Class Load/Size

Classes with fewer than 12 students enrolled will be subject to review by the Division Chair and Vice-President of Instructional Services. Upon review, the course may be cancelled, taught for full or partial load, or combined with another class for load calculation purposes. If the average class size of a full-time faculty member is less than 12 (excluding nursing, individualized music instruction, Career and Technical Education courses with limited student-teacher ratio or safety requirements, and class size determined by equipment limitations) for a given contract period, a faculty member on a continuing contract would have that contract reduced by one year until such time as adequate enrollment is re-established. A faculty member on a one-year contract would have his/her contract renewed at the discretion of college officials.

Programs and disciplines where average course enrollments are less than 12 students may be referred to the Program Discipline Evaluation Committee for evaluation. Faculty members teaching courses that do not meet the minimum enrollment standards may request to combine courses for load purposes with the load hours determined by the course with the highest load-hour value. The Vice-President of Instructional Services is responsible for determining the makeup of the combined courses.

External learning (co-op, practicum, and internship), special projects, and individual study courses may be included in the calculation of the contracted faculty loads if the class size reaches 12 students. An external learning class with 6 to 11 students is treated as an overload class (3 load hours). Classes with 5 or fewer students are taught on the following extra service rates (external learning - $140; individual study and special projects - $100). External learning courses may be combined for overload purposes with load determined by courses where the majority of students are enrolled.