The artwork was created by Bonnie Burleson.
The full time teaching load at SFSU is considered to be 12 WTU (weighted teaching units) per semester. In general, each WTU corresponds to one credit. Thus, one would have to teach four 3 unit courses in order to fulfill one's teaching responsibilities. Although the Biology Dept is very committed to teaching, the Dept also realizes that it would be impossible to teach four classes and run an active reasearch lab. Thankfully, there are several mechanisms in place by which faculty can reduce their teaching load. In the first year of employment at SFSU, faculty are given half time release from teaching. There are also internal mini-grants that offer release time from teaching. These are particularly useful before a faculty member has been awarded an external grant. Faculty can also "buy out" teaching time with external grants. On average, active research faculty teach 1 to 2 courses/semester.
TEACHING
There is a Center for the Enhancement of Teaching on campus. It provides a variety of resources to faculty to help them in their teaching endeavors. They also run an extensive one week long orientation for new faculty each Fall.