DEAN'S GUIDELINES ANNUAL WORK PLANS

(Accompanies Section 3.1 of the College Personnel Policy) (Revised Spring 2013)

I.    PURPOSE OF THE ANNUAL WORK PLAN POLICY

The Annual Work Plan (AWP) serves several important functions. It is a mechanism for recognizing that the interests of the faculty and the College are served best by providing faculty with flexibility in their annual commitments to areas of activity. It provides the means for faculty to organize their year in terms of the relative commitments made to Teaching, Research and Creative Activity, and Service. It provides each A&S division, department or program (hereafter “unit”) with a system of balancing the workload of each faculty member in terms of the needs of the unit. It provides reviewers in personnel cases with a quantitative basis for evaluating contributions during review periods. The AWP also satisfies the University's regulation that all faculty have an approved work plan and the Council of Higher Education's requirement for reports of faculty workloads.

II.    AREAS OF ACTIVITY

The Personnel Policy and Procedures of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Redbook elaborate areas of activity for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. AWPs are based upon these areas of activity and indicate the percentage of effort faculty members will devote to each. These areas of activity are Teaching or Instruction, Research and Creative Activity, and Service. The various components of each area of activity are elaborated on the AWP form prepared and occasionally revised by the Office of the Dean in conformity with College policy.

Aside from participating in activities related specifically to Teaching, Research and Creative Activity, and Service, all faculty members are expected to exhibit the ability to collaborate with others and to adhere to professional standards. Regardless of rank or career emphasis, all faculty members are expected to demonstrate proficiency in their ability to collaborate with others and adhere to professional standards.

III.     WHO FILES WORKLOAD AGREEMENTS

The College Personnel Policy states that “each full-time faculty member of the College shall sign an Annual Work Plan which describes the distribution of effort planned for the academic year.” The Policy also states that “the annual work plan provides the basis for evaluation of performance. “Therefore, it is essential that every full-time faculty member in the College file an AWP each year. Faculty members with additional appointments outside the College of Arts and Sciences who will be reviewed under the Arts and Sciences Personnel Policy must file an AWP covering each of the years to be reviewed.

1. Tenured and Probationary Faculty, Full-Time in Arts and Sciences

All persons holding probationary and tenured appointments must file AWPs that show their distribution of effort in various areas of activity.

1. Non-tenurable Faculty in Arts and Sciences

All persons holding term appointments of one academic year or more must file AWPs. For other persons holding non-tenurable appointments, the commitments stipulated in the letter of appointment will substitute for an AWP.

Term faculty members will normally devote 80% or more of their effort to teaching and the courses taught by term faculty may be offered in the summer, fall, or spring. Although term faculty members generally are hired with no significant obligations other than teaching, they may be granted some AWP credit for service performed as part of their workload. Also, as a courtesy, they may be granted some minimal AWP credit for research and creative activity. In general, term faculty shall not be permitted to teach overload courses. As always, special arrangements regarding term faculty may be negotiated with the Dean. In cases where term faculty members teach overload courses by special arrangement, the compensation for these will be at the part- time rate.

1. Faculty Members on Sabbatical Leave

Faculty members on sabbatical leave shall file an AWP corresponding to the sabbatical leave plan. The sabbatical leave report will be incorporated into personnel reviews. Faculty on sabbatical leave are normally expected to devote all or nearly all of their effort to Research and Creative Activity.

1. Faculty Members on Leaves of Absence

Leaves of absence without pay must be requested from and approved by the Dean. Such leaves relieve faculty of responsibility for direct contributions to the College in various areas of activity, although the purpose of the leave might be related to those areas, and the accomplishments achieved during the period of the leave might become part of the record for review in the College.

In cases where faculty members on leave are involved in professionally related activities that will be considered in personnel reviews, including activities at other institutions of higher learning, those faculty members are expected to gather and present evaluations of such activities if there is a reasonable way of doing so. This is the case especially where an unpaid leave approved by the Board of Trustees carries with it credit toward tenure or sabbatical leave.

1. Faculty Members on Leave for One Semester

Faculty on leaves of absence for one semester shall file AWPs specifying a total of 50% of effort in the College, covering the semester in residence.

1. Leaves of Absence for One or More Years

Faculty members on leave for one or more years do not file AWPs for any periods during which they are not in residence in the College.

