Inside the system part 1: Calculating faculty workload

February 2, 2012 by Julie Ann Formoso 

Instruction, scholarly work emphasized in assignments

For some colleges at UNLV, February marks the start of annual evaluations pertaining to faculty workload.
The faculty workload process varies for each college, but despite these differences, each faculty member must follow explicit rules and guidelines in order for the process to be successful.

Assigning workload responsibilities and making sure these assignments are fulfilled are the responsibilities of academic and administrative faculty adhering to workload policies outlined by the Nevada System of Higher Education, the university and the colleges.

The NSHE faculty workload policy states that all instructional faculty members, except those at Desert Research Institute, are expected to teach, develop curriculum and conduct several other duties related to classroom preparation. Additionally, academic faculty members at universities, state colleges and DRI must conduct scholarly research or participate in creative activity.

The NSHE policy also outlines that university faculty members are expected to instruct at least three classes per semester, each worth three credits. By comparison, faculty at Nevada State College must teach four three-credit courses per semester and community college faculty members must teach five three-credit courses each semester.

The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, UNLV’s school of dental medicine and William S. Boyd School of Law are exempt from these rules, according to the NSHE policy.

UNLV’s interim executive vice president and provost Michael Bowers said that these schools are considered professional schools and require a “more hands-on” type of education, so they are not subject to the traditional workload policy.

Despite these explicit guidelines, NSHE grants autonomy to each institution in ensuring its faculty are fulfilling their teaching, service, research and creative activity responsibilities.

Bowers said that at UNLV, some faculty members may be assigned to or voluntarily take on what is known as “course overload” during some semesters.

This typically occurs when sections for a specific course have reached its enrollment capacity and some faculty offer to teach one extra section of the course. Consequently, these faculty members teach four courses one semester instead of three.

In these instances, faculty may be assigned to teach only two courses the next semester — still fulfilling their workload of six courses per academic year as mandated by NSHE — or may be paid part-time instructor wages for volunteering. In the latter case, the faculty member would still teach three courses the following semester.

Faculty members such as department chairs are not expected to teach three courses per semester, but instead are given a lighter workload or a course reassignment because of the heavy responsibility of their administrative positions.

It is the responsibility of college deans and department chairs to ensure that the workload policy at each college is fair and consistent with the aforementioned policies.

Christopher Hudgins, dean of the college of liberal arts, said that faculty members in his college are granted course reassignments — typically a relief from teaching one three-credit course during a semester — if they are involved in heavy research or Ph.D. mentoring.

In order to qualify for a course reassignment, faculty members have to be engaged in research included in peer-reviewed journals or be working on a book intended to be published by either a distinguished university press or well-known trade press.

“We’re aiming at really distinguished publication,” Hudgins said. “That’s the primary criteria for the research assignment — that continuous record of distinguished publication.”

In order for mentoring to exempt him or her from part of a teaching workload, a faculty member who mentors a Ph.D. candidate must exhibit dedication by aiding their student in submitting a paper at a conference or publishing a book.

Hudgins said that course reassignments are rarely justified by service, but are granted for heavily involved faculty members like Gregory Brown, who teaches at the department of history and is also UNLV’s faculty senate chair.

For the UNLV School of Dental Medicine, the process of determining faculty workload is quite different.

Chair Michael Sanders said that the school’s workload policy is based on a weekly assignment of time rather than assignments based on credit hours per academic year.

Full-time faculty members at the dental school are expected to supervise students’ clinical work with patients three days a week, which amounts to 60 percent of each faculty member’s workload.

Each of the dental school professors also instruct a didactic lecture component course similar to the traditional lecture courses offered by UNLV’s academic colleges.

Additionally, each faculty member must mentor a group of 12 to 20 students alongside three of their colleagues. The group is usually comprised of an equal number of students from each year of the program.

Tenure-track and tenured faculty at the dental school are required to research and publish. If these obligations require a substantial amount of the faculty members’ time, their required hours of supervising patient care may be reduced.

Sanders said that a professor’s clinic observation hours may be reduced during the semester if a faculty member is rewarded a prestigious grant.

He also said that the most important workload requirements for faculty are service and teaching.

Faculty’s supervision time may also be cut if their service requires an exceptional amount of time out of the classroom.

Dental school faculty are obligated to serve on UNLV’s various committees, on professional organizations including the Southern Nevada Dental Society or at volunteer clinics throughout Las Vegas.

Bowers emphasized that the workloads faculty take on each year must cater to the students above all.

“What we try to do every semester is … provide [courses that] students need,” he said.

Sanders and Hudgins both commended their faculty’s work. Hudgins said their loyalty to UNLV has been exceptional, especially because merit pay has been suspended as a result of the 2007-2011 NSHE fiscal crisis.

“The thing that impresses me most about [faculty's] dedication in some ways is [that] we haven’t had merit pay in four years,” Hudgins said. “This is an awfully strong faculty in [the college of liberal arts] and in the university.”

INSIDE THE SYSTEM is a three-part series that looks at the processes behind faculty work and review.. The next installment will be published on Monday, March 5.

Julie Ann Formoso reports on faculty and staff issues for The Rebel Yell. Contact her at julieann.formoso.ry@gmail.com.