College of Business
Faculty Workload Policy
This Workload Policy establishes general guidelines for the assignment of faculty
workloads that are consistent with the mission of the College of Business and Ohio
University.
The primary mission of the College of Business is to deliver quality education.
Consistent with the teaching mission of the COB, all faculty have a responsibility for
classroom instruction. Intellectual contributions, professional interaction and service
are undertaken primarily for the purpose of enhancing the teaching mission. In general,
all Group I faculty in the College are expected to be active in instruction, intellectual
contribution, professional interaction and service.
The balance among these functions will have some variation by discipline, by the
maturity of the faculty member in his/her professional development, and from year to
year as opportunities arise and situations change. In other words, there is no strict
formula which will determine the right balance from year to year. Therefore, the
following is intended to serve as a guide for Department Chairs and the College Dean in
the assignment of instructional and service activities and the determination of possible
instructional load reductions for research. While this document is not to be viewed as a
rigid formula, its interpretation should be consistent with both COB and departmental
Tenure and Promotion guidelines.
GENERAL EXPECTATIONS:
The workload for Group I faculty in the College of Business at Ohio University includes
the equivalent of an instructional load of three units per quarter, where a unit is defined
as one four credit hour course. Instructional responsibilities include much more than
the hours spent in direct interaction with students. Other duties include class
preparation, evaluation, and advising. See Appendix A for additional considerations
related to instructional load.
COB faculty are also expected to engage in intellectual contributions, professional
activities and service consistent with the mission of the College. Individual instructional
loads may be altered because of circumstances discussed below. Regardless of the
individual workloads selected, the COB will conform to the requirements of the AACSB
listed in Standard FD.4, Faculty Size, Composition, and Deployment.
Intellectual Contribution, as defined in the AACSB Standard IC.1, includes Basic
Scholarship, Applied Scholarship and Instructional Development. Peer review is
required to demonstrate intellectual contribution. Appendix B describes activities
normally associated with this aspect of faculty activity.
Because we are a professional college, faculty are expected to engage in service,
professional activities and external relations. Appendix C describes activities typically
associated with these areas.
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For faculty choosing not to be actively involved in an on-going research and publication
program, the normal teaching assignment shall be 3 units, with no more than two
preparations, each quarter. This is 9 units on an academic year basis and should
represent 75-80% of a full time faculty member’s time.
Consistent with the Mission of the College and in accordance with AACSB guidelines, it
is assumed that all teachers will be active in the scholarship of their own discipline.
Time that is not devoted to teaching (20 - 25%) should be divided between intellectual
contributions and service activities, neither of which should be less than 10%. The
portion of time spent on intellectual contributions should result in demonstrable results
as outlined in Appendix B. Weights shall be determined each spring by mutual
agreement between the faculty member and the Department Chair and/or Dean and
shall apply to the following academic year.
PROCEDURE
Each Department Chair, with approval of the Dean, will determine appropriate
workloads on a case-by-case basis. Annually, at the time of contract renewal, faculty
members may request a change in Reductions for the following year. Reviews for
tenure, promotion and the annual review for salary increase must reflect the agreed
upon assignments.
REDUCTIONS OF NORMAL INSTRUCTIONAL LOAD:
Special Teaching Considerations
The size and level of the class and the availability of teaching assistance may affect
instructional load. Other factors affecting instructional load include, but are not limited
to, the type of material taught, the number and types of assignments used, the number
of new class preparations a year and the total number of class preparations.
Special projects, tutorials, independent studies, and courses with only a few students
enrolled will normally not be counted in the instructional load but exceptions may be
negotiated for quarters where a faculty member is working with an unusually large
number of students. In planning the coming year's workload a faculty member may
also negotiate for consideration of accumulated effort in these areas.
Faculty members actively teaching in the 12 month MBA program shall receive
instructional load credit depending on their instructional time commitment in the MBA
program.
Significant Involvement in Intellectual Activities
For faculty developing or continuing an active research program, the teaching
assignment should be reduced by a maximum of three units per year resulting in a
teaching load of generally 2 units per quarter. This is 6 units in an academic year and
should represent approximately 50 - 60% of a full time faculty member’s time.
Approximately 30 - 40% of the faculty member’s time should be allocated for intellectual
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contributions, and 10 - 20% for service and professional activities. Weights shall be
determined each spring by mutual agreement between the faculty member and the
Department Chair and/or Dean and shall apply to the following academic year.
