The scheduling of classes for fall and spring terms is done by the department chairperson in consultation with the department faculty. The fall schedule of classes in usually completed in January, the spring schedule in late August or early September. (Summer teaching is subject to the PSU/KNEA Agreement; for the guidelines governing this process, go to Summer Teaching Assignments.)
In drawing up a schedule of classes, the chairperson gives primary consideration to programmatic concerns but also takes the preferences of individual faculty into account whenever possible.
Graduate seminars (ENGL 875) are assigned to graduate faculty on a strictly rotational basis with the list of rotation maintained by the department chairperson.
Given the limited opportunities for teaching upper-division and graduate courses within any given academic term, the department chairperson will make a reasonable effort to distribute these opportunities equally among departmental faculty over a period of time. However, faculty who have taught certain classes on a regular basis in the past will usually be given precedence in assignment to those classes unless compelling reasons occur to assign such classes to other faculty. In these cases, the department chairperson will discuss the proposed teaching assignments with the faculty affected before making a final determination.
The chairperson draws up a list of proposed courses and distributes it to the departmental faculty. Faculty mark their teaching preferences and also declare at that time any other factors that they wish the chairperson to take into account in drafting the schedule of classes. The chairperson then drafts a schedule of classes and submits it to the faculty for review and adjustment before it is sent to the Registrar in final form.
Assignment of classes to part-time faculty is covered in the sections on Part-Time Faculty and Teaching Loads in this manual.
Managing and preparing the department's schedule of classes is of concern to the entire department. The department chairperson, therefore, welcomes suggestions and comments from individual faculty and from the department faculty as a whole.
