Note: Summer can help you qualify, but those course assignments are not included in May 21 letters, they are given by March 21.

If you have reappointment rights, the department is only required to reappoint you to your baseload in academic year 2026 - 2027. 

If you are not reappointed to your baseload, and the university does not intend to appoint you to a summer class on March 21, 2027, you will be entitled to a courseload reduction payment by September 1, 2026. 

There is a difference between a contact hour reduction and a courseload reduction. A contact hour consists of 50 minutes of in-class teaching. Therefore a semester-long course that meets for 2.5 hours/week equals 42 contact hours for the semester. In some instances, the university may decrease the number of contact hours for a given course or assign you to a course with fewer contact hours, while still meeting your baseload. However, this does not equal a courseload reduction, which is when the course is not offered to you and your baseload is not met. The university is not obligated to offer you the same course year over year. They are only required to meet your baseload.

If your contact hours for academic year 2026 - 2027 are reduced by more than 50% compared to the previous academic year (2025 - 2026), you have the option to “decline any appointment as an adjunct and accept full termination pay in lieu thereof,"  (per Article X.D of the contract). The termination payment will be equivalent to your 2025 - 2026 pay, including administrative service pay.

If one of the courses that you have reappointment rights to is canceled for insufficiency of registration, the university will have two academic years to give you a replacement course. However, this will impact your baseload for the following academic year.