Tenured Faculty
In order for a faculty member to continue receiving this reduction from instructional
responsibilities, a long term level of intellectual contribution consistent with the workload
must be demonstrated through the development of a portfolio of the materials
described in Appendix B. Progress in this area may be noted by submissions to
journals and professional meetings, working papers, pre-publication acceptance by
journals or publishers, and presentations. See Appendix B for additional information
on recognized activities.
Reductions from instructional responsibilities can range from 0 to 3 units per year
depending on the intellectual contribution levels as follows:
3 units
Requires two peer-reviewed publications (articles, chapters, books included,
but not conference proceedings) during the last four years. This four-year
rolling average translates roughly into a publication every other year, although
many other combinations are possible. Each department will develop a list of
the types of acceptable publications for this category.
2 units
Requires at least one peer-reviewed publication (articles, chapters, books
included, but not conference proceedings), and either one national peer
reviewed proceedings or two other peer reviewed proceedings during the last
four years. This four-year rolling average translates roughly into a
publication/proceeding every other year, although many other combinations
are possible. Each department will develop a list of the types of acceptable
publications and refereed proceedings for this category.
1 unit
Requires either one national peer reviewed proceedings, or two other peer
reviewed proceedings during the last two years. Each department will develop
a list of the types of acceptable refereed proceedings for this category.
0 units
When a faculty qualifies for none of the reduction scenarios above, there will
be no reductions from instructional responsibilities.
A faculty member who wishes to receive a reduction for significant involvement in
intellectual activities should make a proposal outlining a plan for an active program of
research and have it approved by the Department Chair. Although the desired end
result of research activities is output that is subjected to peer review, evaluation of
faculty who receive this Reduction should consider progress in carrying out the
research plan. Examples of progress may include completion of experiments, data
collection and analysis, participation in research workshops, and drafts of working
papers.
A faculty member may continue to receive this Reduction provided that adequate
intellectual contributions are produced. Determination of adequacy of intellectual
contributions will consider quality of the output and will normally be based on a moving
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average rather than output of a single year. If intellectual contributions are not
adequate for the agreed upon workload, a Reduction will normally be terminated for the
following year.
Untenured faculty
Consistent with College and department tenure and promotion guidelines, all faculty
must demonstrate strength in the areas of teaching, intellectual contribution,
professional interaction, and service. In order to develop strength is each of these
areas, all Group 1 untenured faculty should initially receive a three-unit reduction for the
first six years, or the term of the probationary period, whichever is shorter. To help
assure that untenured faculty have ample opportunity to meet the requirements for
tenure and promotion they should not be required to take additional instructional
assignments.
Group I "Early Retired" Faculty
Group 1 faculty on early retirement status will be required to teach three units per year
unless a reduction of one unit is requested and upon review of appropriate
documentation, granted by the Department Chair, based on adequate intellectual
contributions as defined for active Group 1 faculty in this workload policy. Since these
faculty teach for only one quarter each year, intellectual contribution levels consistent
with three-unit and two-unit reductions will result in a one unit reduction. Intellectual
contribution at the one-unit or zero-unit reduction level will not result in any teaching
reduction.
Special Consideration
Faculty participating in exceptionally heavy research loads and/or those with external
support may warrant additional Reductions in their instructional load.
Administrative Assignments
Faculty members with administrative assignments such as department chairs, associate
and assistant deans, directors, and others may warrant reductions in instructional load
commensurate with their duties.
Additional Consideration
Faculty involved in significant professional and/or service activities which are both
uncompensated and directly benefit the College of Business may warrant course
reductions under exceptional circumstances. To assure equity across the college,
these must be approved by the Department Chair/Director, the Executive Committee,
and the Dean.
EVALUATION:
It is recognized that there will be considerable diversity among the faculty in the degree
of research involvement, and it is to be expected that instructional, service, and
professional activity assignments will reflect this diversity. The annual evaluation of
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faculty performance should represent this diversity by appropriately weighting the
efforts of individuals in the areas of instruction, intellectual contribution, service,
professional activities and external relations. The annual review should be a
comprehensive review performed by Department Chairs and departmental committees,
and should be a part of the annual review process described in section II.E.1 of the
Ohio University Faculty Handbook.
APPEALS:
Faculty members who 1) involuntarily lose a Reduction, 2) are denied a Reduction, or
3) feel that their annual review for salary increase or promotion fails to reflect the
agreed upon assignment may appeal these decisions following existing grievance
procedures.
