POL 02.05.04 - Faculty Workload Policy

Authority:

Chancellor

Responsible Office:

Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Accreditation

Date Established:

10-18-2013

Last Revised:

02-23-2024

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 UNC Policy 400.3.4 Policy on Faculty Workload specifies that each UNC institution shall develop policies and procedures on faculty workload and establish, publish, and monitor specific academic workload requirements that are consistent within the institution and across UNC institutions. Each constituent institution shall ensure that their faculty workload policies and procedure address workload expectations. Workload decisions should be made with educational mission, student success, and financial implications in mind.

1.2 The UNC Pembroke Faculty Workload Policy will address the policies and procedures the university has established regarding faculty workload requirements. Faculty workload policies consider faculty members' contributions to the university's mission. Teaching responsibilities will serve as the core requirement and foundation of the university's faculty workload policy. Faculty workload policies will also acknowledge and recognize faculty members' contributions in the areas of designing and implementing curricula and academic programs, facilitating student success, engaging in scholarship, providing service to their disciplines and their communities, and enhancing the quality of life for North Carolinians.

2. SCOPE

2.1 The UNC Pembroke Faculty Workload Policy applies to all tenured, tenure-track, and full-time non-tenure-track faculty. It also applies to all persons who supervise these faculty members with respect to the establishment or monitoring of faculty workload. This includes department chairs, deans, associate deans, and personnel in the Office of Academic Affairs, primarily the provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, and in the Office of the Chancellor.

3. DEFINITIONS

3.1 Teaching refers to all activities involved in preparing and conducting the courses that a faculty member is assigned to teach as well as auxiliary teaching activities. The broad dimensions of teaching include imparting general and specific knowledge, developing skills, motivating students, setting requirements, evaluating performance, and success with effective teaching practices. Teaching communicates the knowledge and values and imparts the skills necessary for individuals to lead responsible, productive, and personally satisfying lives.

3.2 Research/creative activity (hereafter “scholarship”) is defined as a set of disciplined intellectual activities that create or refine knowledge and exert influence through public dissemination in an academically respectable format. scholarship consists of those activities which are devoted to (a) creating basic knowledge, (b) compiling or synthesizing knowledge, (c) applying existing basic knowledge to the solution of practical problems, (d) applying professional knowledge and skills to artistic problems, or (e) completing a special program of intellectual development.

3.3 Service is defined as those activities that promote the welfare of the university, benefit a faculty member's field of professional expertise, or that promote the welfare of the community, state, nation, or international community.

3.4 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) means a workload that represents a full-time effort at UNC Pembroke in keeping with the UNC Pembroke faculty workload policy. A teaching load of twenty-four (24) semester credit hour per academic year, along with other routinely expected duties such as those defined in 3.2 and 3.3 above, generally constitutes a full workload and a 1.0 FTE appointment.

3.5 Standard Faculty Teaching Load is the number of semester credit hours or courses each full-time faculty member is expected to teach in a semester or an academic year.

3.6 Overload is coursework taught by full-time faculty that exceeds the standard teaching load. It also refers to an additional non-teaching university assignment equivalent to one additional course per semester.

3.7 Faculty Reassigned Time is a reduction in the standard faculty teaching load for the purpose of undertaking other non-instructional activities in areas such as research, service, or other professional development.

3.8 Area Weight is the percentage of time a faculty member indicates on the annual Self-Evaluation Report that they have allocated to the various components of their workload in teaching, scholarship, and service. Faculty members are evaluated in three areas (teaching, scholarship, and service) to which flexible area weights are assigned.

4. POLICY STATEMENTS

4.1 Workload Expectations

4.1.1 UNC Policy 400.3.4 establishes that each full-time faculty member will engage in approved work that totals to 1.0 Full-Time Equivalency (FTE). Faculty members have responsibility for teaching, scholarship, and service.

4.1.1.1 Consistent with G.S. 116-1(b), teaching is the university's primary responsibilities and forms the critical base of workload expectations for faculty. In addition to organized courses, the faculty member's instructional workload also includes auxiliary teaching activities such as developing materials for a new course; updating materials for an existing course; supervising undergraduate research, masters' theses, doctoral dissertations, or other learning not directly tied to an assigned course; administering teaching-related grants; supervision of students in co-curricular activities, internships, and other activities that support student success; and participating in activities for professional development as a teacher.

