Faculty Workload
Faculty Workload includes teaching assignments as well as non-teaching duties such as student advising, administrative work, committee work, etc. Faculty Teaching assignments (equivalent to 30 units per academic year) are determined by the department chairpersons and the Dean, taking into account teaching assignment requests and School needs. Faculty teaching assignments and course equivalency for non-teaching duties are usually discussed with the Dean during faculty ACP meetings. Final decisions reside with the Dean. At the beginning of each semester, faculty should provide a copy of any new and/or updated course syllabi to the Dean’s Office which keeps them on file. For further information on USF Faculty Workload, please refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Section 2, Article 22.
Dissertation Workload Policy
During the fall and spring terms, full-time faculty who have active (registered) students in their dissertation sections are included in a database that contains the committee information. This database calculates the workload value of dissertation committee work. A faculty committee developed these calculations in 1995. A slight revision was made in 2014 to give credit for the 3rd registration of 791; this change aligns the faculty policy with the student registration policy for 791.
The calculations are as follows:
Chairperson
790:
- For the student’s 1st and 2nd registration of course 790, the workload value = 0.25 of a course unit;
- For the 3rd and subsequent registrations of course 790, the workload value = 0.0.
791:
- For the student’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd registration of course 791, the workload value = 0.5 of a course unit;
- For the 4th and subsequent registrations of course 791, the workload value = 0.0.
2ND AND 3RD READERS
790:
- For the student’s 1st and 2nd registration of course 790, the workload value = .025 of a course unit;
- For the 3rd and subsequent registrations of course 790, the workload value = 0.0.
791:
- For the student’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd registration of course 791, the workload value = 0.25 of a course unit;
- For the 4th and subsequent registrations of course 791, the workload value = 0.0.
After the census date each term, a report is generated by the Registrar’s office showing all of the students registered in the 790 or 791 courses. This information is transferred into our own database. Reports are then generated internally, which tally (by professor) the average total workload for the 2 previous semesters. This average is used to determine workload for the next academic year:
- An average greater than 3.0 results in a course release for an upcoming semester (faculty are asked to use their course release as soon as possible unless other arrangements are discussed with the Dean during the ACP meeting) and then the tally is reset to 0.0.
- An average less than 3 continues to increase by each semester’s additional units until a course release (3.0) is reached.
- An average of greater than 6 units is excessive and needs to be reduced. Only one course release is granted for 3-6+ unit average.