A&L S-Factor

COLLEGE OF ARTS & LETTERS

Guidelines for Supervision (S-Factor) Assignments

November 2016, Approved

 

DEADLINE: Faculty expecting to teach S-factor courses in Fall 2021 should meet with their department chair prior to May 13. S-factor approval forms for the Fall 2021 semester, signed by the department chair and the faculty member, must be received by the dean’s office via Docusign by August 20, 2021. Faculty expecting to teach S-factor courses in Spring 2022 should meet with their department chair prior to December 17, 2021. S-factor approval forms for the Spring 2022 semester, signed by the department chair and the faculty member, must be received by the dean's office via Docusign by December 17, 2021.

 

Types of S-Factor Courses Generally Approved by the Dean

  1. Thesis Supervision – Thesis supervision only for the thesis chair and for a maximum of two semesters.  Approval for thesis supervision beyond two semesters will require a memo with rationale approved by the Chair and submitted to the Dean for final approval.
  2. Independent Study/Directed Research for Undergraduate and Graduate Students with Special Circumstances – Independent Study/Directed Research courses for any student(s) whose class is needed for graduation and would be cancelled due to low-enrollment or other institutional circumstances that impede a student’s progress toward degree during their last semester prior to graduation. However, the replacement S-Factor unit load may not exceed 3 semester units of the faculty member’s WTUs for that semester unless formally approved by the Chair and the Dean.
  3. Internships, TA Supervision, Fieldwork, Applied Music – Pre-existing supervision courses that exist as approved curriculum and are assigned to faculty as part of their regular teaching load. S- Factor replacement units may not exceed the pre-defined 3 semester units unless formally approved by the Chair and the Dean.

S-Factor Considerations with Lower Priority

  1. New Courses - Any new course proposed that involves S-Factor units must have, in writing, explicit approval by the Dean. A memo of request from the Chair must be submitted to the Dean prior to the term the course is being offered.
  2. Multiple S-Factor courses – The Chair must submit a memo to the Dean for requests for more than four (4) S-Factor courses in the same semester under the supervision of the same instructor. Written approval must be provided by the Dean prior to enrolling students in supervisory courses.
  3. Non-Banked S-Factor Courses -- Requests to use S-Factor units against a regular teaching load in the same or a subsequent semester (not banked) must have written approval from the Dean prior to enrolling students.
  4. Other Requests – All other requests for faculty S-Factor assignments must have written approval from the Dean. The Chair shall request via a written memo that includes:
    1. faculty member’s name
    2. class number
    3. number of units
    4. reason for performing the supervision (e.g., special project, program requirement, scholarly mentoring, etc.)

Operational Details

  1. All approved S-Factor supervision courses must be correspondingly assigned to the faculty member doing the work.
  2. Students may only enroll in S-Factor courses for the purpose that was requested by the Chair and approved by the Dean. S-Factor courses may not be used as a substitution for students to serve as a TA/GA/Reader for the faculty member or course.
  3. Faculty may not agree to supervise a student and then request S-Factor units retroactively; all supervision courses must be approved by the Dean prior to both the faculty member and student performing the required work.
  4. S-Factor paperwork must be completed and filed in the Dean’s office with a copy in the department office.

FERP Appointments

Faculty with FERP appointments may use up previously banked S-factor credits, but may not accrue (i.e. bank) S-factor credits. Any S-factor courses should be part of their term workload.