Course Release for a Scholarly or Artistic Project

Externally funded release time for scholarship

Faculty scholarly work is supported in a variety of ways. Reducing classroom time to provide greater capacity for scholarship is one support. Outside of the university-sponsored sabbatical process, faculty can use external funding mechanisms to obtain teaching release time when the external funds are used to pay for adjunct faculty or full-time faculty overload costs to staff the scholar’s class(es). Normally, the application for the reduced teaching load should be submitted by February 1 of the academic year prior to the year in which the reduced load applies.

Principles:

Eligibility:
Full-time faculty members who are meeting expectations without any concerns in their formal teaching assignments. The chair and academic dean will be consulted before approving scholarly release time.
Frequency:
There are no limits to the frequency of externally funded course releases.
Amount of teaching release:
A faculty member may be released from one course every semester, and from a full teaching load for one academic term every three years.
Informing administrators:
Faculty who plan to seek external funding should inform their chair, dean and associate provost before they submit the application for funding. For multi-year funded projects, a record of the agreed-upon schedule and amount of leave should be signed by the faculty member and the associate provost, and shared with the provost, academic affairs office, and business office.
Continuing responsibilities:

Faculty with scholarly release time are expected to contribute at the usual level of effort to service assignments, student advising, presence at university ceremonies and meetings, and other non-teaching, non-scholarly faculty work. Note that this requirement differs from sabbaticals.

Faculty clocks for evaluation and sabbatical
The scholarly release will count fully as time of service at Bethel with regard to sabbatical eligibility, promotion, tenure, or tenure renewal evaluations.
Reporting responsibilities:
Faculty with externally funded scholarly release time should submit a one-page summary of their scholarly work/progress to their program director/chair, dean, associate provost, and provost within two weeks of the end of each term where release time is used.

Process:

For grants (mostly federal agencies) with indirect Facilities and Administration (F&A) payments to Bethel
1. During the proposal development work, the applicant should work with their administrative group (chair, dean, associate provost) to understand the amount of indirect F&A payment that Bethel will receive, and to define the portion of that which will be used to pay for adjunct coverage of courses. This plan should be documented and shared with the Provost and Associate Provost.
2. Upon notification of funding, the Provost and Academic Affairs office will notify the Business Office of the schedule for teaching release, and the Academic Affairs office will expense the Indirect Cost fund the amount needed for the adjunct faculty cost. The faculty (primary investigator) full-time salary cost remains in the home department as noninstructional load.
For private foundations or philanthropists.
1. During the proposal development work, the applicant should work with their administrative group (chair, dean, associate provost) to understand the amount of support that Bethel will receive to pay for adjunct coverage of courses.
2. The funder should be instructed to include a memo with the donation that broadly covers the costs associated with the supported project.
3. Upon receipt of funding, the Provost and Academic Affairs office will notify the Business Office of the schedule for teaching release, and the Academic Affairs office will expense the donation fund the amount needed for the adjunct faculty cost. The faculty (primary investigator) full-time salary cost remains in the home department as non instructional load.

Annual updates:

Price per LC of release time, 2024-25 academic year: $2000
Contact person for questions in the Business Office: Michael Johnson: mw-johnson@bethel.edu
Contact person for questions in Academic Affairs: University Provost r-rylaarsdam@bethel.edu

Institutionally funded release time for scholarship

A full-time faculty member may apply for an institutionally funded one course reduced teaching load in order to complete a scholarly or artistic project.

Eligibility

A faculty member may be eligible for a release to accomplish one of the following purposes:

To meet a deadline to complete a manuscript (e.g., dissertation, publisher’s contract)
To meet a deadline to present a performance, complete a creative work, or mount an exhibition
To invest time in significant research or data collection leading to a publishable work

Criteria

The criteria for approval will include:

A track record of completing similar projects as planned
The feasibility of the project
Benefit or value to Bethel and/or the broader academic/artistic community
Impact on departmental staffing
Cost to institutional budget

Process

The process for approval will include the following steps:

The faculty member begins by discussing the proposal with the department chair or program director in order to determine whether he or she supports the project, taking into account the value and feasibility of the project and the potential impact of a one-course reduction on departmental or program staffing.
If the department chair or equivalent director supports the project, the faculty member may then submit a formal application to:

The Dean of Faculty for CAS
The appropriate divisional dean for CAPS/GS
The Dean of the Seminary

Normally, the application for the reduced teaching load should be submitted by February 1 of the academic year prior to the year in which the reduced load applies.
If the reduced teaching load is approved, the individual to whom application was made will notify the faculty member and make the appropriate change to the faculty member’s teaching load.

Office of the Provost
Effective July 1, 2024

Updated July 1, 2024