Workload Policy

Workload Expectations and Formulas Policy

Workload is Assigned and Documented Through Workload Letters

Workload is assigned by the Division Chair with College approval following the annual review process conducted in accordance with UHAP Policy 3.2 in spring for the following fiscal year (fall/winter/spring/summer). Following the discussion, a workload letter is provided to the faculty outlining the major responsibilities assigned and percentage effort allocated to those responsibilities. Workload letters are sent out to the faculty in late Spring for signature and acknowledgement of the assigned workload. New faculty receive workload letters during the initial week of employment. Should there be a change in faculty circumstances (e.g., faculty receives funding or a change of position, etc.) or College needs change (e.g., new course approved, etc.), workload will be reassigned after discussion with faculty and the Division Chair, Teaching Assignment Management Software (TAMs) will be updated, and faculty teaching report from TAMs will be sent via email. Note that a change in other faculty circumstances may influence faculty workload. 

Components of Faculty Workload

The components of the typical faculty member encompass teaching, research/scholarship, service, and may include practice. These areas are consistent with the mission of the College and assigned by the Division Chair. Faculty have different workloads depending on the following factors: career or tenure track, new faculty, grant funding, administrative appointments, practice appointments, entry or advanced level program teaching, and full- or part-time status. These factors are considered when assigning annual teaching workload. Baseline credits are 30 annually for fiscal year faculty and 24 annually for academic year faculty. 

Teaching: Teaching incorporates standard courses, clinical supervision, chair or member of student committees, updating course content, revising courses, etc. For faculty with 0.5 or greater FTE, attendance at faculty and program meetings is an expected part of teaching. See the Standardized Revised 4.25.2024 Effective Fall Semester 2024 

Teaching Formulas in the Workload Implementation Guide. The table below lists faculty credits assigned for teaching activities. 

Workload Credits for Teaching Teaching Activity

Research and Scholarship: All faculty with professor in their rank must show evidence of research/scholarship productivity. This includes grant applications for research and training, publications and presentations. Research/ scholarship FTE is assigned by the Division Chair in consultation with Associate Deans and approved by the Dean. Tenure eligible Assistant Professors are expected to obtain a minimum of 25% of their salary through extramural funding by year 3. Tenured Associate/Full Professors are expected to secure a minimum of 40% of their salary through extramural funding. Tenure track faculty not meeting the minimum expectations will be assigned additional teaching time, or their FTE will be reduced. For tenure track faculty without funding, the maximum bridge funding will be no more than 20% FTE (equivalent to 4.8 credits per academic year), and it will require a clear plan with outcome deliverables. For career track faculty, College of Nursing funded research/scholarship time will be no more than 10% FTE (equivalent to 2.4 credits per academic year or 3 credits per fiscal year), with a clear plan of scholarship assigned by the Division Chair in consultation with Associate Deans and approved by the Dean. 

Service: All full-time faculty could receive 2 (academic appointment)-3 (fiscal appointment) credits for service annually, unless less than .8 FTE, if there is a clear plan with outcome deliverables. Service includes working on College of Nursing or University committees, professional organizations, volunteer service within the community, regionally, or nationally. Two-three credits annually approximates 4 hours of service per week. Service in addition to four hours per week is accomplished on faculty own time and not included in workload. 

Practice: Some faculty are required to maintain practice competencies for certification and licensure. Typically, faculty who practice receive an independent contract outside of the college of nursing. For instance, for faculty who are practicing at Banner with a workload allocation of 20% (.2 FTE), College of Nursing FTE is .8 FTE. Faculty must disclose all outside clinical practice to the Division Chair. If faculty practice outside their assigned faculty FTE, faculty will need to update the University of Arizona Conflict of Commitment and Conflict of Interest forms annually, and with any outside employment change. Please refer to the University of Arizona’s Conflict of Interest & Commitment policy policy.arizona.edu/ethics-and-conduct/conflicts-interest-commitment-policy

Administrative Assignments: Administrative assignments are appointed by the Dean and workload credits are determined by the Dean. 

Teaching Buy-Out Revised 4.25.2024 Effective Fall Semester 2024 

This policy describes teaching buy-out time for faculty. No teaching time can be bought out unless your funding is applied to College of Nursing funded research/scholarship time first. 

Rationale: This policy emphasizes that faculty use funded research to buy-out their time and if funding is absent will either have a higher teaching load or a reduced FTE. 

Teaching Buy Out: Workload is assigned to courses as described in the CON faculty workload policy above. Funding from extramural or non-CON intramural funding may be substituted to buy out the equivalent teaching. 

Existing Tenure Track Faculty: Existing tenure track faculty will meet expectations of their workload assignment as per Division Chair. Workload will be adjusted to include more teaching or FTE will be reduced if tenure track faculty have not obtained extramurally funded research to cover salary percentage assigned in the annual workload assignment. 

Academic versus Fiscal Year Contract: Tenure track faculty work on an academic calendar contract. There are two exceptions in which tenure track faculty may be appointed to a fiscal year contract; 1) tenure track faculty with administrative leadership positions may be appointed to a fiscal year contract, 

2) tenure track/ tenure endowed professor receiving more than 30% of their salary from extramural funding could be classified as having a fiscal appointment. If tenure track faculty lose an administrative leadership position or an endowed position, the faculty member will return to an academic year contract after 90-day notice is given for the change. 

Timing of Change: To ensure support for research acquisition, buy-out expectations will be implemented no sooner than July 1, 2025. An in-depth discussion between Division Chair and tenure track faculty will occur during evaluation to set expectations for annual teaching workload. Annual teaching workload for faculty is tracked in TAMs. 

Summer Supplemental Compensation 

Faculty must work with Division Chairs if they wish to request summer supplemental compensation. The Dean must approve all summer supplemental compensation. Please see HR policy on Supplemental Compensation. College of Nursing current summer supplemental compensation is below. The college has been paying faculty summer supp comp when they are working on pre-approved job tasks that are above and beyond their FTEs. For example, academic faculty do not get paid in the summertime from their annual contracts (they only get paid for 9 months). If they are teaching in the summertime, the college will pay them summer supp comp to compensate for their time and efforts. Another example is, Revised 4.25.2024 Effective Fall Semester 2024 

if a fiscal faculty's FTE is 0.8, and in the summertime the college needs the faculty to work 1.0 FTE (happens in NHE division quite often), then we pay the difference (0.2 FTE) via summer supp comp.