Workload Including Workload Equivalencies and Related Procedures
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Faculty Workload and Workload Equivalents
Pursuant to the University Policy Register 3342-6-18, full-time faculty are defined as those whose sum of their teaching, research, and/or administrative responsibilities and assignments constitutes full-time employment (one hundred percent full-time employment) at СƬƵ.
Furthermore, the University Policy Register establishes that the full-time tenured and tenure-track Faculty are expected to carry a maximum workload of twenty-four (24) credit hours per academic year. All full-time non-tenure track faculty are expected to carry a maximum workload of thirty (30) credit hours per academic year.
Per the faculty handbook of University Libraries, (UL) “All UL faculty work on a 12-month contract. Most functions encompassed in a UL faculty member's workload must be carried on year-round, as a prime library function is to serve the university community whenever service is needed.”As such, University Libraries faculty are expected to carry summer workloads of twelve (12) credit hours for tenure-track faculty and fifteen (15) credit hours for full-time non-tenure track faculty.
The workload for each individual faculty member is assigned by the dean in collaboration with the supervising assistant or associate dean in accordance with Article IX “Faculty Workload” of the Tenure-Track Collective Bargaining Agreement for tenure-track faculty and in accordance with Article IX “Faculty Workload” of the Full-Time Non-Tenure Track Collective Bargaining Agreement. The workload statement each individual faculty member receives will consist of the summary of workload assignment letter, the workload assignment, and the individual faculty member’s goals.
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The Nature and Duties of University Library Faculty
University Libraries faculty accomplish their work through a combination of supervisory direction, collegial interaction, and self-direction. While the pattern of a library faculty member’s professional activity may vary from individual to individual, from week to week, and from semester to semester, their effort is focused on:
⦁ Three areas of educational mission: 1. librarianship, 2. scholarship and 3. service activities (TT) or
⦁ Two areas of educational mission: 1. librarianship and 2. professional development and service activities (FTNTT).The faculty handbook of University Libraries asserts that “Of the three areas of duty, librarianship (job performance) is the most important.”
1.1 Librarianship
The faculty handbook of University Libraries states that “Librarianship stands in place of teaching in University Libraries.”Librarianship broadly encompasses duties and activities that comprise the professional practice of librarianship conducted by library faculty members to support and serve the success of the students, faculty, staff, and community members they serve. Traditionally these include activities related to collections and resources, information technology, teaching and curriculum development, research on behalf of the library or other university units, public service, and research assistance.
University Libraries organizes these duties into four categories (examples may be requested):
1. Functional and Programmatic Duties
2. Public Service Duties
3. Collection Service Duties
4. Coordination, Planning and Assessment Duties1.2 Scholarship
Tenure-track Faculty in University Libraries are expected to engage in scholarship, including but not limited to academic or professional contributions or activities such as publications, editorial work, bibliographies, conference presentations, and research projects.Full-time non-tenure track faculty in University Libraries are not expected to engage in scholarship. FTNTT faculty who engage in scholarship do so outside of normal work duties. Such efforts may be considered as professional development with appropriate rationale from the faculty member.
1.3 Service Activities
Service activities should be broadly understood to include service to the University, Library, and the profession. This includes participation in university, faculty, and library committees that are not directly related to the faculty member’s librarianship assignment or area of expertise, professional associations (local, national, and international), and community associations. -
University Libraries Faculty Workload
University Libraries faculty accomplish their work through a combination of supervisory direction, collegial interaction, and self-direction. While the pattern of a library faculty member’s professional activity may vary from individual to individual, from week to week, and from semester to semester, their effort is focused on:
⦁ Three areas of educational mission: 1. librarianship, 2. scholarship and 3. service activities (TT) or
⦁ Two areas of educational mission: 1. librarianship and 2. professional development and service activities (FTNTT).The faculty handbook of University Libraries asserts that “Of the three areas of duty, librarianship (job performance) is the most important.”
1.1 Librarianship
The faculty handbook of University Libraries states that “Librarianship stands in place of teaching in University Libraries.”Librarianship broadly encompasses duties and activities that comprise the professional practice of librarianship conducted by library faculty members to support and serve the success of the students, faculty, staff, and community members they serve. Traditionally these include activities related to collections and resources, information technology, teaching and curriculum development, research on behalf of the library or other university units, public service, and research assistance.
