Missouri S&T regards a full-time teaching load as 12 section credits per semester or the equivalent thereof, plus a minimum of 4 office hours per week. A section credit is defined to be one contact hour per week for a lecture course or 3 contact hours per week for a laboratory course. For a faculty member teaching a class for the first time, the equivalent section credits are to be regarded as 1.5 times the official section credits listed for the course. For laboratory courses requiring significant preparation and grading, or large enrollment courses with an unusually heavy grading responsibility, or courses requiring a greater than average technical preparation such as advanced subject courses, the department Chair may assign a weight of up to 1.5 times the listed section credits for that course. As discussed below, individual faculty members may also be released from a portion of their full-time teaching load to engage in research and service activities consistent with the mission of the University.

To fulfill its research and graduate education missions, Missouri S&T expects its faculty to establish an active program of research or scholarship funded at a level consistent with the expectations of the discipline, either in the faculty member's academic discipline or in the teaching and pedagogy associated with their respective discipline. Release time from teaching is provided to fulfill this responsibility. New faculty may have a 1+1 course load for the first three years towards tenure and then a 1+2 load for the following three years. This assumes standard three credit hours courses. In addition, released time may be provided to other faculty who can document an established and active program of research or scholarship. A faculty member who engages in scholarly activity commensurate with the expectations of their discipline may have the equivalent of up to 3 section credits released per semester for that activity. To receive this released time, there must be an established record of the research or scholarly activity including regular publications in a refereed journal of recognized standing, published monographs, or other forms of recognized scholarly or creative work. In addition, a faculty member who is active in research will make annual presentations of the results of their research or scholarship at national or international professional meetings and will supervise students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate level research.

Faculty members can, subject to the approval of the faculty member's department Chair, negotiate for a further reduction in teaching load contingent upon the faculty member's ability to obtain external funding to release a portion of their academic year salary. Funds generated from external grants in this fashion are to be returned to the faculty member's college to allow the hiring or compensation of teaching faculty to replace the teaching services not covered as a result of the faculty member being released from their teaching commitment. To be released from an obligation of 3 section credits for one semester, a faculty member would have to generate from external grants, at a minimum, the larger of 10% of their academic year salary or the actual cost to hire a qualified replacement instructor, with the actual amount to be negotiated by the department Chair and approved by the Dean.

Faculty members with exceptional internationally recognized programs of research or scholarship may receive additional released time with the approval of the department Chair and the Dean. Evidence of an exceptional research program would include a recent publication history of numerous articles per year in refereed national and international journals, frequent publication of monographs, invited talks at national and international meetings, and the ability to attract external grants that support multiple graduate students. Faculty members of this stature are encouraged to buy out part of their academic year salary.

Under normal circumstances, the maximum amount of time that can be released from teaching for research or scholarship related activities is 6 section credits per semester, or the equivalent.

In order to fulfill its service mission, Missouri S&T provides teaching release time to faculty for service activities. Service activities include university committee work, student advising, instructional support activities and supervising, service to the local community on behalf of the university, and service to the professional community at the local level, national, or international levels. Faculty members who can document an average activity of more than eight hours per week may receive a service-related release of teaching time, up to a maximum of 3 section credits per semester. Faculty members with part-time administrative duties may receive additional time released from teaching.