4.1.1.2 Scholarship. Faculty members at UNC Pembroke engage in the work of discovering, disseminating, and applying knowledge and professional expertise. These activities may include (but are not limited to) working in laboratories and studios, conducting empirical and/or theoretical research, engaging in development or translational work, and/or producing creative works, and community engagement which results in creative or scholarly outcomes. Toward that end, faculty write articles, monographs, and grant proposals, edit scholarly journals, prepare juried art exhibits, direct centers and institutes, or perform in plays, concerts, or musical recitals. Scholarship has significant implications for teaching. Scholarship enables faculty members to design course materials that reflect the state-of-the-art and cutting-edge knowledge in their respective fields.

4.1.1.3 Service. Faculty members at UNC Pembroke engage in service that advances the work of the university and the university's role in supporting North Carolina. Service work of faculty may include activities which enhance the scholarly life of the university or the discipline, improve the quality of life or society, or promote the general welfare of the

university, professional and academic societies, the community, the state, the nation, or

international community. Faculty members may also be assigned administrative responsibilities, including but not limited to, department chair/head, program director, and center director.

4.1.2 In accordance with UNC Policy 400.3.4 Section III, Required Components of Faculty Workload Policies, as teaching is the primary mission of the university, teaching serves as the first component of determining faculty workload expectations. In general, a teaching load of twenty-four (24) semester credit hours per academic year, along with routinely expected faculty duties such as advising, committee work, and professional development together constitute a full workload and a 1.0 FTE appointment. At UNC Pembroke, the normal teaching load is twelve (12) semester credit hours per semester or twenty-four (24) semester credit hours per academic year. Faculty teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses will have a teaching load of twenty-one (21) semester credit hours for the academic year in which the graduate course occurs. Faculty teaching only graduate courses will have a teaching load of eighteen (18) semester credit hours for the academic year. Faculty members holding exceptional responsibilities for scholarship and service as identified in their annual work plan can have their teaching workload adjusted on a commensurate basis.

4.1.3 The standard teaching load for faculty teaching graduate course is based on the recognition that the greater rigor and enhanced requirements of graduate courses relative to that of undergraduate courses require faculty to devote more time and effort to course preparation. Additionally, graduate programs at UNC Pembroke require students to conduct research projects and complete research assignments. Therefore, faculty are expected to allocate significant time and effort to research and scholarly activity in order to maintain currency in their professional fields and enhance their ability to impart research skills to their students.

4.1.4 Differential teaching loads may be authorized in recognition of differing individual circumstances. At UNC Pembroke, variations from the standard faculty teaching load may be granted for purposes such as externally funded or institutionally supported research; university, community, or professional service; course/curriculum development; extraordinary academic advising responsibilities; accreditation/program review; academic administration; and professional development. All variations in faculty teaching load are approved by the department chair, dean of the appropriate college or school, and the provost/vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

4.1.5 Faculty members are evaluated in the three areas of teaching, scholarship, and service, to which flexible area weights are assigned. An area weight is the percentage of time a faculty member indicates in the annual Self-Evaluation Report that they have allocated to the various components of their workload in teaching, scholarship, and service. According to UNC Pembroke Faculty Evaluation Policy, faculty members have considerable freedom to allocate their time and effort in ways that use their competencies most productively while still fulfilling their responsibilities to the university. To allow individual choices to play a meaningful role in self-evaluation, the faculty member indicates a set of annual area weights when completing a Self-Evaluation Report. Evaluators consider these weights in developing overall performance evaluations.

4.1.5.1 For faculty members with a regular twelve semester credit hour teaching load per semester or twenty-four semester credit hours per academic year, the percentage of effort allocated to teaching must be between 60% and 70%, depending on the number of semester credit hours taught. It is expected that faculty who are teaching twelve semester credit hours per semester or twenty-four semester credit hours per academic year will ordinarily select a percentage for teaching that is closer to 70%, and faculty with lower teaching loads (nine semester credit hours per semester or eighteen semester credit hours per academic year, for example) will adjust their percentage of effort for teaching accordingly, but that the percentage will be no less than 60%. For scholarship and service, the area weight reflecting the percentage of effort allocated may range between 10% and 30% for each area but may not be less than 10% in any area. For any given academic year, the sum of the area weights in all three areas must equal 100%.

