Faculty Handbook

Document of record under the Policy Manual · Adopted 1989 · Last revised August 2025 · Responsible office: Office of the Provost · Next review 2028

The Faculty Handbook states the terms and conditions of faculty employment at Bellweather College of Applied Technology that are not stated in the individual letter of appointment. It is adopted, and amendments are approved, by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the President, following consultation with the Faculty Association under Section 11. Where this page and the Handbook differ, the Handbook governs.

The sections reproduced below are those most often cited elsewhere on this site. The complete Handbook, including forms and appendices, is available from the Office of the Provost, Room A-202, ext. 2205, and is provided on request; see Public Records.

In Fall 2025 the College employed 34 full-time faculty and 22 adjunct faculty, as reported to IPEDS. Faculty of record are listed in the Directory.

Appendices: A, Application for Promotion in Rank; B, Annual Professional Activity Report (Form PA-1); C, Application for Professional Development Leave; D, Load Calculation Worksheet; E, Grievance Filing Form; F, Outside Employment Disclosure. Forms are available from the Office of the Provost.

Section 1. Purpose, Authority, and Precedence

Summary.

The Handbook is adopted under the authority of the Board of Trustees under ORC Chapter 3357. Where the Handbook conflicts with a policy of the Policy Manual, the policy governs; where it conflicts with the letter of appointment on a matter the letter specifically addresses, the letter governs. Matters of employment common to all employees (benefits, payroll, sick leave accrual, workplace conduct, Title IX) are governed by the Policy Manual and are administered by the Office of Human Resources.

Section 3. Faculty Appointments

Summary.

3.1 Full-time faculty hold nine-month appointments for the fall and spring terms. Summer instruction is offered by separate agreement.

3.2 Adjunct faculty are appointed by the term, carry the title Adjunct Instructor, and hold no rank. An adjunct appointment carries no expectation of reappointment. Adjunct faculty are assigned not more than nine credit or load hours in a term.

3.3 Administrative assignments. Division Chair and Program Coordinator are assignments, not ranks. A faculty member holding an assignment retains rank. Where a division has no seated chair, the responsible administrator named by the Provost performs the duties of the chair under this Handbook.

Section 4. Academic Rank

4.1 Ranks. The College confers four faculty ranks: Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Rank is held by full-time faculty only. Adjunct faculty, graduate interns, and staff who teach do not hold rank.

4.2 Basis. Rank is conferred on the basis of credential, years of full-time service, and evaluation, as set out in 4.3.

4.3 Minimum criteria.

4.4 Credential of record. For a program leading to an occupation licensed or certified in Ohio, the credential of record is the highest license or certification recognized by the licensing or certifying body. Where no licensing or certifying body exists for the occupation, the Provost determines the credential of record on the recommendation of the program advisory committee, and the determination is filed with the program’s records.

4.5 Initial rank. Rank on initial appointment is determined by the Provost on the recommendation of the division chair, applying 4.3. Full-time teaching at an accredited postsecondary institution may be counted toward years of service, to a maximum of three years.

4.6 Promotion. Promotion is by application. It is not automatic and is not conferred by years of service alone. A faculty member who meets the criteria of 4.3 may apply to the division chair not later than October 1. The chair’s recommendation and the application are forwarded to the Promotion Committee, consisting of three faculty holding the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, elected by the Faculty Association, which reports to the Provost. The Provost recommends to the President, who acts by January 31. Promotion is effective with the following academic year. A faculty member may hold any rank, including the rank of Instructor, for the duration of employment.

4.7 Courtesy title. In correspondence and in the classroom a faculty member of any rank may be addressed as Professor. The directory states rank.

Section 5. Probation and Tenure

Summary.

New full-time faculty serve a probationary period of six years, during which appointment is renewed annually. Up to two years of prior full-time teaching may be credited toward the probationary period at appointment. Review for tenure occurs in the sixth year; tenure is granted by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the President. Tenure is held in the College and not in a division or program. Where a program is suspended or withdrawn, a tenured faculty member is reassigned where qualified to teach in another program; where no reassignment is available, the procedure of Section 12.4 applies, and notice is not less than one full academic year.

