SIS - Instructor Assignments: Guidelines and Considerations

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This document 1) describes how university employees become assignable as instructors in the Student Information System, 2) defines instructor roles, and 3) lists instructional job codes.

Table of Contents


Adding new instructors to SIS

New instructors must be entered into the campus HR system with an instructional appointment before their names can be added to a course in the Student Information System (SIS). An employee with a non-instructional job title must also hold an instructional appointment to be assigned to teach a class. Individuals with instructional appointments (see list below) are automatically loaded from the HR system into SIS and made available in SIS to be assigned to classes as instructors.

Contact the human resource person in your department to initiate the process of adding an instructor into the campus HR system. 

Per the Policy on Minimum Qualifications for Instructional Staff, to serve as a course instructor, UW employees must:

  1. As a default standard, have earned a terminal degree, or a degree at least one level higher than the degree for which the course to be taught can be counted;

  2. Hold an instructional title to be eligible to be a course instructor, and;

  3. Have their highest degree information (or alternative qualification justification) entered into HRS.

Note: Teaching Assistants and Lecturer-SAs hold positions that are by definition supervised by a qualified instructor. For this reason, data entry of the highest degree information for individuals teaching with these titles is not required.

In exceptional circumstances, departments can file a “Pending Instructor Petition” to have an employee added as an eligible course instructor while the addition of their instructional appointment is being processed. Petitions can only be made within four weeks of the start of instruction and, if approved, the required appointment in an instructional title must exist in the campus HR system by the fourth week of instruction (or equivalent for a summer or modular session) or the instructor will be removed from the Instructor/Advisor table in SIS and any courses to which the instructor is assigned for the term.  


Qualified instructors and instructional roles

When departments and programs assign instructors to courses, they will also determine what role that instructor has in the course. It’s helpful to be familiar with the Policy on Minimum Qualifications for Instructional Staff to understand the specific definition of a “qualified” instructor.

Principal

Every section of a course must have a principal instructor. This is the instructor who regularly interacts with students in that section, typically holds office hours, and is the first line of contact for students with questions or problems. Some sections might have more than one principal instructor. Principal instructors could be professors, lecturers, teaching assistants, etc.

Example: GENETICS 467 has two principal instructors (a professor and an associate professor) who share teaching duties.

Supervisory

A supervisory instructor will be a “qualified” instructor associated with the section when the principal instructor is not qualified or needs supervision (such as a teaching assistant supervised by a professor). Only one supervisory instructor can be assigned to a course.

Example: SPANISH 102 is usually taught by teaching assistants, who are the principal instructors. A faculty member serves as the course coordinator for all SPANISH 102 offerings. This is the supervisory instructor and isn’t usually known to the students enrolled in this course.

Auxiliary

An auxiliary instructor provides a small portion of instruction in the section but does not have substantial responsibility for the curriculum or its delivery. A section may have no instructors in this type of role, or one, or several.

Example: PSYCH 202 has a principal instructor (a faculty associate) who is recognized by the students as their teacher. There is also a teaching assistant who provides some additional instruction. This TA is an auxiliary instructor.

For sections numbered 001 to 299 (most lectures, seminars, and independent-study sections), the principal instructor must be qualified or have a supervisory instructor also listed for that section.

For sections 300 to 999 (most discussions and labs), the principal instructor doesn’t need to be qualified. These kinds of sections are associated with a lecture or seminar (a section numbered 001 to 299), which requires a qualified principal or supervisory instructor. 

View a PDF flowchart of the instructor role relationships.


Job codes loaded as instructors in SIS

UW–Madison job titles and codes are determined by the Office of Human Resources. The following are instructional job titles and codes effective November 2021. These are part of the job titling system implemented under the campus Title and Total Compensation Project. Individuals with these appointments are automatically loaded from the campus HR system into SIS and made available in SIS to be assigned to classes as an instructor.  

Table of Job Titles, Job Codes, and Employee Classes for Instructional Appointments
Job Title Job Code Employee Class
Professor  FA020 faculty
Associate Professor FA030 faculty
Assistant Professor FA040 faculty
Instructor FA050 faculty
Adjunct Professor IC001 academic staff
Associate Adjunct Professor IC002 academic staff
Assistant Adjunct Professor IC003 academic staff
Adjunct Instructor IC004 academic staff
Clinical Adjunct Professor IC005 academic staff
Associate Clinical Adjunct Professor IC006 academic staff
Assistant Clinical Adjunct Professor IC007 academic staff
Distinguished Clinical Professor IC008 academic staff
Clinical Professor IC009 academic staff
Assoicate Clinical Professor IC010 academic staff
Assistant Clinical Professor IC011 academic staff
Clinical Instructor IC012 academic staff
Distinguished Professor (CHS) IC013 academic staff
Professor (CHS) IC014 academic staff
Associate Professor (CHS) IC015 academic staff
Assistant Professor (CHS) IC016 academic staff
Instructor (CHS) IC017 academic staff
Professor Emeritus IC018 academic staff
Associate Professor Emeritus IC019 academic staff
Assistant Professor Emeritus IC020 academic staff
Instructor Emeritus IC021 academic staff
Professor L/I IC022 academic staff
Associate Professor L/I IC023 academic staff
Assistant Professor L/I IC024 academic staff
Professor of Military Science IC025 academic staff
Associate Professor of Military Science IC026 academic staff
Assistant Professor of Military Science IC027 academic staff
Instructor of Military Science IC028 academic staff
Visiting Professor IC029 academic staff
Associate Visiting Professor IC030 academic staff
Assistant Visiting Professor IC031 academic staff
Visiting Instructor IC032 academic staff
Visiting Lecturer IC036 academic staff
Instructor L/I IC037 academic staff
Lecturer (SA) SA004 student assistant
Teaching Assistant-Standard SA011 student assistant
Teaching Assistant-Senior SA012 student assistant
Teaching Asst Doct SA016 student assistant
Teaching Asst Dissertat SA017 student assistant
Teaching Assistant SA018 student assistant
Instructional Administrator TL001 academic staff
Lecturer TL020 academic staff
Teaching Professor TL022 academic staff
Teaching Specialist TL024 academic staff
Teaching Faculty I TL025 academic staff
Teaching Faculty II TL026 academic staff
Teaching Faculty III TL027 academic staff
Teaching Faculty IV TL031 academic staff
Professor of Practice TL053 academic staff
Assistant Teaching Professor TL055 academic staff
Associate Teaching Professor TL056 academic staff



Keywordscourse (courses, class), name, sis (SIS), roles, TA, T.A., instructor, instructors, faculty   Doc ID114283
OwnerKate K.GroupOffice of the Registrar
Created2021-10-13 14:10:35Updated2024-01-31 15:47:23
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