department summer teaching assignments are given on a first-come, first-served basis, which often means that the slots go to the department chair and a couple of senior members of the department.  For various reasons this strikes many of us as unfair, or at least less-than-ideal. 
This brings me to my question:  How, in your department, are summer teaching posts assigned?  My colleagues and I are looking for a more equitable alternative system to propose to our department chair.  Thanks!

[dale1]

In my department, I assign all teaching during every term (including, obviously, summers).

I do this on a "needs" basis.  So, if we generally need one section of X courses during the summer, I assign on an expertise basis.  In the case of shared expertise, I make sure that those who already have a course are placed at the back of the line.

Seniority or other somewhat arbitrary methods seem to me to be distasteful.  I'd much rather let the faculty do what they do best, and not make square pegs go into round holes for some extra dollars.  It may be easier to sell a rational method if it actually fits the needs of the students and the department better (after all, quality teaching is supposed to matter).

[larryc]

Seniority. It was my great good fortune that when I really needed the summer dough no one in my field wanted to teach summers.  Then I discovered that I could teach my summer classes on the internet and have my cake and eat it too--on the beach. Eventually my colleagues caught on to and imitated my scheme, but by then I was senior enough to hold my own in the scheduling.

[larryc]

BTW, I think seniority should be the last criteria, or even a negative, for summer teaching. Let the poor assistants get an extra paycheck. Now that I am full I will not teach summers again.

[patchouli]

We have a queue that we follow.  It started with seniority, but basically loops so everyone gets a turn.

[luckyduck]

At my school, the chair asks us if/what we'd like to teach.  There is usually a need for classes that in-service teachers working on their master's degrees can take, and also lower-level non-majors classes like anatomy or general biology.

However, usually the chair has to try to prod people into offering some of these classes.  We don't want to teach in the summer.  It's funny to hear that others fight over the privilege of teaching in summer.  Typically that's the only good time to get research done at my school, in my field.  I try to always avoid teaching.  To my knowledge I've never heard of any conflicts over two people wanting to teach the same course in summer.

[easterner]

I try to spread it around as much as I can.  Senior faculty can teach a course if they're willing to offer a lower-level gen. ed. class, but they often prefer to use summers for research.  This opens the door for part time and full time non-tenure stream faculty, who are more apt to need the money. But the real driving force is what the university needs are, although there is much common ground between those needs and what instructors prefer to teach. 

[dr_seuss]

Thanks for all the responses thus far.  It's always interesting to hear how other people approach such issues. 

[crjuprofsteve]

Due to student demand, we wind up offering as many, if not more, summer classes than we have faculty in our department.  After we (we=department scheduling committee) make our list of summer classes (it's pretty much the same every year), we circulate the list to faculty, by seniority, and each person may sign up for one class.  If any classes are left uncovered, we recirculate the list (again by seniority) and folks can pick up a second if they so desire.  I've never known a faculty member who wanted summer teaching to not get it.  That's the payoff for having high-demand summer classes, I suppose.

[anthroid]

Before I got here, faculty thought summer teaching was an entitlement--if they wanted to teach, then, by god, they got to teach to the full load for summer, regardless of how many students actually were in the classroom.  Well, that's over now.  I have cut out many sections in the summer, to great grumbling, and I am on the verge of forbidding any upper division courses being taught, since offering them in the summer drains the classes for the regular semester.  That will bring shouting, but I don't care...the point is to teach students, not pay professors...

[finallyfullprof]

My department has a scheduling committee. One can request up to 12 hours total among our summer terms. We offer a Maymester, two short daytime terms, and one eight-week night term.  Scheduling is done by seniority and department need. Expertise plays no part whatsoever.  Generally speaking, whatever made last summer is offered again in the next summer terms, but sometimes classes are added to ensure we offer the full complement of courses. This results in a regressive scheduling policy that makes our offerings smaller each year.