Section 6. Faculty Responsibilities

6.1 Instruction (summary). Faculty teach the courses assigned, meet classes as scheduled, follow the approved course outline of record, and maintain records of attendance and assessment as required by the Registrar and by the licensing body, where one applies.

6.2 Load

(a) The standard load for full-time faculty is fifteen load hours in each of the fall and spring terms.

(b) Load hours are calculated as follows. Each lecture contact hour per week is one load hour. Each laboratory, shop, clinic, studio, barn, or field contact hour per week is 0.75 load hour. Instruction in clock-hour programs is calculated at the laboratory rate. Supervision of a practicum or field placement is 0.5 load hour per student enrolled, to a maximum of three load hours in a term.

(c) Instruction delivered at an off-campus site under a facilities use agreement is calculated at the rate for the type of instruction. Travel time is not counted.

(d) Overload assignment is voluntary and may not exceed six load hours in a term. Overload is compensated at the adjunct rate for the faculty member’s rank.

(e) A Division Chair receives nine load hours of release in each term. A Program Coordinator receives three load hours of release in each term.

(f) Full-time faculty schedule not fewer than five office hours each week of the term, on not fewer than three days, and post them on DroverNet and at the office door.

6.3 Advising and service (summary). Full-time faculty advise students assigned by the division, serve on not fewer than one College committee, and attend the meetings of the advisory committee for each program in which they teach.

6.4 Professional Activity Reporting

(a) Each full-time faculty member submits an annual report of professional activity on Form PA-1 to the division chair not later than June 1, covering the preceding July 1 through May 31. Adjunct faculty may submit a report and are not required to.

(b) The report states: publications, technical reports, and presentations; consulting and client work performed under the auspices of the College; continuing education, with hours; licenses and certifications held, with number, issuing body, and expiration; service to licensing boards, professional associations, and advisory bodies; and occupational practice outside the College.

(c) A faculty member whose instruction requires a current license or certification reports any lapse, suspension, or restriction of that credential to the division chair and to the Provost within five working days. The faculty member may not provide the affected instruction during the lapse.

(d) Reports are compiled by the Office of Applied Studies and Field Research and included in the Fact Book. A selected list is published by the Office of Applied Studies and Field Research.

(e) The report is considered in evaluation under Section 8 and in promotion to the rank of Professor under 4.3. It is not scored by number of entries.

6.5 Outside employment (summary). Outside employment and occupational practice are permitted where they do not conflict with assigned duties, and are disclosed on Form F at appointment and annually. A license held by a faculty member is held individually and is not conferred by, transferred through, or extended to the College or its graduates.

Section 7. Leave

7.1 Leave common to employees (summary). Sick leave, personal leave, family and medical leave, military leave, jury duty, and bereavement leave are governed by the Policy Manual and administered by the Office of Human Resources.

7.2 Professional Development Leave

(a) Purpose. Professional development leave is granted for return to occupational practice, advanced study, the earning of a credential, or the preparation of instructional materials, in the faculty member’s field.

(b) Eligibility. A full-time faculty member who holds tenure and has completed not fewer than six years of full-time service since appointment or since the conclusion of a prior leave under this section is eligible to apply.

(c) Term and compensation. Leave is granted for one academic year at sixty percent of base salary, or for one term at full base salary. Benefits continue at the employee’s level of participation.

(d) Application. Application is made on Form C to the division chair and the Provost not later than January 15. The application states the purpose of the leave, the plan of work, and the proposed arrangement for the courses ordinarily taught by the applicant.

(e) Action. The Provost recommends to the President, who presents recommended requests to the Board of Trustees at its March regular meeting. Leave is granted for the academic year beginning in the second August following Board action, so that coverage of the faculty member’s courses may be arranged in the course schedule. The Board acts on requests as a personnel item; the minutes do not state the purpose of the leave.

(f) Number. Not more than two leaves under this section are in effect in any academic year.

