Academic Staff Workloads
8 WORKLOADS
8.1 Faculties and the Central Administration of the University have a responsibility for monitoring workload trends and developing and implementing strategies to address emerging workload trends, in accordance with policies and procedures set out in the HRM. The Faculties and Central Administration shall report annually on strategies implemented within their respective areas to address workload trends or problems and they shall report on workload problems that they have been unable to resolve.
8.2 Academic Staff Workloads
a) Academic staff are employed to carry out academic work as provided in the MSALs.
b) Faculty Workload Allocation Standards and Guidelines will include notional contact hours for academic staff, and will reflect the requirements of disciplines and endeavour to achieve equitable and manageable workloads across the Faculty. Faculties and/or Schools can vary the workload allocations according to formulae published in the guidelines. Consultations with academic employees will occur over major variations to the guidelines.
c) Program Co-ordinators shall allocate workload using a transparent, efficient, and consultative process, and in a manner consistent with an academic’s classification and time fraction. Consultation on workloads will provide academic staff with opportunities to participate, develop, and balance their expertise across relevant areas of academic work.
d) Academics will normally be given 3 weeks notice of their workload allocation for the semester, and where they are required to teach a unit for the first time will be given a minimum of 4 weeks and normally 8 weeks before the unit commences.
e) Where appropriate the allocation of workloads shall take into account:
(i) the number of students in, and the level of, a unit or course;
(ii) contact hours, consultations with students, postgraduate supervision, field work, practicum and clinical duties, and on-line delivery;
(iii) assessment duties;
(iv) administration duties, and the development and co-ordination of units and courses;
(v) research, scholarship, and community and professional service;
(vi) involvement in University consultancies and teaching overseas;
(vii) travel to places of work other than the employee’s main campus;
(viii) requirements to meet specific objectives to achieve tenure, and expectations of higher degree study.
f) In order to promote and assist junior academic employees, Heads of Schools shall allocate teaching duties for employees in a probationary period allowing these employees sufficient time to develop a research and/or professional profile to meet their probation goals.
g) A workload grievance shall be referred for resolution to a Faculty Committee comprising the Head of School or a Professor of the discipline, a nominee of the Dean familiar with the discipline, and 2 academic staff elected by the academic staff in the discipline area.
h) The University will take such steps as are reasonable and practicable in the circumstances to achieve its target for student/staff ratios as set out in its Strategic Plan 2004 - 2008.