Any courses releases permitted under these guidelines must be approved by the Chancellor in consultation with the School Director and the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate. A record of these guidelines and any related policies must be confirmed in writing and filed in the Senate Office.

  1. The Senate president shall receive a three-course release for each year of service as the elected leader of the College Faculty Senate.
  2. Course release(s) cannot be accumulated or banked for the future. The release(s) must be taken during the semester(s) the President is serving. Exceptions to this practice may occur occasionally and must be approved in advance by the Senate President’s School Director and the Chancellor.
  3. In normal operations, consultations with the School Director and program faculty should take place as early as possible and all three course releases should not be taken in one semester because of the potentially negative effects on the curricular offerings in the President’s academic unit.
  4. The President-Elect does not receive any course release.
  5. No other Senate officers, committee chairs, members of joint administrative and Senate task forces are eligible for course release.
  6. Penn State Harrisburg faculty elected to the University Faculty Senate, its committees, or related organizations are not eligible for course release.
  7. Should this policy conflict with provisions of the constitutions of the College or University Faculty Senate, a joint committee of Academic Council and the Senate leaders will convene to resolve those conflicts. Any recommendations resulting from the deliberations of the two organizations will be presented to the faculty for advice and consent.
  8. These guidelines confirm the current practices for promoting faculty governance activities at the Penn State Harrisburg campus as it is constituted in the 2008-2009 academic year.

Approved: Academic Council

Revised: Academic Council April 8, 2009