University Libraries organizes these duties into four categories (examples may be requested):
1. Functional and Programmatic Duties
2. Public Service Duties
3. Collection Service Duties
4. Coordination, Planning and Assessment Duties1.2 Scholarship
Tenure-track Faculty in University Libraries are expected to engage in scholarship, including but not limited to academic or professional contributions or activities such as publications, editorial work, bibliographies, conference presentations, and research projects.Full-time non-tenure track faculty in University Libraries are not expected to engage in scholarship. FTNTT faculty who engage in scholarship do so outside of normal work duties. Such efforts may be considered as professional development with appropriate rationale from the faculty member.
1.3 Service Activities
Service activities should be broadly understood to include service to the University, Library, and the profession. This includes participation in university, faculty, and library committees that are not directly related to the faculty member’s librarianship assignment or area of expertise, professional associations (local, national, and international), and community associations.2. University Libraries Faculty Workload
Typical Workloads for University Libraries faculty
A. All UL faculty work on a 12-month contract. Most functions encompassed in a UL faculty member's workload must be carried on year-round, as a prime library function is to serve the university community whenever service is needed.
B. Librarianship is the most important aspect of workload for UL faculty and stands in place of teaching load.
C. UL faculty workload is the equivalent of carrying a full course and advising load every term, including summers, breaks and intersessions.
As such, UL faculty consider their workloads in terms of percentages of effort. Librarian effort approximates the time dedicated to the discharge of their duties during a normal semester. The normal percentages for UL faculty members in their key areas of responsibility are as follows:
Librarianship
Scholarship
Tenured/Tenure-Track
80% (9.6 credit hours)
20% (2.4 credit hours)
Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track
100% (15 credit hours)
Within UL, T/TT Faculty will be assigned 9.6 credit hours of librarianship per academic semester and 2.4 credit hours of scholarship. They are still expected to participate in service; however, service (unless an off-load is given) is not reflected in the workload statement.Within UL, FTNTT faculty will be assigned 15 credit hours of librarianship per academic semester.
At the discretion of the supervising administrator with the dean’s approval, these normal percentages can be altered to provide an additional workload assignment for research, specific service assignments, and special administrative assignments. These changes would typically be considered off-loads from the librarianship category.
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University Libraries Workload Equivalents
As UL faculty have a full instructional load, their librarianship assignments comprise the majority of their effort. Therefore, the librarianship percentages equal their standard workload assignments.
The equivalencies for a credit hour expressed as effort for UL T/TT and FTNTT is as follows:
Tenured/Tenure-Track
Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track
1 credit hour = 8.3% effort
1 credit hour = 6.6% effort
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Faculty Workload Assignment Principles
All faculty workloads shall be made available to all University Libraries faculty and the College Advisory Committee (CAC), for review and discussion.
According to the FTNTT Collective Bargaining Agreement, “each FTNTT faculty member shall receive a statement of his/her specific workload assignment at least thirty (30) days prior to the beginning of the semester”.
According to the TT Collective Bargaining Agreement, “normally, this individual workload statement should be provided to the Faculty member no later than thirty (30) days prior to the end of the academic semester preceding the semester for which the workload is assigned”.
For University Libraries, the 30 days prior to the end of the preceding semester applies to the summer as well.
Workload is assigned by the dean in collaboration with the supervising assistant or associate dean. Library faculty will have the opportunity to discuss with the dean and their supervising assistant or associate dean the distribution of their duties, considering the operational needs of University Libraries, the faculty member’s need for adequate time to fulfill the principal areas of educational mission, and the skills and expertise of the faculty member.
Workload assignments developed through consultation shall strive to align with the agreed upon departmental, library and university goals to help fulfill the mission of the libraries and university.
Formal workload consultations with individual faculty members will happen at least once a year; however, at the discretion of the faculty member or the dean, consultations may occur as often as needed.
The workload assignment for library faculty will vary according to their assigned duties and collegially determined activities. Responsibilities and goals for librarians will be discussed and determined in the collegial process of consultation that occurs between each librarian, their supervising assistant or associate dean and the dean.
Librarian workloads shall include considerations of reasonable comparability amongst librarians with similar duties in other units, with recognition of the diversity of duties across the library faculty.
University Library faculty and administrators are committed to facilitating ongoing informal discussion to assist in prioritizing and balancing tasks and duties within workload assignments.
When assigning FTNTT faculty workload, the faculty member’s performance review will be taken into consideration. When assigning tenured Faculty workload, the Faculty member’s workload summary report will be taken into consideration. When assigning pre-tenured Faculty workload, the Faculty member’s annual job performance evaluation will be taken into consideration.