(g) During leave. The faculty member retains rank, tenure, and position. The faculty member may not accept other full-time employment without the written approval of the Provost. Courses ordinarily taught by the faculty member are covered by assignment of other faculty and by adjunct appointment. The directory entry is marked as on leave for the period.

(h) Return. The faculty member returns to full-time service for not less than one academic year following the leave, or repays the salary received during the leave. A written report of the work completed is submitted to the Provost within sixty days of return and is filed with the professional activity report for that year.

7.3 Unpaid leave (summary). Unpaid leave for up to one academic year may be granted by the President for reasons not covered by 7.1 or 7.2.

Section 8. Evaluation

Summary.

Probationary faculty are evaluated annually. Tenured faculty are evaluated on a three-year cycle and submit the annual report under 6.4 in each year. Each evaluation considers student course evaluations, which are administered in every section in every term; classroom or shop observation by the division chair, at least once a year for probationary faculty and once a cycle for tenured faculty; the professional activity report; and service. Adjunct faculty are observed in their first term and in every third term thereafter. An evaluation is rated satisfactory or unsatisfactory. An unsatisfactory evaluation is followed by a written improvement plan of one academic year.

Section 9. Academic Freedom and Responsibility

9.1 The College subscribes to the principles of academic freedom stated in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors, as applied in this section.

9.2 A faculty member is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing the subject taught, to freedom in the conduct of applied study and in publishing its results, and to freedom, when speaking or writing as a private citizen, from institutional discipline.

9.3 In a program leading to a licensed or certified occupation, instruction addresses the competencies required by the licensing or certifying body. Academic freedom does not extend to the omission of required content, to instruction contrary to law, or to departure from the safety requirements of a laboratory, shop, barn, range, or clinic.

9.4 A faculty member speaking or writing as a private citizen should make clear that the faculty member does not speak for the College. Statements on behalf of the College are made by the President or by an office the President designates.

9.5 A faculty member who believes that academic freedom has been infringed may file a grievance under Section 10, and the hearing panel under 10.3 includes a member appointed by the Faculty Association.

Section 10. Faculty Grievance

Summary.

A grievance concerns the application of this Handbook to the faculty member. It proceeds in three steps: (1) informal discussion with the division chair within fifteen working days of the matter grieved; (2) written grievance on Form E to the Provost, who responds in writing within ten working days; (3) appeal to a hearing panel of three, one member appointed by the Provost, one by the Faculty Association, and one chosen by those two, which reports to the President. The President’s decision is final within the College.

Complaints of discrimination or harassment and matters under Policy 5.05, Title IX Grievance Procedure, are not grievances under this section and are directed to the Office of Human Resources, Room A-118, ext. 2240. Retaliation against a faculty member for filing a grievance is prohibited.

Section 11. Faculty Association

11.1 The Bellweather Faculty Association is the body through which the faculty are consulted on the Handbook, the academic calendar, faculty evaluation instruments, and other matters the President or the Provost refers to it.

11.2 All full-time faculty are members. Adjunct faculty may attend meetings and do not vote. Officers are elected annually in April and are listed with the Office of the Provost. The Association meets monthly during the fall and spring terms.

11.3 The Association elects the faculty members of the Promotion Committee under 4.6 and appoints a member of each grievance hearing panel under 10.3.

11.4 Amendments to the Handbook are submitted to the Association for comment not less than thirty days before they are recommended to the Board. The Association’s comments are forwarded to the Board with the recommendation.

11.5 The Association is not an employee organization certified as an exclusive representative under ORC Chapter 4117. Nothing in this Handbook constitutes a collective bargaining agreement or recognition of a bargaining unit, and nothing in this Handbook limits the rights of employees under that chapter.

Section 12. Separation, Retirement, and Emeritus Status

Summary.

Resignation is submitted in writing not later than March 1 for the following academic year. Retirement is under the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio or the alternative retirement plan elected at appointment. Emeritus status may be conferred by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of the President, on a retiring faculty member who held the rank of Associate Professor or Professor and completed not fewer than ten years of full-time service. Section 12.4 sets out the procedure for reduction in faculty positions following the suspension or withdrawal of a program.