1. Faculty with Primary and Secondary Appointments

Faculty appointed in both A&S and another academic unit of the University, and faculty with additional appointments in administration, must file AWPs. This is because mandatory reviews, such as annual performance evaluations, pre-tenure and tenure reviews, and periodic career reviews all require reference to AWPs. Reviews for promotion to Professor are not mandatory for A&S faculty, but if faculty with additional appointments outside the College of Arts and Sciences are reviewed for promotion to Professor, A&S Policy requires that they be reviewed in reference to AWP allocations as well.

Faculty members of the College who hold full-time administrative positions in which they report directly to the Provost or President do not have to file AWPs in those years during which they hold such administrative positions. In cases where these individuals undergo personnel review in the College, reports of their accomplishments from their supervisors will constitute the evaluation of their activities during the period they served as full-time administrators.

IV.     INITIATING THE AWP

The Dean's Office is responsible for creating blank AWP forms with instructions. The Dean’s Office is also responsible for making these forms available to units and announcing a deadline for submitting the forms to the Dean's Office. The chair of each unit is responsible for negotiating an AWP with each member of his or her unit faculty who is required to file this document. For faculty with appointments in two or more A&S units, the AWP is initiated by the chair of the A&S unit in which the faculty member holds the primary appointment, but that chair must consult with the chair of any secondary A&S unit and all chairs involved must sign the AWP. If there is disagreement between the chairs involved, the chair of the primary unit will notify the Dean of the disagreement, and it will be resolved by the Dean, in consultation with the A&S Personnel Committee if necessary.

If a chair and a faculty member disagree on the distribution of effort among various areas of activity, the chair shall submit the matter to the unit’s personnel committee for a recommendation. If issues remain unresolved after that step is taken, disagreements shall be resolved by the Dean, in consultation with the A&S Personnel Committee if necessary.

The signature of a unit chair on a proposed AWP submitted to the Dean's Office signifies that the chair agrees to the distribution of effort for the individual faculty member and that the chair agrees that the AWPs of his or her unit faculty are consistent with the needs of the unit and of the College. It also signifies agreement that the commitments of the unit faculty will fulfill the needs of the unit and the College within the limitations of the budget authorized for that A&S unit for the year.

V.    DISTRIBUTION OF EFFORT

1. Teaching Obligations

Tenurable faculty in Ph.D.-granting departments who teach and supervise graduate students are expected to teach an average of four classes per year, and faculty in master’s-granting departments who teach and supervise graduate students are expected to teach an average of five. Faculty who do not work closely with graduate students are expected to have higher teaching assignments.

Term faculty may teach a maximum of ten classes per year.

1. Standard of Measurement

The distribution of effort to various areas of activity is expressed as a percentage of total effort. The standard unit for measuring such percentage of effort is 10% for a three-credit-hour course. This standard is the norm for all courses, and class size and class level do not constitute categorical justification for variation from this standard. Variations from the standard will be made on a case-by-case basis, and such variations may result in allocations of more or less than the normal 10%. Variations must be approved by the Dean's Office. The percentages of effort in Research and Creative Activity and in Service are based on comparison with the effort involved in a three-credit-hour course, and variations from this standard also require approval by the Dean's Office.

1. Laboratory and Studio Courses

The Dean's Office may have agreements with various units offering laboratory and studio courses which specify the accepted percentages of effort for the combined lecture and lab or studio portions of these courses. Existing agreements remain in effect until amended by negotiation between the A&S unit and the Dean's Office.

1. Team-Taught Courses

The assumption is that each course will carry the standard percentage of effort distributed among the participating faculty according to their contributions. Accordingly, two persons teaching a three-credit-hour course and making equal contributions would each receive 5% credit, three persons participating equally in a three-hour course would each receive 3 or 4% credit, etc. If those team-teaching a course are not expected to make equal contributions in terms of the actual number of lectures and labs attended, and the degree of participation in preparation, examinations, and other facets of the course, this must be taken into account in the distribution of AWP credit. Because this policy may not always be the most appropriate, certain exceptions to this rule exist:

1. During the first year of participation in a course, the maximum credit assigned to faculty members for teaching that one course will be twice the standard percentage of effort for a course, distributed among faculty in proportion to their contributions. For example, two persons

teaching a three-hour course the first time and participating equally may each claim up to 10% of effort; two persons contributing equally in a 4-hour course up to 13% each, etc.

