Faculty Workload Regulation 633

1.1 Principles

UNCSA welcomes the diversity of contributions that each school and multi-year contract faculty member makes to the development and success of UNCSA. All employees whose primary job classification is as a multi-year contract faculty (MYCF) at UNCSA, regardless of contract length and rank, including MYCF who also hold administrative roles (program directors, assistant deans), must have a workload plan. MYCF workload shall be measured through percentages assigned to each of the three categories of faculty workload – teaching, service, and creative activity/research. In accordance with UNC Policy regulation 400.3.4[R](IV)(B), workload plans shall specify outcomes a faculty member is expected to achieve and have clear linkage towards long-term evaluation including contract reappointment and rank promotion if the faculty member elects to pursue promotion.

In accordance with the UNC Policy Manual 400.3.4 Policy on Faculty Workload, individual faculty workload plans will be developed annually as described in regulation 400.3.4[R](IV)(C). At UNCSA “academic unit head” shall be defined as the dean of the school or division, and the “academic unit’s head’s” supervisor shall be defined as the provost. UNCSA expects that some multi-year contract faculty (MYCF) workload plans may differ to reflect each school’s unique contribution to UNCSA.

A 1.0 FTE workload during the academic year (a traditional 9-month period of faculty employment) is defined as (1) a teaching load which accounts for 60-80% of workload with 70-75% representing a typical load for most faculty; (2) other faculty assignments representing service will represent 5-35% of workload; (3) creative activity/research accounts for 5-35%. For faculty in the High School Academic Program, the percentages are as follows: (1) a teaching load which accounts for 70-80% of workload; (2) other faculty assignments representing service will represent 5-20% of workload; (3) creative activity/research accounts for 10-15%. This policy and the UNC System Policy allow for some flexibility and individual planning for workload. Multi-Year Contract Faculty are expected to carry out some share of teaching, creative research, and/or service as part of their workload and therefore the faculty percentages may change depending on service commitments or productive creative activity/research. The percentage in any of these three areas can never equal 0%. As described in section 8.2.6 of the UNCSA Faculty Manual, MYCF are expected to engage in teaching, research, and service. All workloads for an appointment of less than 1.0 FTE shall modify the above definition of workload in a manner that is proportional to the FTE. For example, someone in a phased retirement carrying a 0.5 FTE workload might have only 40% teaching, 5% creative activity/research, and 5% service.

Workload plans should be designed with the faculty member’s school or division needs and the mission of UNCSA in mind. These plans should consider student success, physical and spatial constraints, enrollment, and fiscal considerations. Workload plans should also consider the instructional faculty responsibilities as outlined in section 9.1 of the UNCSA Faculty Manual.

These principles should be common to all UNCSA workload plans:

Transparency: The workload policy should be clearly articulated by the institution and easily accessible to all faculty through publication in the faculty manual. Workload plans will be recorded for each faculty member by the dean, regularly reviewed with the faculty member, and updated as necessary within the school or department. The dean should consult with the MYCF in their school or division when reviewing and updating the unit norms. These updates are also subject to approval by the provost and faculty affairs. If a faculty member does not agree with the dean regarding their individual workload plan, then the dean and/or the faculty member can consult with the provost’s office for resolution.

Clarity: Each school and division should develop clear and published concentration/program norms and expectations for each stage in a faculty member’s contractual obligations. There should also be clarity about extra compensation related to teaching and service that fall outside of the approved workload plan. The compensation for each task should be clear. The opportunities that require extra compensation should be fairly applied across the faculty in schools or divisions.

Credit: The school/division unit norms should comprehensively define workload, including faculty contributions to teaching, research, recruitment, production, and service, such that the school or division can recognize and reward effort in all areas of faculty work.

Equitable: The school or division workload norms should be equitable, such that the range of faculty contributions to the school or division and UNCSA’s mission can be recognized as evenly distributed throughout the school or division by the dean and recognized as equitable by internal and external MYCF. UNCSA will publish these expectations and use data readily available to each school to ensure that the needs of UNCSA are being met fairly across the university by faculty and deans.