4.1.5.2 Full-time, non-tenure-track faculty must follow the policies of the UNC Board of Governors and UNC Pembroke policies pertaining to faculty annual reviews. Full-time, non-tenure-track faculty are responsible primarily for teaching. As tenure-track faculty members do, full-time, non-tenure-track faculty have organizational responsibility for the courses they teach. They also adhere to departmental guidelines for course content if any exist. They are also expected to provide service that supports the academic mission of the university and the department or school (including the Faculty Senate and its subcommittees) and can be assigned student advising responsibilities. Full-time, non-tenure-track faculty are evaluated annually following standard faculty evaluation procedures. This evaluation is based on teaching and service activities. Area weights in the faculty work plan should be adjusted accordingly.

4.1.5.3 When circumstances create special demands on a department, a department chair may require a faculty member to adjust their pattern of responsibilities to meet such demands. The department chair must inform the faculty member in writing of the circumstances and the adjustments required. The faculty member may then adjust their area weights on the Self-Evaluation Report as they deem appropriate. If the department chair is concerned that a prior pattern of area weights is not generating a record adequate for tenure in the department, the chair should recommend that the faculty member adjust their weights in future years. Adjustments in area weights may also be needed if a faculty member's teaching load is reduced to allow for other types of activities, such as research, service, or administrative responsibilities.

4.2 Overload and Overload Compensation Guidelines

4.2.1 Since faculty have scholarship and service responsibilities as well as teaching assignments, overloads should be assigned and accepted carefully so that faculty do not become over extended. With the same cautions applied to external activities for pay, the priority must be on faculty meeting their regular campus professional responsibilities.

4.2.2 Faculty may teach a maximum of one course overload (three semester credit hours) per semester with the approval of their dean. Overloads funded via Educational Outreach may be taught by faculty at their election with the department chair's and dean's concurrence. However, any overload supported by general funds shall only be authorized by the dean when it is impossible or impractical to hire part-time faculty because of last minute staffing problems, lack of qualified part-time instructors, or other factors. Deans shall notify the Provost's office whenever they approve an overload paid from the general fund. The notification should include a brief explanation consistent with this policy. The same maximum overload of one course (three semester credit hours) will be allowed for faculty members who have reassigned time for other duties, i.e., chairs, coordinators, etc. Overloads exceeding three semester hours will only be approved in the rarest circumstances. They, and other exceptions to this policy, must be approved in advance by the Provost.

4.2.3 With the approval of the department chair and dean, faculty may engage in additional university assignments (example: special projects, program/degree development) during a semester as long as the extra assignments do not exceed the equivalent of one additional course per semester. The compensation for the work will be allowed even if it exceeds the current 20% limitation. For department chairs, the overload pay allowed will be 20% of their total annual salary of base plus stipend.

4.3 Annual Faculty Work Plans

4.3.1 Each faculty member will engage in activities that contribute to professional growth and development and refinement of their expertise. Each full-time faculty member will work with their dean or department chair to develop a work plan for the upcoming academic year that aligns with the institution's workload expectations and the needs of the academic department, college/school, and institution. Each faculty work plan should account for full-time work by assigning duties to teaching, scholarship, and service or teaching and service in the case of non-tenure-track faculty. Faculty members' work plan should include the proposed initiatives and outcomes a faculty member seeks to achieve in the next academic year and be linked to long-term evaluations such as reappointment, promotion, tenure, or post-tenure review. The faculty work plan is included in the annual Self-Evaluation Report that faculty submit to the department chair and dean. The department chair's signature and the dean's signature on their evaluation reports indicates their approval of the faculty member's work plan, unless deficiencies are specifically identified in these reports.

4.3.2 All full-time faculty are evaluated annually in three areas (teaching, scholarship, and service) according to a four-category Standard Performance Rating Scale. Each full-time faculty member receives an annual evaluation from the department chair. Each chair must compile an annual Chair's Evaluation Report for each faculty member they supervisee and submit it to the appropriate dean. This report should contain a narrative synthesis of the faculty member's overall performance in teaching, research, and service relative to their approved work plan, an overall rating of the faculty member using the Standard Performance Rating Scale, and the signatures of the department chair and faculty member being evaluated.