APPENDIX A - INSTRUCTIONAL EFFORT:
The instructional effort of faculty includes a variety of tasks. For any given course,
these include, but are not limited to, (1) development of instructional strategy, (2)
development and/or revision of study materials for students, (3) development and/or
revision of materials to be used in the classroom, (4) direct classroom contact, (5) field
trips, (6) tutoring and advising of students on an individual or small group basis, (7)
development of student evaluation strategy, (8) evaluation of student performance and
(9) meeting posted office hours.
In addition, faculty instructional effort includes involvement in overall pedagogical
development, curriculum development, and integration. Instructional effort also
requires keeping up to date in the field through workshops, continuing education,
professional development seminars, etc.
Normally, the instructional effort for one course will require approximately 12 hours of
work per week
APPENDIX B - PROFESSIONAL INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS:
Intellectual contributions, as defined by AACSB guidelines, include three
types of activities.
Basic Scholarship: The creation of new knowledge, developing and
testing theory
Applied Scholarship: The application, transfer and interpretation of
knowledge, including benchmarking best practices, to improve management
practice and teaching.
Instructional Development: The enhancement of the educational value of
instructional efforts of the institution or discipline.
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Typical manifestations of these types of intellectual contributions include,
but are not limited to, the following.
Basic Scholarship
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Publication in peer-reviewed scholarly journals
Publication of research or theory development monographs
Scholarly books
Chapters in scholarly books
Peer reviewed papers presented at academic meetings
Peer reviewed publications in proceedings of academic meetings
Externally funded grant proposals and reports of grant activities
Publicly available research or theory development working papers
Papers presented at faculty workshops or seminars
Applied Scholarship
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Publication in peer-reviewed scholarly or professional journals
Professionally oriented books
Chapters in professionally oriented books
Publication in trade journals or in-company journals
Peer reviewed papers presented at academic or professional
meetings
Peer reviewed publications in proceedings of academic or
professional meetings
Externally funded grant proposals and reports of grant activities
Case reports of benchmark studies of professional practice
Published book reviews
Papers presented at faculty workshops or seminars
Instructional development
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Publication in peer reviewed academic, professional, or pedagogical
journals
Textbooks
Pedagogical books
Chapters in textbooks or pedagogical books
Case studies intended for primarily instructional purposes
Instructional software
Peer reviewed papers presented at academic, professional, and
pedagogical meetings
Peer reviewed publications in proceedings of academic,
professional, and pedagogical meetings
Grant proposals and reports of grant activity
Publicly available materials describing the design and
implementation of new course or education innovation.
Papers presented at faculty workshops or seminars
No one type of intellectual contribution (basic, applied, or instructional
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development) is inherently valued more than the others. It should be
recognized that individual activities that have met the test of some type of
external review will be of more value than those that are purely local
activities. For example, presentation at an academic or professional
meeting will normally be viewed to be of more value than the presentation of
an internal faculty workshop or seminar.
APPENDIX C - SERVICE, PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND
EXTERNAL RELATIONS:
Service
Service may include university-centered activities, activities with outside academic and
professional organizations, and community service. Typical university centered
activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Advising Student Organizations
Serving on Department or School standing or ad hoc committees;
Serving on College standing or ad hoc committees;
Serving on University stand or ad hoc committees;
Special assignments from the Dean or Department Chair;
Representing the College, School, or Department at various University
functions.
Outside activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Journal Editor;
Membership and participation in activities of academic or professional
organizations;
Attending academic conferences;
Serving on federal, state, and local government commissions and boards;
Volunteer service to voluntary health and welfare organizations;
Membership and participation in activities of civic organizations;
Manuscript reviewer;
Professional Activities
Business education is a practice-driven discipline. It is necessary for faculty members
to maintain close ties with the business world and to devote effort to staying abreast of
new developments and issues in business. These types of activities include, but are
not limited to, the following:
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Internships with business enterprises;
Serving on Boards of Directors;
Consulting with outside businesses;
Attending and/or conducting business seminars, programs, and training
sessions;
Obtaining and maintaining professional certifications;
External Activities
External activities include, but are not limit to, the following:
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Student recruiting
Fund raising
Alumni relations activities
Placement
Social activities with recruiters and members of the Society of Alumni and
Friends or the Executive Advisory Board.
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