Summer and Winter Term FAQs

Lock Date

The Lock Date is the date the university will assess enrollment for the purpose of triggering threshold requirements. The Lock Date will be the final day to review, approve, and set the course enrollment in regards to the minimum faculty pay for Summer and/or Winter Term classes. 

1. For Winter Term, the lock date is the Friday of the Fall semester final exam week.
2. For Summer Term, the lock date is 15 calendar days prior to the first day of class. 

On the lock date, courses with enrollments below the run/cancel threshold of 10 must be canceled, unless an exception has been requested by the Divisional Dean and approved by the provost.  

When course cancellation is needed, Chairs will make appropriate efforts to cancel classes as early in the preceding semester as possible to provide students and faculty time to plan for alternatives. Those cancellations will be communicated to the instructor and enrolled students as soon as is practical. 

Compensation

Full-time faculty members who teach during the Summer and/or Winter Term will be compensated based on their base salary for the current academic year. The rate for teaching is 3% per credit hour when the course meets the full enrollment threshold.  Faculty will be paid an equivalent proportion of that calculation if the course runs and enrollment is below the full enrollment threshold. Salary for a single course cannot exceed $20,000 for Oxford faculty and $10,000 for regional faculty. If a low enrolled course runs, the faculty will be paid a minimum of $1,025 per credit hour for a typical lecture course or the proportional amount as specified below, whichever is higher.

Note: Overload pay in the fall and spring semesters will remain at $1,025 per credit hour for full-time faculty for a typical lecture course.

The key points of the policy:

• Courses below 10 students on the lock date (see below) will be canceled, unless approved by the provost based on special circumstances.
• Salary of 3% of base salary per credit hour for fully enrolled classes
• Salary for low enrolled classes will be based on a proportional percentage of the full enrollment threshold
  • Maximum payment per course of $20,000 for Oxford faculty and $10,000 for regional faculty
  • Minimum payment per course of $1,025 per credit hour.

Low Enrolled Courses

Scheduled courses below the full enrollment threshold will be identified, and Chairs will send a ‘low-enrollment notice’ to those instructors within one business day after the Lock Date. Those instructors will have 48 hours to accept or decline to teach those low-enrolled courses. Declined courses may be canceled or offered to another instructor at the Chair’s election. 

Instructor pay will be calculated using the enrollment numbers as they appear on the Lock Date, and not less than that calculation, even if enrollment declines. If course enrollment increases after the Lock Date, the faculty member will be compensated based on the enrollment on the day after the online add/drop period ends. To assess whether a pay increase is warranted due to post–Lock Date enrollment growth, an enrollment report will be run the day after the web add/drop period ends. If enrollment increases after the Lock Date, then the department may either: 

• Submit the initial pay action using the highest enrollment number for pay calculation; OR, 
• Submit a supplemental pay action for the increased amount over what was initially submitted. 

As workshops run under the workshop budget model, they fall outside of the policy. Graduate classes are regular classes that fall under the policy; some/many graduate classes will likely need to request exceptions. 

Low Enrollment Pay Schedule- Faculty pay for under enrolled courses will be determined using the below table for each enrollment and course credit hour combination:

*Keeping in mind the minimum and maximum amounts referenced above

** Low enrolled courses under the run/cancel threshold that are approved as an exception will be prorated based on the actual number of students, unless previously agreed to in writing with the Dean. Academic Personnel will assist with pay calculation. 

Summer and/or Winter Term teaching is equally available to all full-time non-visiting members of the instructional staff in a department with the approval of the divisional dean. While departmental policy and curricular needs may further specify eligibility, no rank will be systematically discriminated against in the selection of eligible faculty. Summer and/or Winter Term teaching should not be used as a recruiting inducement. Part-time faculty may be recommended to teach in the Summer and/or Winter Term only after all eligible full-time faculty members have been given the opportunity.

No faculty member is required to teach during the Summer and/or Winter Term.

No faculty member is required to teach during the winter term.

Exceptions to the four credit hour limit must be approved by the faculty member’s department chair or program director, academic dean, and provost. Exceptions may be made when there is high demand for an additional course or section of a course and no other faculty are available to teach that course other than those already scheduled to teach a single section of a Winter Term course.

Faculty members who do not teach during the winter term will not receive additional pay. (See explanation below for pay related to grants and contracts.)

The regular monthly payroll will be used to pay additional salary earned for Summer and/or Winter Term teaching. As long as the request for payment is received no later than the 15th day of the month, payment will be entered on that month’s payroll and paid on the last working day of that month. Any request for payment that is received on the 16th day of the month or later will be paid on the next monthly payroll.

Miami University adheres to Federal OMB Circular A-21 which prohibits supplemental pay on federally sponsored projects during a faculty or staff member’s regular period of full-time service to the university unless: a) the work is for a project director in a Miami University department other than the individual’s department, and the work is clearly in addition to the individual’s regular workload; or b) the work involves a separate or remote operation, and the work is clearly in addition to the individual’s regular workload.

When any portion of a faculty or staff member's salary is derived from work performed under a grant or contract administered by Miami University, the amount charged to the grant or contract will be based upon the individual's regular rate of compensation under their current appointment.

Time devoted toward earning supplemental pay during a faculty or staff member's regular period of full time service to the university may not exceed an average of one day per week, including any other time committed to outside service for which compensation may be earned as defined in the "Ethics and External Services" policy during the individual's regular period of full time service to the university.

If full-time teaching duties are not assigned to a faculty or staff member during the Summer and/or Winter Term, the individual may be eligible for supplemental pay on a grant or contract where the supplemental pay:

• Is within the approved budget for the grant or contract and follows the guidelines of the sponsoring agency;
• Is at a rate not to exceed the individual’s base salary on a daily basis, pro-rated for the level of effort devoted to teaching duties during fall and spring semester minus the level of effort devoted to teaching duties during winter term; and
• Does not exceed an average time commitment of one day per week, including any other time committed for supplemental pay as defined in the "Ethics and External Services" policy during the individual’s regular period of full-time service to the university.

See the Office of Enrollment Management's comprehensive table that calculates the instructional minutes needed for Summer and Winter Term courses.