Faculty will acknowledge that their workloads have been assigned by an email response to the University Library Dean’s office.
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In-Term Workload Adjustments
When unforeseen circumstances warrant, a library faculty member may request an in-year adjustment to the workload assignment. In these cases, the dean and supervising assistant or associate dean shall consult with the faculty member and, following discussion, document and revise the workload assignment.
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Workload Assignment Distribution
The workload distribution of a librarian will be taken into account at the time of workload assignment. Through consultation it may be determined that a faculty member’s assignment could deviate from the agreed upon typical workload percentages. For example, some of the effort normally devoted to librarianship may be reassigned to scholarship. This could be prompted by the faculty member’s success in research, or in participating in grant-funded research that is not deemed “University Libraries initiated.” Another example could be when a faculty member established a pattern of low research productivity spanning over two-years. This may result in a reduction in the allocation of effort to research.
6.1 Scholarship Assignments and Research Plans
The Dean, in consultation with the appropriate supervising associate or assistant dean and CAC, may assign workload equivalencies for scholarly/research activity. Junior tenure-track Faculty will receive an additional 1 credit hour for research (bringing their total to 3.4 credit hours). For consideration of additional research offload, a research plan is highly recommended.6.2 Service Off-Loads
The Dean, in consultation with the appropriate supervising associate or assistant dean and CAC, may assign workload equivalencies for service activity. From time to time, faculty may be engaged in significant professional, public, and/or other external service activities. In special cases where this service contributes to fulfilling the goals of the Department, College, and/or University, additional workload equivalencies may be granted to individuals who have taken on external service responsibilities above and beyond normal expectations. Unless already pre-determined by existing University Policy, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and/or previous Departmental action[s], all requests for additional workload equivalencies for activities above and beyond normal expectations will be determined by the dean and the appropriate supervising associate or assistant dean after consultation with CAC.6.3 Administrative Assignments
The Dean, in consultation with the appropriate supervising associate or assistant dean and CAC may assign workload equivalencies for administrative service.
6.4 For-Credit Teaching
With administrative approval, University Libraries faculty may teach for-credit offerings for other academic units (see overload assignments originating from another academic unit below). These assignments are normally assigned as overload and the curricular unit funds the overload. These assignments can be considered onload, if the assignment advances the goals and mission of University Libraries, examples include information literacy courses or courses on literature searching. In these cases, the determination of onload versus overload is based on a discussion between University Libraries administration, the faculty member and the curricular unit. -
Overload Assignments
7.1 Originating from within University Libraries
In exceptional circumstances (e.g., staffing challenges, special projects of a strategic nature, functions dictated by university policy), the dean, in consultation with the faculty member’s supervising assistant or associate dean, may assign overload. The amount of overload in credit hours and the duration of the assignment will be determined through consultation.7.2 Originating from Another Academic Unit
From time to time, library faculty are engaged by other academic units at СƬƵ to teach for-credit courses. These assignments are normally considered overload. Library faculty members must have the approval of their supervising assistant or associate dean and the dean to pursue these assignments. Administration will need to evaluate the impact of the potential overload assignment on the faculty members already assigned workload. If approved, this assignment must be documented and signed off on both the academic unit and University Libraries. The faculty member’s workload statement will then recognize this overload assignment. -
Workload Disagreements
If a library faculty member does not agree with their workload, they are advised to request a meeting with their supervising assistant or associate dean and the dean for discussion of their concerns.
If, after this consultation, the faculty member remains in disagreement, they can take their concern to the college advisory committee for review. The college advisory committee will consider the faculty member’s concerns and make a recommendation to the dean.
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Faculty Workload Summaries
Per the TT CBA (Article IX, section 2, D.), all tenured Faculty are required to annually submit a workload summary report and an updated curriculum vita at the end of spring semester. In order to comply with this requirement, the tenured Faculty member needs to summarize their success in achieving their workload assignments and individual goals for the year. These reports should include quantitative evidence of work or goals completed (number of instruction sessions or individual research consultations for example,) as well as discussion of work or goals in progress and scholarly activity undertaken and/or completed during the year under review.
This summary of your accomplishments, along with a copy of your current curriculum vita should be submitted via email to the Dean’s Office as a single pdf file named as: lastname workload summary AY year (example: Robinson workload summary AY23.pdf.)
Unanimously approved by UL faculty on June 28, 2023
Approved by UL Dean on June 28, 2023
Approved by Provost for Approval on July 20, 2023