Deans should recognize the variation in faculty experience, service obligations, and teaching credentials. Deans should strive to ensure equity among their faculty in the assignment of workload responsibilities. Faculty are expected to engage in a collaborative discussion each year with their dean about the workload needs of the department, division, school, or program, and deans have the responsibility and authority to adjust workload in consultation with faculty as they deem appropriate. The workload policy and established workload norms in each school or division should be regularly reviewed.

1.2 Teaching

As teaching and instruction are the central responsibility and critical base of the UNC System, teaching shall serve as the first and primary component when determining faculty workload assignments.

UNC Policy Regulation 400.3.4[R] uses 24 credit or contact hour equivalents per academic year as the typical benchmark for full-time teaching. In situations where the number of credit hours a course yields is disproportionate to the required instructional time (e.g., a one-credit hour studio class with a six-hour instruction meeting time each week), using 24 contact hours as a benchmark may be a more appropriate measure of teaching workload. For faculty workload plans that use contact hours, there must be a clear explanation within the unit norms of each school or division that explains how contact hours are calculated in relation to semester credit hours and/or courses

1.3 Graduate Education and Secondary Students

Schools and divisions must develop standards to account for the workload of faculty who make a heavy commitment to graduate or high school education through advising, recruiting, supervising theses/capstone projects, and/or instructing large numbers of high school students. For faculty teaching students in graduate and secondary school courses, these assignments should constitute a normal part of a faculty member’s teaching load. Faculty should not assume that such classes constitute a heavier than normal teaching responsibility. In schools with graduate programs, faculty should be assigned graduate courses in an equitable manner consistent with the goals and objectives of the unit.

1.4 New Courses

Faculty generally have expertise and experience, which inform the courses they are most suited to teach. It is also true that faculty may be expected by their dean to teach new courses and/or to assume a teaching load consisting of multiple preparations. Deans should recognize the commitment required to develop new courses and the potential impact that multiple preparations, particularly of newly taught courses within a single year or semester, can have on overall faculty teaching loads. Faculty should be given adequate preparation time and access to educational and pedagogical resources if a course is far removed from their training, education, or expertise. They should also be allowed to teach it more than once to maximize their investment in the course. In limited circumstances, team teaching may be appropriate.

Generally, UNCSA administration knows that new faculty in their first contract period may have teaching loads heavily subscribed with new courses and multiple new course preparations. In these cases, the percentage ascribed to their teaching load may be higher at the beginning of their first contract to accommodate their extra labor regarding content creation and pedagogy. This principle is especially true if new faculty have little teaching experience. They might also be allowed to team teach to gain experience and become familiar with the culture of pedagogy and UNCSA. These workload assignments are determined on a case-by-case basis by the dean when MYCF are hired.

1.5 Online Courses

Online (synchronous, asynchronous, hybrid) instruction, though not typical at UNCSA, often involves a different level of engagement with students and in many cases represents a different workload for the faculty than in-person instruction. For faculty who teach online courses, deans should ensure that this difference in workload is calculated in an equitable way.

1.6 Independent Studies

Some faculty may choose to offer instruction through independent studies, directed readings, and/or undergraduate/graduate research. Schools and divisions must develop procedures to ensure that such instructional outlets are appropriately used and accountable. Deans should ensure that no faculty member is overburdened with any of these instructional modes. With respect to undergraduates, in particular, units must adhere to Academic Integrity Regulations as stated in the University of North Carolina Policy Manual, Regulations 700.6.1[R] III and IV. The dean exercises final oversight and authority over the number of independent study students a faculty may supervise in a given semester. Each faculty member may supervise up to three (3) students per semester or summer session. The Dean or designee of the appropriate school or division may approve an exception to the limit for a compelling reason. As a general principle, supervision of independent studies and/or directed readings should not affect the teaching load assigned to a faculty member. In other words, faculty will not receive extra compensation, nor will it be considered part of their regular teaching load unless there are unusual circumstances.