4.3.2.1 A faculty member whose performance is deemed to be deficient in consecutive years according to the Standard Performance Rating Scale for the review period will be subject to an individual improvement plan. The plan will include steps designed to lead to improvement in the faculty member's performance, a specified time frame of not more than three academic years in which this improvement is to occur, and a clear statement of consequences should improvement not occur within the specified time frame. It will be the responsibility of the department chair, in collaboration with the faculty member evaluated, to draw up the individual improvement plan. After review and concurrence by the dean of the faculty member's college or school, the plan will be submitted to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who must approve the plan.

4.3.2.2 At the end of the period specified in the improvement plan, the Provost/Vice Chancellor for academic affairs, in consultation with the faculty member's department chair (dean, if the faculty member is a department chair), and dean of the faculty member's college or school, will determine if the provisions of the plan have been met. If so, the faculty member will be judged to have achieved an adequate or better performance for the current annual review cycle. If the provisions of the remediation plan have not been met and the required improvement not occurred, the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs will recommend to the chancellor the disciplinary action to be taken.

4.4 Faculty Reassigned Time

4.4.1 All reductions in faculty teaching load are approved by the department chair, dean of the appropriate college or school, and the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

4.4.2 The 3/4 Reassigned Time Option for Tenure-Eligible Faculty gives tenure-track and tenured faculty with a 4/4 teaching load the opportunity to receive reassigned time for scholarship and service. Faculty shall apply for the course reduction to the department chair and are expected to state research or service goals that justify the reassignment of time.

4.4.2.1 Faculty members who request reassignment to the 3/4 load are not permitted to teach a class for overload compensation during the period of the reassignment and are not eligible for teaching assignments with other institutions.

4.4.2.2 Under the 3/4 Reassigned Time Option, faculty with a 4/4 load will continue to weight teaching in the 60-70% range as provided by university policy on faculty evaluation. Tenured faculty who opt for the 3/4 load will adjust the weights for teaching, research, and service accordingly for the academic year in which the reassignment is sought. There will be a reduction in the area weight assigned to teaching to account for the reallocation of faculty time and effort. However, teaching will always receive a preponderance of the area weight and, in accordance with the Faculty Evaluation Policy, will not receive an area weight below 60%.

4.4.2.3 For the 3/4 Reassigned Time Option for Tenure-Eligible Faculty, department chairs determine whether or not to approve the reassignment and determine the semester of the reassignment, fall or spring, based primarily on departmental need and secondarily on the faculty member's preference. Department chairs must approve the option for tenured faculty in subsequent years, taking into account each individual's success in completing goals for scholarship and/or service from previous reassigned time. Continuation of the 3/4 option is dependent on the availability of adequate funding to cover the reassigned time.

4.4.2.4 Deans hold primary responsibility for the implementation and oversight of the 3/4 Reassigned Time Option for Tenure-Eligible Faculty. For tenured faculty, the decision to request/not request the 3/4 option is discussed with the department chair and should reflect both individual and departmental or school goals. If the department chair approves the reassigned time, they determine the semester of the reassignment, fall or spring, based primarily on departmental need and secondarily on the faculty member's preference. Department chairs must also approve the option for tenured faculty in subsequent years, taking into account each individual's success in completing goals for scholarship and/or service from previous reassigned time. Renewal of the 3/4 option in future semesters is subject to review by academic administrators and is dependent on the availability of adequate funding to cover the reassigned time.

4.4.3 The Directed Academic Leave of Absence Program is designed to give full-time, tenured faculty the opportunity to pursue an intensive program of research. It is intended to provide faculty with an extended period of time during which to conduct research and scholarly activities, usually one academic semester. It is intended to relieve them of teaching and service responsibilities in order to provide the quality and quantity of time that faculty usually do not have due to heavy teaching loads and required service activities.

4.4.3.1 Full-time faculty at the rank of tenured associate professor or professor are eligible for this program. Faculty must have completed at least three years of service after receiving tenure and have been employed as a full-time faculty member at the university for a minimum of ten years to be eligible to apply. Faculty who are seeking to build their research/scholarship portfolio to achieve promotion and those seeking to refresh their portfolios or renew their commitment to scholarship (possibly, but not necessarily, for the purpose of preparing for Post-Tenure Review) are given priority consideration for a Directed Academic Leave of Absence.

4.4.3.2 Applications for the Directed Academic Leave of Absence Program must include a statement of support from the department chair that expresses their evaluation of the merits of the project and includes information about schedule adjustments, additional staff, or other expenditures that will be necessary. The dean must provide a similar statement of support that includes any appropriate remarks concerning budgeting or scheduling.

