Group I faculty members on regional campuses are expected to be actively engaged in their disciplines. Evidence of professional development is a requirement for tenure and promotion, and evaluation of such work should be included in the annual review process on each campus. This policy is intended to provide a mechanism, through Teaching Load Reduction Grants, to reduce temporarily the teaching load of faculty members who are engaged in work that is likely to lead to publication, to presentations at national conferences in the discipline, to obtaining significant outside grants, or to other appropriate achievements, such as opportunities to show or present artistic work in significant venues. Teaching load reductions under this particular policy are not intended to support course development or service activities.

A load reduction of up to 12 hours within one academic year can be granted to no more than 10% of the Group I faculty currently serving on regional campuses. Each campus, except the Southern campus, can award reductions to two individuals each year. The Southern campus can award one reduction, until such time as there are at least 16 Group I faculty members serving on the campus. Additional awards may be made "at large," up to the 10% maximum. Except in unusual cases, no more than three awards will be made at a single campus in a given year.

The 12-hour reduction can be taken in a single quarter or spread over any of the three quarters in an academic year. The distribution should be determined by the nature of the project and the potential impact on the class schedule at the campus. Ordinarily, any one individual cannot receive a Teaching Load Reduction Grant more often than once every three years. In addition, if the faculty member is eligible for a University Faculty Fellowship leave, he or she normally will be expected to pursue that option, rather than to seek a reduction under this policy.

During the academic year in which a Teaching Load Reduction Grant has been provided, it is expected that the faculty member will not engage in overload teaching. However, with approval from the campus Dean and the Vice President for Office for University Outreach and Regional Campuses, a single overload course can be approved. Justification for the overload, in terms of student needs, will be required. In no case will overload teaching be approved during a quarterin which a load reduction has been provided.

Applications for Teaching Load Reduction Grants are due to the campus Dean no later than February 1 of the year preceding the anticipated reduction. Applications should be received in the Vice President's Office by February 15. Applicants will use a form developed in the Vice President's Office for this purpose. The campus Dean must approve any application that is sent to the Vice President's Office. The Dean's approval should be informed by recommendations from the faculty member's Division Coordinator and by some local committee of faculty members assigned to review the applications. The Vice President, in consultation with the Deans, will make any "at large" awards beyond the minimums available at each campus. Each faculty member receiving a Teaching Load Reduction Grant is expected to provide a brief report on the project to the campus Dean and to the Vice President within one month of the completion of the Grant.

In making awards under this policy, priority will be given to those projects that are most likely to lead to dissemination of the results. Consideration will be given to the significance of the project, past productivity of the faculty member, relevance of the project to the mission of the campus and to the faculty member's discipline, and length of time since previous reductions. Impact of the reduction on course offerings at the campus will be considered with regard to the specific quarter or quarters for which a reduction is being requested. Ordinarily, priority should be given to probationary faculty members or others for whom the reduction might be especially valuable in seeking a promotion. If issues regarding promotion or tenure are essentially equivalent for different applicants, then seniority in rank and years of service should be given priority. Full professors do retain eligibility for teaching load reductions under this policy.