1.7 Production

Production courses represent a significant teaching workload for faculty who teach and mentor students throughout the production process. Required contact hours for production will be established and managed at the unit level. These contact hours will vary widely based on factors including discipline, accreditation requirements, delivery (e.g., indirect, or direct supervision), and student learning outcomes. Deans should ensure that faculty contact hours in production are accurately accounted for in the overall teaching workload. Faculty required to engage in extensive production contact hours may need to have their research/creative activity and service workload adjusted by the dean to accommodate the production teaching workload.

1.8 Class Size

Workload assignments can account for faculty members who teach exceptionally large courses (recognizing the great variation in normal class sizes by discipline). Each school or division should have a student-teacher ratio norm for each type of course that is offered based on enrollments and FTEs. This norm can be used to determine how exceptionally large or small classes are accounted for by deans and faculty in the workload assignments.

Schools and divisions across UNCSA teach a variety of courses or studios that are characterized by different enrollment patterns, disciplinary norms, and class sizes because of space, content, equipment, pedagogy, or safety. Because the size of a class affects both the way a particular course is taught and the effort required to teach the class, schools and divisions must maintain flexibility to account for high or low enrollment as appropriate. It is assumed that units will
strive to maintain an equitable balance and rotation in course assignments as far as possible to create a transparent, equitable, and shared teaching workload among faculty.

1.9 Service

Deans should recognize the differences in workloads between service at concentration, program, school/division, university, or UNC System levels; at regional, state, national, and international professional levels; and as committee membership distinguished from service as a committee chair. This policy provides flexibility for different types of service to be recognized at different percentages depending on the number of hours that are regularly required. Deans and faculty should refer to the document Definitions & Sample Criteria for ESP Rank Promotion on the UNCSA Faculty Affairs web page for guidance on appropriate service activities.

1.10 Faculty with Administrative Appointments

The dean will set the workload of directors and assistant deans. For deans and associate deans, workload will be set by the provost. The dean is responsible for administering the school or division’s workload policy.

1.11 Anomalies in Workload Distribution

This policy recognizes that there will be unanticipated anomalies in faculty workload that may occur. To accommodate these unanticipated anomalies, the dean should ensure that all faculty make approximately equivalent contributions to the school or division’s combined teaching, research, and service missions on a rolling average across the contract reappointment cycle.

1.12 Revisions of Faculty Workload Plans

During the academic year, a significant circumstance may arise that justifies modifications to a faculty member’s workload plan. For example, a faculty member may be awarded an exceptionally large grant, research, or performance/production opportunity that persuades the dean to change the individual’s teaching and/or service workload. This policy is not intended to trigger repeated workload plan revisions during the academic year. Circumstances justifying the need for workload revision are rare and of significant scale; however, criteria for workload modification may be determined at the school or division level. UNCSA recognizes that personal and external exigencies, including but not limited to natural disasters, death, sickness, injury, pregnancy, adoption, familial care, or pandemics, may require interim adjustments to the standard distribution of workload for faculty. When a significant adjustment is made in a faculty member’s workload (e.g., increasing or decreasing teaching load), that adjustment should be reviewed by the provost, faculty affairs, and the human resources department to ensure that it is appropriate and follows UNCSA policies. Regardless of these adjustments, the school or division must ensure that the curriculum needs of students are met and that supervision of students is addressed in a manner that ensures continuity and student success.

Workload changes during the academic year will be made in rare cases only where the newly arising circumstance represents a new component of the faculty member’s assignment. All faculty must follow UNCSA policy 610 regarding External Professional Activities for Pay.

The Faculty Leaves of Absence Policy (8.3.2) in the UNCSA faculty manual must be followed. In no case should the award of leave, reassignment of duties, or a fellowship affect the faculty member’s teaching load in the semester(s) following completion of the leave, reassignment of duties, or fellowship. During faculty annual reviews, the dean is expected to acknowledge circumstances when the faculty workload was necessarily changed and to consider these factors appropriately in faculty performance evaluations.