5. PROCEDURES

5.1 Annual Reporting Requirements

5.1.1 The university will compile an annual report of faculty activity and submit it to the Board of Trustees. It will cover the academic/fiscal year (July 1 –June 30) and must be approved by the Board of Trustees no later than September 30 of each year. The report will be submitted to the President of the UNC System Office by October 15 of each year.

5.1.2 The annual report will include quantitative information on faculty workload such as organized course sections taught, student credit hours produced, and faculty contact hours for each academic department. This information will be compiled by the UNC Pembroke Office of Institutional Research.

5.1.3 The annual report will also include measures of scholarship and service accomplished in the previous academic year for each academic department. This information will be compiled by the Office of Academic Affairs by means of a survey administered to all full-time faculty or through the use of software provided by an external vendor which full-time faculty will use to report their research/creativity and service activity.

5.1.4 The annual report will also include the percentage of faculty effort across the three categories of teaching, scholarship, and service for each academic department, school or college, and the university as a whole. When taken together, the percentages for teaching, scholarship, service will total 100%. This information will be compiled by the Office of Institutional Research and the Office of Academic Affairs.

5.1.5 The annual report will also include information regarding the process by which the university implemented the provisions of its policy and evaluated individual faculty workloads relative to the standards therein. Other quantitative or qualitative information that the university determines will provide additional context for faculty impact and productivity in the various realms of faculty work in accordance with the institution's mission will also be provided.

5.2 Implementation of Faculty Workload Policies

5.2.1 Responsibility for the successful implementation of the university's faculty workload

policies is shared among the stakeholders list below.

5.2.1.1 The Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring the university is implementing a faculty workload policy that advances the university's mission, fosters student success, and ensures financial sustainability.

5.2.1.2 The chancellor and provost are responsible for developing university policies and ensuring that all colleges, schools, departments, and other units develop and implement faculty workload and evaluation procedures that comply with the university's policy in a fair and consistent manner, with consideration of the university's mission and the prudent stewardship of fiscal resources.

5.2.1.3 Deans and department chairs are responsible for working directly with faculty to establish individual workloads that support university and strategic objectives in alignment with university policies, procedures, resources, and mission.

5.2.1.4 Faculty share in the responsibility of ensuring their workloads are consistent with the 1.0 FTE requirement.

5.2.2 Department chairs and deans review and assess faculty workload assignments as indicated in the faculty work plan. The department chair is responsible for coordinating the faculty evaluation process and providing the primary administrative evaluation of the faculty member's performance. In preparing the Chair Evaluation Report, the chair considers the area weights specified in the faculty member's Self-Evaluation Report and the faculty member's work plan and assigns performance ratings according to the Standard Performance Rating Scale. The department chair provides each faculty member with constructive, timely guidance about the means by which any deficiencies can be corrected. The dean is responsible for reviewing the materials submitted by the department chair and the faculty member under review and completing the Dean's Recommendation Report.

5.2.3 The department chair is appointed by the provost following the nomination by the department faculty members and upon the recommendation of the dean. The department chair's performance is evaluated annually by the dean. The department chair serves at the pleasure of the dean and Provost and is continued at their option. The dean is appointed according to institutional policies and procedures for the hiring of Senior Administrative and Academic Officers (SAAO), serves at the pleasure of the provost and chancellor, and is continued at their option. The performance of the dean is evaluated annually by the provost according to institutional policies and procedures for the evaluation of EHRA Non-Faculty staff.

5.2.4 The Office of Academic Affairs provides department chairs and deans with professional development opportunities on an annual or bi-annual basis. This professional development can include sessions on faculty evaluation policy and the review and assessment of faculty workload assignments. These are designed to enhance their skills in overseeing the implementation of the faculty workload policy. Faculty Senate leaders who participate in the development and revision of faculty workload policies are included in these professional development sessions.

6. PERIODIC REVIEW

6.1 The university will review its Faculty Workload Policy at least every five years and submit a copy of that review and any changes made to the President of the UNC System.

Related Policies:

• UNC Policy 400.3.4 Policy on Faculty Workload
• UNC Policy 400.3.4 [R] Regulation on Faculty Workload
• UNC Pembroke Faculty Handbook

Additional References:

• UNC Policy 400.3.1 Teaching Effectiveness in the University of North Carolina
• North Carolina General Statute 116-1(b) Higher Education