October 24th: Update to Membership
Section 36: The New Faculty Workload Guidelines
As a continuation of last week’s information about Faculty Workload parameters (Section 36 of the Collective Agreement), we will be taking a closer look at the new Faculty Workload Guidelines document and processes. While assigning workload into three categories is not new, the guidelines document now has more detailed information about the factors impacting Class Contact Hours (CCH), as well as what activities are in included in in Class Management Activities (CMA) and Professional Duties (PD).
Faculty Workload at SAIT
Any discussion of workload must begin with an acknowledgement that instructors, like all employees, have a finite number of hours available in their work week. As seen in the table below, a full-time permanent instructor’s work must fit within 1492 hours. This may seem obvious, but when we start with 1492 hours for the year and then subtract CCH and a reasonable CMA assignment, many folks are surprised by the small amount of PD time available.
Scenario: Jaquon is an instructor in the School of Health & Public Safety. Their CCH assignment is 570 – what might their available time look like for Professional Duties?
Annual Workdays in Hours 1492
Annual CCH -570
Annual CMA -570
Annual PD 352
Jaquon will have 352 hours over approximately 40 weeks to complete any Professional Duties assignments.
Tell me more about Classroom Management Activities and Professional Duties
The new Faculty Workload Guidelines document builds on processes and policies developed in earlier Letters of Understanding. The following information is from the new guidelines – you can view the full document on SAITNow.
CMA may include:
1. Classroom, lab, or shop setup done by the instructor,
2. Minor updates of learning resources materials for current courses,
3. Minor updates of technology related to specific course learning or course delivery software,
4. Updating and reviewing lesson plans for relevancy and accuracy,
5. Preparing, marking, and evaluating assignments, exams, and other student assessments,
6. Preparation of exercises, videos, and digital learning objects for the classroom, lab, or shop,
7. Coordinating guest speakers or industry presenters or representatives,
8. Consultation with a student or group of students that takes place outside of scheduled instruction but pertains to course materials or student academic success.
PD may include:
1. Meeting of various committees directly associated with the work of the institution,
2. Significant planning, review, and development related to course updates, curriculum development, program revision, accreditation processes, quality review processes, or other initiatives,
3. Class tours, testing/interviewing/selecting applicants, or tutoring/ remediating students not connected to scheduled CCH,
4. Significant planning and development related to student placements, student competitions (Skills Canada, etc.), or student recruitment,
5. Equipment monitoring, maintenance, scheduling, and updates,
6. Liaison work with business, industry, institutions, professional organizations, etc. and must be approved in advance by the supervisor,
7. Authorized travel,
8. Specialist appointments, such as Mentoring or Course Lead,
9. Specialist positions shall have project load included in CCH to allow for the additional professional duties (previously known as “off-loading”),
10. Professional Development, pursuant to Section 12,
11. Association Business, pursuant to Section 41,
12. Scholarly Activity pursuant to Section 36.10.
These guidelines are just the first version of an evolving document. While they are the official guidelines at this time, both SAFA and SAIT agree that updates are needed to expand and clarify the terms. The new joint committee will be discussing questions such as “what is a minor update to a course?” and “what might an appropriate allocation be for a specialist appointment?”
Under the new guidelines, faculty should receive their workload assignment at least 4 weeks before the start of the term. This assignment must be in writing and include statement of CCH and CMA time, as well as assignment of PD activities. If the workload does not include this detailed information, an instructor’s first step should be to contact their Academic Chair to request that information.
What if I don’t agree with my workload assignment?
There is a new workload complaint process outlined in the Faculty Workload Guidelines document and a new committee (the Workload Monitoring Group) to hear complaints. Review the details of the complaint process as well as the submission form on SAITNow. The process is designed for a quick turnaround in a maximum of 20 days. To qualify for this new process, faculty must submit concerns in writing to their Academic Chair within 5 workdays of receiving their workload assignment. The AC must respond to the concerns in writing within 5 workdays. If the issue is still not resolved, you then have another week (5 workdays) to submit the formal workload complaint form.
The new Workload Monitoring Group (WMG) is made up of equal numbers of faculty and administrators – this means workload concerns will now be heard by fellow instructors instead of just SAIT administration.