Workload Agreements

New Faculty Orientation

Patricia Linton

Professor of English

Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

• Process of proposing, approving, and

updating workload agreement

• Importance of fulfilling workload agreement

• Service component

Annual Workload agreement

Annual Activity Report

Review File

Workload Agreement

May be initiated by Assigned by

Faculty Dept Dean

Chair

Workload Proportions

• Tripartite (Teaching + Research /Creative activity + Service)

3:1:1 2:2:1

• Bipartite (ex: Teaching + Service) 4:1

Workload type (tripartite or bipartite) approved by Dean & Provost prior to hire

Specificity in Workload Proposal

• Overall proportions (ex. 3:1:1 or 4:1) generally stable. Variations require approval by Dean/Provost. Proportions unlikely to be modified midyear.

• Teaching: very specific• Research: less specific• Service: less specific

Midyear Revision of Workload

• Changes in actual workload require revision of workload document and formal approval by the dean

• Faculty evaluation is based on the approved workload agreement

• Changes should be discussed with chair and dean before commitment

Revision of Workload Agreement

• Proposed change in proportions – very substantial issue; should be discussed with chair & dean prior to submission. Requires specific approval of the Dean.

• Proposed change in teaching assignment (specific courses) – common, but workload agreement should be corrected

Revision of Workload Agreement

• Modification of research /creative activity – generally does not require workload revision. It is expected that the Activity Report will be more specific than the Workload Agreement.

• Change in Service – commonRequires revision if anything substantial is deleted from the signed agreement. It is expected that the Activity Report will be more detailed.

Fulfillment of Workload Agreement

1. Avoid Overloads

2. Make choices – if you propose an addition, consider subtracting or narrowing something else

3. Protect your research time

Time Demands

• Teaching – relatively predictable, especially as a faculty member gains experience

• Research /Creative activity – less predictable

• Service – less predictable

Service

• Departmental (not department meetings or general advising)

• College/University

• Professional

• Public Service(non-remunerative, drawing on professional expertise; not general good citizenship)

Service

• Requests / invitations for service often come after submission of the original workload proposal. Something must be specified in the original proposal, but something more interesting or valuable may come along later.

• Stay within the specified proportion of the workload

• Make choices

Summary - Avoiding Problems

• Faculty performance is evaluated against the signed workload agreement

• Not fulfilling part of the signed workload agreement can lead to problems in review

• Faculty cannot self-assign revised workloads. Consult your chair and dean.