- Project Overview
- Reading Groups
- Reports
- Proposals
The workload reform project is an initiative started by the Faculty Development and Faculty Welfare committees to work towards a new workload policy for CLA. Motivations behind this project are given in more detail in the "Workload Diary Report" but the main motivations behind this effort for policy reform are: (1) to develop a policy that aligns with university and CLA strategic goals; (2) to address job satisfaction and workload stresses among faculty; (3) to develop a clear policy for allocating new faculty resources in the years to come.
The project has five main stages:
1. Data gathering. Fall 2008 we collected workload diary data from many of the faculty. We also used data that faculty reported in Spring 2008 in an online survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute. The results from this stage are in the "Workload Diary Report" submitted to faculty on March 2, 2009.
2. Develop reform proposals. A packet of Workload Reform Proposals was developed for consideration by the faculty. These proposals are not exhaustive (there may be other, preferable policy proposals), nor are they intended to be final versions. Instead, they are intended to serve as a focus for discussion among faculty. In a separate file are the Appendices to the Packet.
3. Discussion groups on workload reform. Starting the week of March 16, discussion groups met for 3 weeks to discuss workload policy reform at Mercer and to read supplementary material on faculty workload to help focus thinking. The reading schedule and materials can be found here.
4. Faculty forum on workload reform. On April 15, 2009, faculty met for a faculty forum on workload reform, in which specific reform proposals were discussed. The handout from the faculty forum can be found here. Following this meeting, faculty were polled on preferred proposal(s) to provide direction for moving ahead on workload reforms.
5. On the basis of faculty input and discussion, an official, new CLA workload policy will be worked on during the 2009-10 academic year. A subcommittee will be formed Summer 2009 to direct the process, with the goal of developing either: a policy reform proposal to submit to the faculty at the end of the 2009-10 academic year, or recommendations on how to proceed towards that goal.
Begun the week of March 16 and continued for three weeks. Meetings were in Groover 115, at the following times:
Group 1: Monday 3/16, 3/23, 3/30 from 3-4 PM
Group 2: Tuesday 3/17, 3/24, 3/31 from 12:15-1:15 PM
Group 3: Friday 3/20, 3/27, 4/3 from 1-2 PMReading Assignments
Week 1: Do we work too much? Is our workload unbalanced?
Jerry A. Jacobs, "The Faculty Time Divide" p. 1-14 (14-19 optional)
From the Appendices to the Workload Reform Proposals Packet, please look over:
Appendix I: AAUP Statement on Faculty Workloads
Appendix II: Mercer University Stategic Plan Goal 2
Appendix III: CLA Strategic Plan Strategy 1
Appendix VI: CLA Faculty Manual - Workload Policies
Review the Workload Diary Report, including Appendix II: Workload Satisfaction in CLA.Week 2: Managing workload by curricular reforms Thomas Erlich, "The Credit Hour and Faculty Instructional Workload"
From the Workload Reform Proposals Packet, read proposals one ("4 credit-hour") and two ("13%")
Review Appendix V: CLA Instructional Efficiency Report from the Appendices to the Workload Reform Proposals Packet
(Optional) From the Appendices to the Workload Reform Proposals Packet:
Appendix IV: Dean Fallis' 2003 White Paper on 4 credit-hour curricular reform.Week 3: Managing workload by non-curricular reforms Deborah A. Chang and Roger G. Baldwin, "Creating Time and Space for Faculty Reflection, Risk-Taking, and Renewal"
From the Workload Reform Proposals Packet, read proposal three ("15+X") and all variants.
From the Appendices to the Workload Reform Proposals Packet, please read:
Appendix VII: Boise State "15+X"-Sytle Workload Policy
Appendix VIII: Sample Points-Based Workload Policy
Appendix IX: Example of Qualitative Department-Based Workload Policies
The Workload Diary Report provides context for the workload reform project, and details on two surveys: the semester-long workload diary survey conducted Fall semester 2008 and the online HERI survey completed by faculty in Spring 2008. It also provides results, summaries and conclusions, and includes a useful appendix on job satisfaction at Mercer.
Three tentative proposals for workload reform were presented to the faculty in the form of the Workload Proposals Packet. These proposals were not intended to be final recommendations for faculty, rather, they were meant to stimulate discussion on workload reform and to provide some possible models for new policies. These proposals were discussed by a number of faculty over three weeks during the reading groups sponsored by the faculty development committee. They were also discussed at length during a faculty forum in April 2009. Following the forum, all CLA faculty were invited to complete a survey indicating their opinions/preferences for workload reform. The forum handout and survey can be found here. The results of the survey will be used to help guide the workload committee as it takes up workload reform for 2009-10.