1988 Workload Study

This page provides the summary of a workload study that CUASA conducted in 1988 as part of negotiations. While the results are more than 20 years old, it remains the only study of faculty workload at Carleton.

Arts Faculty

A normal teaching load generally means 3 full courses in the Fall & Winter terms. Units try to distribute course load through undergraduate levels (1 to 4) and to assign at least one half course in member's area of specialization. In most units , teaching is allocated on "principal of course equivalents rather than on basis of contact hours."

Units generally consider special supervisions (of theses, honors essays, comprehensive exams etc) to be "overload", but members are expected to perform their share. Sometimes course reduction (one half to one course) is allowed for other duties, ie Honors or Graduate supervisor, course coordination, major funded research.

Administrative duties are distributed, usually more equally in smaller units. Course reduction for Chair is not consistent across units & is usually based on past practice.

Research time is not specified. It is implicit that research is done in time left after administration and teaching are completed.

Year to year fluctuations in teaching and administration demands are more difficult to handle in smaller units. It's not easy to "bank" time or prorate the sharing of course loads. All units agree that present method of work allocation depends on goodwill and cooperation.

Science Faculty

Units in this faculty, with the exception of Computer Science, reported there was no simple formula for course assignment: rather it was based on other commitments: # of labs, # of supervisions, administrative responsibilities, research. In Physics, the importance of travel to international conferences is considered; those with less travel requirements teach more.

Computer Science tries to assign 2 courses plus administrative duties each term. The number of faculty is small so administrative assignments per member are high. New faculty are assigned a lighter administrative load. CS also reported one half course reduction for Graduate Supervisor and Lab Coordinator.

Engineering Faculty

The Dean reports that there is no precise formula for workload. A typical teaching assignment equals four half courses (over two terms) including at least one undergraduate half course and one graduate half course. Normally, one course will have a laboratory component and the faculty member will direct the teaching assistants who run the labs. In multi-section undergraduate courses, course coordination and laboratory responsibilities are distributed among faculty members.

Each faculty member is expected to do research, spending one day per week in the Fall and Winter terms and most days in the Summer term on research. Closely connected to this is supervision of student projects. Faculty members typically supervise 3-4 4th year aud 3-4 graduate student research projects at any given time.

Administrative responsibilities are considered part of normal duties, although there is some teaching relief for the Chair, Graduate Supervisor and Director of a Joint Institute.

In the School of Architecture & Industrial Design, there are no graduate programs and there is less intense research. However, studio and/or lab courses require more contact hours. Architecture faculty usually have 12 hours/week of studio time plus one regular 3 hour lecture. In Industrial Design, a faculty member may have 5-7 hours/week of lectures (in 3 courses) plus 8-16 hours per week lab time. Both schools have a few teaching assistants. Industrial Design is small so members have a relatively active role in administration.

Social Sciences Faculty

A typical teaching load in this faculty is two and one half courses per term Psychology and the School of Social Work assign only 2 courses per term. In the latter, IEP (thesis) supervision and field consultation are time-consuming and account for the lower teaching assignment. Psychology faculty may teach an additional one half course if research commitment is low. Geography faculty may teach 3 courses per term if thesis supervision is low. The Law department may reduce the load to 2 courses for multi-section course coordination. Economics, Law and Psychology try to limit teaching load for untenured new faculty in their first year. Economics and Business assign the more difficult or "burdensome" courses to those with less research.

Most units try to distribute the workload so that 100 and 200 level and graduate courses are shared. Public Admin. distributes the share of evening courses. Public Admin. & Business report that most, if not all courses taught require separate preparations. Some units are able to provide T A's for the larger classes or those with tutorials. Most units reported no remission of course load for teaching large classes, or for supervision of students' theses.

Routine administrative assignments are distributed among faculty members. In some cases, research output and/or thesis supervision are considered in allocation of administrative duties. Geography reports that administrative jobs are often unequally assigned to those who are around in the summer. In most cases, the following major positions are rewarded with one half to one full course reduction: Chair or Assoc. Chair, Director or Assoc. Director, Graduate or Undergraduate Supervisor, Chair of Graduate or Undergraduate Committees or other major standing committees.

Most units do not indicate any guidelines for research other than that it is expected. Economics, Psychology and Soc/Anthro all report course reductions allowed for funded or high level research.