1. After the first year of participation in the same team-taught course, the maximum credit for one course will be 1.5 times the standard percentage of effort for that course, distributed among participating faculty in proportion to their contribution. For example, two persons with equal contributions in a three-hour course may each claim up to 8%; two persons in a 4-hour course may claim up to 10% each, etc.

1. Course Banking and Obligation to Teach each Semester

The course banking policy permits an individual faculty member—with appropriate unit and college approval—to reduce instructional obligations in one or more future semesters by teaching additional courses in preceding semesters. The following rules govern the course banking policy:

1. Banked courses must be designated as such on the AWP, both when they are taught and when they are redeemed.

1. Course banking must be consistent with unit goals and objectives. Extra teaching and course releases must be distributed so as not to have an adverse impact upon course offerings and curricular requirements.

1. Courses must be banked (i.e., taught) before reductions in instructional obligations will be approved. One extra course taught can be banked for one equivalent instructional reduction.

1. No more than three courses can be accumulated in an individual’s bank.

1. Banked courses cannot be redeemed for x-pay.

1. Under normal circumstances, faculty members on B contracts will teach at least one course in the fall term and one in the spring term. The Dean must approve any special case in which a faculty member uses banked courses in order to be released from all teaching obligations in a given semester. Even in such a special case, however, the faculty member without teaching obligations will be expected to be available to fulfill normal service functions and similar faculty responsibilities on campus.

1. Overload Teaching

Full-time faculty may teach up to two additional courses per year beyond those that are included in the basic AWP commitment, with compensation for such overload teaching being at a flat rate for each rank, determined by the Dean.

Generally, probationary faculty shall not be permitted to teach overload courses. This is because probationary faculty are expected to devote a great deal of effort to advancing their programs of research and creative activity and this should preclude their doing additional teaching. Moreover,

in many units probationary faculty are granted reduced teaching obligations in their early years to facilitate their research programs and teaching overload courses would defeat the purpose

of these course reductions. Exceptions to this policy may be granted by the Dean’s Office and when probationary faculty teach overload courses by special arrangement, the compensation for these will be at the flat rate for full-time faculty.

Like probationary faculty, term faculty shall not be permitted to teach overload courses unless the Dean’s Office grants an exception. The compensation for overload courses will be the flat rate for full-time faculty.

1. Allocation of Effort to Research and Creative Activity

Faculty are normally expected to maintain a minimum of 20% of effort in the areas of Research and Creative Activity, and that expectation is reflected in all recruitments of full-time probationary and tenured faculty appointed since 1977. If exceptions are made to this expectation, those exceptions are stipulated at the time of recruitment and hiring. The College Personnel Policy mandates that, because probationary faculty are required to demonstrate broad proficiency in scholarship, these individuals are to allocate a minimum of 30% of effort to Research and Creative Activity. Exceptions to the policy requiring a minimum allocation of 20% or 30% to Research and Creative Activity will be very rare and will be handled on a case-by-case basis in consultations involving the faculty member, the chair of the A&S unit involved, and the Dean’s Office.

Faculty members with very active programs of Research and Creative Activity may be permitted to increase their allocation of effort to this area, thus reducing their obligations in Service and perhaps in Teaching, especially if their research activities or creative endeavors are supported by funding from outside the University. Faculty members are encouraged to apply for outside funding that will replace a portion of their university salary. Extramural funding, as well as applications for extramural funding, viewed in the light of the availability of funding opportunities in a given area of research or creative activity, will be taken into account in considering requests for reduced obligations in Teaching and Service.

Course buyouts are based on the percent of faculty salary recovered from a grant (10-15 percent salary recover per three-credit-hour course) and approval of the Dean.

1. Allocation of Effort to Service

The College Personnel Policy states the following: “Service, especially service on campus, is the duty of every faculty member. Participation in unit meetings and college assemblies is assumed. Under normal circumstances, faculty are also expected to serve on department, college, and university committees.” Thus, faculty members are expected to devote some of their effort to service in one or more of the categories indicated on the AWP form.

1. Criteria for Determining Distribution of Effort

As the College Personnel Policy requires, “all approved annual work plans shall respect both the individual faculty member's need to shape his or her own career and the College's various needs, and shall accordingly permit the faculty member to perform various functions at different stages of his or her career.” However, this policy does not obviate the need for probationary faculty to show “evidence of broad-based, proficient performance in teaching, research and creative activity, and service” in order to obtain a recommendation for tenure.

