New Courses Earn Simultaneous Course Release

Proposal

Any faculty member teaching a new course should receive a course release that year.

Rationale

Teaching a new course is difficult and time-consuming.  It involves actual new work on faculty member's part : organization, planning, research, etc. and the actual teaching tends to be much more labor intensive the first time through.  There is an inevitable effect on one's other courses.  It is especially important to have the time and energy to do the first run of a course particularly well so as to determine if it generates student interest and fits well in the curriculum and because the first run lays the ground work for subsequent offerings.   This will encourage curricular innovation and more excellent new courses.  It would also resonate with our commitment to taking seriously the quality what we put on the course schedule.

Impact and Cost

Examine recent faculty meeting minutes to estimate number of new courses approved each year.  Likely only those taught by multiple course faculty would come under this.  Suppose 2 new courses per faculty meeting at 6 meetings per year nets 12 new courses each year.  Net budget impact $50-100k.  Consider distribution of new courses: are there programs that have over-abundance?  under-abundance?  What explains disparity?

Implementation Ideas

• Perhaps require that the release be taken in the same semester (since the whole point is the time and effort it takes to field the course) with possible option of the semester before (the consideration being prepping the course).
• Perhaps 180s are not included?
• Can put a limit on frequency with which faculty member can take advantage of this.  Or limit on departments/programs?  Or a global limit and have either EPS or Provost allocate?