At Purchase College, “every faculty member is expected to be an active and engaged scholar or professional artist, an effective teacher, and a participant in the civic life of the campus” (Faculty Bylaws, Article XII, Sec. A1). Please refer to the full Article XII, Criteria for Reappointment and Promotion of Faculty, in the Faculty Bylaws for expanded definitions.
The president announces the period of faculty obligation for the upcoming academic year. For the 2023–24 academic year, the dates are August 21, 2023, through May 24, 2024. The obligation of faculty members holding semester appointments begins with the first day of classes for the semester and ends with the last day of finals for that semester.
A full-time obligation assumes a five-day workweek (Monday through Friday). During the week before the start of the fall semester and the weeks that classes are in session, faculty members are obligated to be on campus at least three days per week. Full-time faculty members are expected to maintain a significant and substantial on-campus presence. In order to be available to students, participate in activities related to student success, and contribute to faculty governance, a four-day per week on-campus presence is often necessary. All faculty members are expected to meet their classes as scheduled.
Full-time faculty members are required to hold a minimum of three office hours per week while the semester is in session. (When advising is required of a part-time faculty member, it will be noted on the appointment letter.) These hours are to be scheduled at times convenient to students seeking help from faculty members.
Faculty members are responsible for:
including their office hours, when required, on each course syllabus
posting their office hours outside their office
informing their Director about those hours at the beginning of each semester
Your Program Chair and/or School/Conservatory Director will work with you to determine your contribution to the college’s General Education curriculum.
Courses are scheduled and rotated among faculty members for the benefit of the students; no course belongs to any particular faculty member.
Faculty members are required to work on legal holidays on which classes are scheduled. Please refer to the academic calendar for specific dates.
Unplanned absence: In the event that illness or another emergency (including isolation related to COVID-19) prevents you from meeting a regularly scheduled class, please advise the Director of your school or conservatory as soon as possible. This also applies to start-time delays and early releases. Please also make every effort to inform each student, either electronically or by other means, of any changes in schedule in advance of the regular class meeting time. Occasionally an unplanned absence from an in-person class may allow for continuity of instruction by temporarily moving the class to online delivery (as in the case of non-symptomatic COVID-19 isolation); however, it is nevertheless important to provide students all course work as originally published, and you must consult your Director before pursuing this option. Note that moving an in-person class to online delivery (or vice versa) is not normally permitted once students are registered for the course, except in the circumstances outlined above.
Planned absence (for medical or professional reasons): You must consult with the Director of your school or conservatory about missing classes for professional reasons. Directors may approve faculty absences of up to and including two weeks. The Provost must approve longer absences, regardless of whether course coverage is arranged.
Appropriate coverage for absence: You should make every effort to provide a substitute learning experience for students. This may include asking another faculty member to teach the class, having a learning/studio assistant monitor equipment or show a film, or assigning online work through Brightspace. Learning assistants or other undergraduates may not teach classes. A non-Purchase employee may substitute, but this must be approved by the Director of your school or conservatory, with any payment made through that academic unit. You may not pay for your own substitutes.
For related information, including charges to sick-leave accruals, please refer to Sick Leave and the Family and Medical Leave Act in the Leaves section. Unauthorized absences are addressed in Article 23.10 of the NYS/UUP Agreement.