Handbook of Operating Procedures > Series 300 Faculty and Academic Policies > 3.2.3 Faculty Workload

3.2.3 Faculty Workload

A. Purpose

This document states institutional policy concerning faculty workload. 

B. Persons Affected

Faculty who are employed full-time at the University of Texas at Tyler.

C. Definitions

Faculty workload encompasses the areas of teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity (hereinafter scholarship), and service (see HOP 3.3.4) All tenure-track and tenured faculty are expected to engage in all three areas. Non-tenure track faculty members are not expected to engage in research, unless required by their discipline/department.

D. Policy

Under the supervision of the College Dean, the Chair (Director) is responsible for the deployment of faculty in ways that facilitate student success and advance the mission of the Department/School.

E. Responsibilities

1. Each academic unit shall develop its own Workload Implementation Plan (WIP) for this Faculty Workload Policy, under the supervision of the College Dean, and submit for review and approval of the President or designee.
2. At the end of each Spring semester, Chairs (Directors) shall certify that teaching loads for the academic year are consistent with this policy and the unit’s WIP. Certifications for each college shall be approved by the Dean and the Provost.
3. The Chair, in consultation with the Dean, can request additional faculty FTE funding and resources from the Provost based on sufficient growth, changes in accreditation standards, or in comparison to similar programs at peer institutions.

F. Procedures/Guidelines

Each academic unit in the University must meet its mission-related objectives in teaching, scholarship and service within their approved budgets by implementing this faculty workload policy through an approved unit Workload Implementation Plan (WIP) designed to maximize the success of its students, faculty and programs. Because different disciplines may have very different pedagogical methods, scholarship models, and service missions, the responsibility for creating unit and individual faculty workload plans lies with the Department/School and its administrators. For these reasons, each academic unit shall develop its own WIP for this Faculty Workload Policy, and in so doing, adhere to the following campus-wide parameters:

1. The Workload Implementation Plan shall allocate sufficient faculty time and effort to teach all courses needed for its students to successfully graduate in a timely manner, and
   1. Shall be budget and revenue neutral, i.e., produce as many or more Student Credit Hours (SCH) as the average of the previous three-year unit history, with current faculty FTE;
   2. Shall be aligned with the unit’s Annual Faculty Evaluation, Tenure and Promotion; (including Periodic Review of Tenured Faculty), and Merit policies and procedures;
   3. Shall be developed collaboratively with the faculty to whom it will be applied;
   4. Shall be fair and equitable across faculty, disciplines, units and colleges;
   5. Shall be submitted to and approved by the unit’s College Dean and the Provost.
2. Tenure-track and tenured faculty workloads are expected to include teaching, scholarship and service. Non-tenure track faculty workloads are expected to include teaching and service, and in some units may include research. New tenure-track faculty members may have a lower teaching load during their initial years of service, with more of their workload allocated to the development of their Scholarship and their courses.
3. The WIP may have flexible ranges of workload proportions across teaching scholarship and service for different faculty, and
   1. Within Teaching, the WIP may differentiate among the variety of courses, formats, and delivery modes represented in the unit in determining how different courses are to be allocated as workload portions among unit faculty (e.g., graduate or undergraduate, direct supervision courses, courses with labs, clinical practice courses, individualized instruction, very large sections, supervision of student teachers, co-teaching, etc.).
   2. Within Scholarship, the WIP may differentiate assigned workload for research and creative endeavors, with corresponding adjustments to Teaching loads. As Scholarship workload is increased, so will the expectations for productivity in Scholarship.
   3. Within Service, the WIP may differentiate workload for department, college and university administrative roles and responsibilities, with corresponding adjustments to expected Teaching loads.
   4. In determining a-c above, individual faculty members in a unit may have different numbers of courses assigned; however, the expectation is that these are functionally equitable across faculty members in a unit.
   5. The unit of measurement for workload shall be %’s of time and effort. Each faculty member shall be assigned annually by their Chair (Director) an individual workload assignment, in which the member’s allocation of time and effort is distributed in percentages for each area, totaling 100%. These may vary across faculty, and for a faculty member, across time and career. This annual workload may also be adjusted during the year for unexpected needs and/or opportunities.
4. Workload credit may be allocated by the Chair for major academic advising responsibilities, for preparing major documents in the fulfillment of programmatic needs or accreditation requirements, and other occasional and extensive assignments. These may be assigned within Teaching or Service, as appropriate.
5. Work load for Chairs (Directors) shall follow HOP 3.2.0, with a commensurate higher Service load proportion.  

G. Review

The Divisional Head for this policy is the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. This policy is reviewed every five years or sooner if deemed necessary by the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs in consultation with the Faculty Senate.

H. Relevant Federal and/or State Statues, Board of Regents' Rule, UTS Policy, and/or Coordinating Board Rule

• Texas Education Code 51.402
• University of Texas System Regents’ Rule 31006
• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board report: CBM008