How much are you working?

The mind of a dean has been preoccupied since July 12 with duties more pressing than blogging. In light of catalog revisions, semester preparations, registration duties, faculty meetings, and teaching obligations, I’m not sure there has been enough of my mind free to share through the blog. Or perhaps you have seen enough of my mind through the four faculty meetings we have enjoyed (ahem) together.

But with a couple of weeks between meetings, it’s time to bring up topics that don’t make it to the meetings. As always, discussion is encouraged. In fact, I can’t imagine any of you lacking an opinion on this topic.

The issue of how to measure faculty workload is a perennial difficulty at any College, let alone a Bible college where the boundaries between our vocation and our ministry are blurred, if they exist at all.

The opinions of faculty members on this topic run the spectrum: I have had some tell me they are worked too hard at Central and others who say they aren’t being worked hard enough. While I admit that both may be true for various faculty members, I would like to get away from such inherently subjective evaluations of faculty workload.

While it may be possible to perfectly measure some things, the amount of perceived work someone exerts is not one of them. Even more difficult is comparing the workload of one member of the faculty with another member. One possible approach is to just give people more work until they growl, then back off just a bit. But some people are quick to growl and others haven’t yet developed that voice.

A more proactive solution is surely better. So today, I would like to start a conversation that will allow the following three goals to be accomplished:

• Determine a reasonable definition of faculty workload.
• Determine a reasonable expectation of faculty workload.
• Determine a reasonable compensation for faculty whose workload exceeds reasonable expectation.

So if you could pick one of the following questions and answer it in the comments, it would help me get the pulse of the faculty on this topic.  You’re invited to comment on one or more of these, either privately to me in an email or publicly through the comments.

1. How much extra work is it to teach multiple sections of the same course?
2. How does the workload compare for a course that is taught every semester, every year, or every other year?
3. How does the workload change based on the number of students enrolled in your class?
4. How does the workload change based on the type of assignments that the course requires?
5. What other elements (besides sections, size, frequency, and assignments) affect the teacher’s workload?