Key Issues

1. Changing the workload formula for faculty pay depends on certain assumptions, key among those is the fact that any new formula must be clearly explainable to all stakeholders.

2. Student success (up to and including graduation) should be competency-based, and all competencies must be thoroughly defined and measurable.

3. An effective student learning/workload formula should consist of a cluster of people (faculty, student development staff, technology/media experts, etc.) meeting the needs of a cluster of students.

Solutions

New Workload Design Principles

1. Customizing contracts to delineate the workload & reward for each faculty member.

2. Relating workload to learning outcomes – course boundaries would be determined by the students’ mastery of skills, rather than by time.

3. Making the attribution of workload a function of student learning – a shift that would make the underprepared student potentially the most valuable.

4. Conceptualizing workload to encompass all activities that contribute to learning (i.e. assessment, course design, governance, projects/task forces, professional development, mentoring, advising, research, etc.)

5. Assigning responsibility for student learning to multifunctional teams rather than to individuals.