SYE Policy

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SYE Compensation Policy

Last updated: October 2024

In 2010-2011 under consultation with Faculty Council who received a "Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on SYE: Recession Response" our SYE Compensation Policy was revised. The biggest change was that SYE independent studies supervised by tenure track or tenured faculty and completed after Spring 2011 were not eligible for monetary compensation, only for course release accrual. 

Since AY 2014-2015, reporting of SYEs supervised by all faculty members comes from the Registrar's office and is sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (ADFA) at the end of each academic year. Department chairs are asked to verify the information before it is finalized in Dean's office records. 

In Fall 2023 the SYE compensation policy was revised on the recommendation of the Academic Planning Committee to require that faculty members supervise six (rather than four) one-unit SYE independent studies to earn a course release.

The main criteria for compensation for faculty supervision of independent senior SYE research include:

  1. Only SYE-designated independent studies count toward course releases. 
  2. Each one-unit SYE independent study earns a tenure track or tenured faculty member 0.166 of a course release; therefore, six one-unit SYE independent studies earn a faculty member a course release.
  3. A faculty member accrues at most 1 unit of SYE credit for working with an individual student, regardless of the units earned by the student. 
  4. No more than six SYEs may be completed in a single academic year by continuing faculty and staff unless prior authorization for an increase is obtained from the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.
  5. Faculty members have 10 semesters to take an earned course release once the faculty member has been notified by letter from the Dean’s Office that they have earned a course release (that is, have accumulated 6 units of SYE independent study supervision). 
  6. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Department Chair, and faculty member will agree to when the course release will be taken. All such course releases must be approved by the ADFA before they are taken. Generally, only one SYE-related course reduction may be taken per semester. 
  7. Banking of FYP/FYS overload credits may be combined with SYE credits; this must be agreed upon by the Associate Dean of the First Year and the ADFA so that records are accurate in both offices. 
  8. Visiting assistant professors may supervise SYEs, but department chairs need to notify the Dean's office prior to the supervision. These faculty members are paid at a rate of $700 per unit of SYE supervision, and they can supervise at most two one-unit SYEs per academic year. 
  9. The Chemistry department has worked supervision of SYEs into their regular teaching/course workload, so they do not accrue course releases.