Reassigned/Release Time

 > Types of Support

What is reassigned time?:  The College provides the opportunity for faculty to apply for a reduced teaching load for a semester in order to pursue other specific activities. The provision of reassigned time normally reduces the instructor's teaching load from three to two courses without a reduction in salary. About six or seven reassigned time opportunities are available each year.


What is an appropriate use of reassigned time?:  Reassigned time can be used for a variety of purposes.

  1. Scholarship: significant scholarly or creative activity leading to publishable or public results
  2. Professional Development: developing expertise and knowledge outside one's discipline or disciplinary specialty
  3. Curricular development: substantial curricular development, such as design (or major redesign) of pivotal courses, which is well beyond normal course development expectations.  
A theme common to these categories is an assessment of the project's value to the College. The project should provide as much value to the College as the benefit that would be derived from the faculty member's teaching the class in question.

What criteria are used to grant reassigned time?:  Reassigned time decisions are made by the R&D Committee using the following criteria.

  1. Quality: The committee first looks to the general quality of the project, especially in competitive comparison with the other reassigned time proposals. 
  2. Magnitude: The project's scope should match the time resources made available by the reassigned time.
  3. Timeliness: Reassigned time is particularly appropriate for those projects which, for substantive reasons inherent in the nature of the project itself, must be done during the semester requested and that cannot wait, for example, until the summer.

How are other college committees involved in the reassigned time decision?:  The R&D Committee is helped in its deliberations by the Academic Program and Standards Committee and the appropriate personnel committee. 

  1. For proposals involving curricular development, AP&SC comments on the project's curricular potential for the college.  For all projects, AP&SC assesses the impact on the college's overall program, bringing a wider view than the particular department.  
  2. The appropriate personnel committee is also consulted. They consider whether the project is in harmony with the professional direction contained in the individual's Professional Activity Statement and the College's response.  

After receiving input from these perspectives, R&D awards reassigned time using the criteria outlined above.

Please be sure to check for proposal deadlines--click on the Deadlines link on the sidebar.

  • Special application instructions for just this program:
    • Include a letter of support from the department chair. The department must first agree that the effects of the reassigned time will not harm its offerings, especially to its majors. This agreement is expressed in a letter of support from the department chair and should represent the consensus of the department. If the applicant is the department chair, another senior colleague should prepare the letter. 
    •  If the project includes expenses, also provide a budget. 

  • See general Reporting Requirements
    (no special reporting requirements for just this program)
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA 17013