DP Guest Column | In the absence of formal guidelines, AAUP–Penn proposes best practices on the length of instructional periods

We are glad that AAUP–Penn’s petition objecting to the extension of teaching time under the unilaterally decided course schedule change has pressured the central administration to state directly that the new schedule will not require instructors to teach the ten additional minutes per class session. The Associate Vice Provost’s response, however, does not specify that the length of each class period should remain as it is at present (despite being officially extended to all appearances) and ostensibly leaves it up to instructors whether to use the extra ten minutes per class. This does not resolve the concern that some instructors—particularly lecturers with heavier teaching loads and grad instructors—may be pressured to teach longer by their departments and programs in the absence of formal guidelines on the length of class sessions. AAUP–Penn is therefore proposing a set of best practices on course stopping times that we recommend all departments and programs follow, in the interest of faculty and students alike.

Read our 4/20/21 guest column in the Daily Pennsylvanian here:
https://www.thedp.com/article/2021/04/upenn-aaup-faculty-union-course-time-length-schedule