College of Medicine Faculty Workload Policy
This is the general statement of the College of Medicine Faculty Workload Policy. Departments will modify this policy as appropriate to address the specific needs of the departments. Department chairs have the responsibility and authority to assign faculty workloads to fulfill departmental and college missions.
Total workload: The expected minimum number of hours worked per week for ETSU full-time faculty members is 37.5 hours. Faculty members involved in providing patient care services through MEAC or other settings should have an expectation of working more than this based on the clinical service demands. Call responsibilities may require more working hours. Workload should reflect the full-time equivalent status of the faculty member.
Leave: Faculty members are expected to take leave time when any regular duties must be canceled for personal purposes. If a faculty member is out of the local area and not available to participate in administrative activity on a regularly scheduled university work day, leave should be taken. This includes those situations in which a work schedule involves working a demanding schedule for a period of time followed by a period of time with no assigned duties. Faculty members are expected to complete a written leave request to be approved by their supervisor in advance of their planned leave.
Work location: In general, faculty members will be expected to perform their work in their approved office, lab, practice location, or teaching site. Exceptions occurring on a regular basis should be documented in a written plan approved by the department chair.
Teaching time: Additional time beyond direct contact time is necessary for teaching preparation and meetings with students. Development of new teaching methodologies or content may require more time and will be negotiated prospectively between the chair and faculty member. Determination of time needed for development of new online courses will be negotiated prospectively between the chair and faculty member. Additional effort is required for educational administrative roles (e.g. course director, residency program director) beyond the hours they teach and the amount of time required will be negotiated prospectively between the chair and faculty member. Input from the Executive Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, the Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program or the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education may be useful in making these determinations in selected cases. Teaching in a care delivery setting for which a faculty member is billing for patient care services is to be included in the clinical care category and may not be included in teaching time.
Similarly, teaching in a research setting while the faculty member is actively engaged in research will be included in the research category and may not be included in teaching time.
Teaching assignments: While faculty members and chairs should work collegially regarding specific teaching assignments, chairs have a responsibility to insure all required curricular content is addressed. Chairs have the authority to assign faculty to teach in any subject area for which they are qualified by their terminal degree, certification, or other demonstrated expertise. Assigning faculty members to teach specific content areas does not represent infringement of a faculty member’s academic freedom. Faculty members involved in teaching will support departmental activities necessary to maintain appropriate institutional accreditation. This includes the expectation that faculty members will provide learners with feedback on performance, assess learner performance, and complete necessary documentation in a timely fashion.
Research/Scholarship time: Will be negotiated with the chair on an annual basis. Faculty members with time committed to research should demonstrate research output such as peer reviewed publications, grants submitted, and grants funded. Faculty members with a high level of research time who fail to demonstrate such productivity may have their percent research effort reduced by the department chair. Faculty members with a high level of research time should fund a meaningful portion of their salary from research grants. Faculty members involved in research will support departmental activities necessary to maintain appropriate institutional accreditation.
Administrative and Institutional Service activities: Should provide tangible benefit to the university and/or the community. This benefit may include the opportunity for the faculty member to exercise their area of expertise, meet a community need, advance the reputation of the university in the community, or provide learning opportunities. Those with high levels of commitment to service should generate revenue related to this service through grants and/or contracts. The percent effort and type of service must be approved by the chair.
Clinical care: In general the percentage of time spent in clinical care will be negotiated annually by the chair and faculty member. As faculty members may provide clinical care in settings not under the control of the university, circumstances may change related to such practice settings which are beyond the control of the faculty member and the chair. These changes may impact other aspects of clinical care and require changes in time allocation. Unpredictable changes (departures, illness, etc.) related to faculty staffing may require changes in the workload for other faculty members to cover patient care commitments. Faculty members involved in clinical care will support departmental activities necessary to maintain appropriate institutional accreditation.
Individual Faculty Workload: Individual faculty workloads should be developed by the faculty member and his/her chair working within the guidelines set by the department. The workload must be approved by the chair. The proposed workload should be stated in writing in the faculty activity plan for the next year and be signed by the faculty member, the chair and the dean. Individual workloads should be set annually for untenured faculty, who receive annual contracts. For tenured faculty, individual workloads should be established for a typical period of three to five years. However, since each faculty member is evaluated annually and new opportunities may become available in the areas of teaching, research/scholarship and service, faculty workloads may be subject to review and adjustment as reasonable and necessary.
Workload Review: If a faculty member and his/her chair cannot agree upon an appropriate workload, the faculty member may submit a request for resolution, to the Faculty Advisory Council. The Faculty Advisory Council will make a recommendation to the dean, who will inform the faculty member and the chair of his/her decision. If the faculty member is not satisfied with the dean's decision, he/she may seek guidance from a Faculty Senate Procedural Consultant and, if necessary, pursue relief through appropriate channels. The chair of the Faculty Concerns and Grievances Committee can be contacted for help in identifying the current Faculty Senate Procedural Consultants.
July 22, 2014