Chairs are expected to review the annual productivity of faculty to the extent required to determine an appropriate AWP when each is negotiated. Chairs are expected to consider the relationship between AWPs and personnel reviews when determining the appropriateness of an AWP. If a personnel review reveals deficiencies in a faculty member's performance in one or more areas, the chair must consider such weaknesses when negotiating a new AWP. The negotiated AWP should be designed to remedy weaknesses. Additional documentation may be required by the unit chair or by the Dean's Office from a faculty member if there is reasonable cause to question the appropriateness of the percentages of effort allocated for the various activities listed on an AWP.

VI.     . REVIEW BY THE DEAN'S OFFICE

An AWP is considered complete only after the Dean or an authorized member of the Dean's staff signs the AWP. If there are questions regarding the appropriateness of a Work Plan, the Dean’s Office will contact the unit involved to resolve such questions. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, prior AWPs do not establish binding precedents for new AWPs being negotiated, neither for the faculty member nor for the Dean's Office. Special arrangements concerning percentages of effort allocated for specific activities are presumed to exist only for the year during which they are approved, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Since the responsibility for negotiating appropriate AWPs and establishing appropriate teaching schedules is delegated to unit chairs, the Dean may presume that AWPs submitted are compatible with the teaching responsibilities of the A&S units submitting them. A signature from the Dean's Office on a unit’s AWPs does not create an implied obligation to provide additional resources if the collective effort indicated on the AWPs does not fulfill the programmatic needs of the College, nor do signed agreements relieve A&S units from their responsibilities to fulfill their programmatic needs. If a unit’s Work Plans are found to reduce that unit's teaching capacity below the required level, and if there has been no explicit commitment by the College to provide additional resources, the Work Plans may be returned to the unit whenever this problem is discovered, and the Plans must be amended to correct the problem. If necessary, the Dean's Office may intervene in an A&S unit's scheduling of classes and assignment of teaching duties.

VII.     ELATIONSHIP OF THE AWP TO PERSONNEL REVIEWS

The accomplishments of faculty are reviewed in the context of the AWP for each year under review. Copies of relevant AWPs are to be included in every personnel review record. The efforts included in each area of activity on an AWP must be consistent with the personnel policies of the College and of the unit. The definitions of Teaching, of Research and Creative Activity, and of Service are included in the College Personnel Policy, and these definitions may be amplified in the approved personnel policy documents of individual A&S units. The role of the AWP in personnel reviews is to establish the commitments of faculty members to each area of activity in quantitative terms. The AWP policy does not supplant requirements regarding quality of performance, nor does the AWP relieve faculty members of the obligation to perform in a manner commensurate with the expectations of their professional ranks. The tenure and promotion policy of the College requires evidence of performance at or above the level of proficiency in specified areas of activity, and it specifically requires that probationary faculty attain proficiency in the area of Research and Creative Activity. The policy governing annual performance evaluation requires evidence of performance at or above the level of proficiency

as the basis for merit salary increases. The minima of effort in each category of activity specified by the AWP policy must be interpreted in the context of these requirements.

Although faculty members may waive review for promotion to Professor, neither faculty members, nor unit chairs and personnel committees, nor the College Personnel Committee, nor the Dean's Office may waive the requirements associated with the College’s policy on merit salary increases or on tenure and promotion. Therefore, the signature of a faculty member, chair, or Dean's Office official on an AWP does not constitute a waiver of those requirements. A faculty member may not claim that AWP allocations did not permit sufficient opportunity

to meet the expectations associated with various personnel reviews. The College's AWP policy, like the College's Annual Performance Review policy, is entirely internal to the College.

Therefore AWP agreements, like annual performance evaluations, are not necessarily considered by administrators beyond the College level when such administrators make decisions on tenure and promotion. For this reason it is particularly critical to the welfare of probationary faculty and to faculty members who will be reviewed for promotion to Professor to negotiate AWPs that will allow them to meet the expectations of administrators at all levels of the University.

VIII.      ENDMENTS TO THE AWP

An AWP may be amended at any time in order to reflect the actual activity of a faculty member. The procedures for amending AWPs follow the procedures for the submission and approval of original AWPs.