Faculty Handbook
Return to Table of Contents
VIII. Q. HIGHER THAN TYPICAL THESIS LOADS
(Source: CAPP minutes and Faculty Mtg minutes Fall 2022)
In AY 2022-23, the CAPP and the full faculty affirmed the centrality of a senior thesis and reaffirmed that a load of three thesis students per faculty member is standard and that four thesis students is an acceptable overload. If thesis students are distributed evenly within a department and faculty members are faced with more than three thesis students each, one or possibly two members of the department can carry six or more thesis students and request a course release. Departments are encouraged to predict their thesis load during the spring (for the coming academic year) so that they can plan and possibly request a course release. When a faculty member carries a load of six or more thesis students, that faculty member, in collaboration with their program/department, can request a course release to be used either during the current/coming year or in the near future (within two years). Such a request should be accompanied by information about current, past, and predicted thesis loads and a staffing plan. This policy is not retroactive. Faculty who take such course releases are strongly encouraged to work closely with CAPP, the Dean of the Faculty, and their department colleagues so that the course release does not cause difficult curricular disruptions and/or hardships for students progressing through the major.