Workload Fulfillment
New Faculty Orientation
Patricia Linton
Senior Associate Dean
College of Arts & Sciences
 Process of proposing, approving, and updating
workload agreement
 Importance of fulfilling workload agreement
 Service component
Workload Agreement
 Document that establishes expectations of the
faculty member across the academic year (Fall
& Spring).
 Basis of faculty evaluation.
 Links to “Workload Templates” on UA Labor
Relations page:
http://www.alaska.edu/labor/uaft/
http://www.alaska.edu/labor/unac/
Annual Workload Agreement
Annual Activity Report
Comprehensive Review File
(Cumulative Report)
Development of Annual Workload Agreement
Proposal initiated by
Faculty
Dept
Workload assigned by
Chair
Dean
or
program
administrator
Development of Workload Agreement
 UNAC
 Proposed by faculty member – March 3 or 60 days before
the end of the current contract period
 Decisions by chair or program administrator – April 3 or 30
days before the end of the current contract
 Assignment by Dean – May 3 or 5 days before end . . . .
 UAFT
 Proposal submitted to appropriate administrator by April 2
or 40 days before the end of current contract period.
 Dean/director/or designee notifies faculty of their workload
by May 1 or 10 days prior to the end of current contract.
Workload Proportions
 Tripartite (Teaching + Research/ Creative Activity
+ Service)
3:1:1
2:2:1
 Bipartite (ex: Teaching + Service)
4:1
Workload type (tripartite or bipartite) approved by
Dean & Provost prior to hire.
Workload components
 Teaching: course assignments very specific
 Research: less specific
 Service: varies
 Workload components of individual faculty may vary
from semester to semester and/or contract period to
contract period to permit variations in emphasis
across teaching, research/creative activities, and
service.
Midyear Revision of Workload
 Proposed changes in actual workload require
revision of workload document and formal
approval by the Dean.
 Changes should be discussed with the
appropriate administrator before commitment.
 Workload Agreement should be accurate before
the contract period ends in May.
Revision of Workload Agreement
 Change in teaching – common for specific courses to
change, but workload agreement should be
corrected.
 Modification of research /creative activity – generally
no workload revision. Activity Report will be more
specific.
 Change in Service – no revision for minor changes.
Revision if anything substantial is deleted from the
signed agreement. Activity Report will be more
detailed.
Fulfillment of Workload Agreement

Avoid overloads (formal or informal). Do not
anticipate that overload compensation will be
available or workload adjustments approved
after the fact.

Stay within the assigned workload proportions –
if you propose an addition to your workload,
subtract or narrow the scope of something else.

Protect research time
Teaching Assignments
 According to faculty Collective Bargaining
Agreements, teaching encompasses (among
other things)
 Delivery of instruction (whatever the format)
 Preparation of course materials
 Development or revision of curriculum
 General advising of students
 “Other activities benefitting students’ academic
development.”
Service

Often minimal and vague in the first year of
service

“To be determined”; “As requested” – adequate
for workload agreement only in first year.

Proposal for service activity must be more
specific in subsequent workloads proposed by
the faculty member.
Service
 Departmental
(not department meetings or general advising)
 College/University
 Professional
 Public Service
(non-remunerative, drawing on professional expertise;
not general good citizenship)
Service
 Requests / invitations for service often come after
submission of the original workload proposal.
 Reevaluation of service needs in light of fiscal
constraints.
 Do not take on additional service activities on the
assumption that expectations in other areas of the
workload will change, unless workload revision is
signed by the Dean or Dean’s designee. Stay within
the specified service proportion of the workload.
Cautions
 Faculty performance is evaluated against the
workload agreement signed by the dean or dean’s
designee.
 Not fulfilling part of the signed workload agreement
leads to problems in review.
 Faculty may not self-assign revised workloads.