Article 13 - Workload

Within each year of a multi-year faculty appointment described in Article 11 (Contracts and Promotions), each Unit Core Faculty member will be assigned a nine-month (39-week) contract, a ten-month contract, or a twelve-month contract as set forth below. The work of a Unit Core Faculty member consists of instruction, non-instructional duties, service, and scholarship, as described below and in Article 11 (Contracts and Promotions).

Section 1. Nine-Month and Ten-Month Contracts.

1. Nine-month core unit faculty member assignments will consist of contract periods of 39 weeks as follows (the “contract period”):
   1. September 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017;
   2. August 31, 2017 through May 30, 2018; and
   3. August 30, 2018 through May 29, 2019.
2. During the 39-week contract period, Unit Core Faculty members are required to complete seven (7) workload units.
3. In addition to subsections (a) and (b) above, Unit Core Faculty members on ten-month contracts are required to complete an additional 20 days of work during the 13-week summer period.
4. Unit Core Faculty members are required to engage in service and scholarship activity in addition to the seven-unit workload.
5. Part-time Unit Core Faculty members’ workload expectations will be pro-rated.
6. Consistent with program, school, and University needs, and subject to the Dean’s approval, Unit Core Faculty on 39-week contract periods may choose to spread their teaching course load across the entire calendar year, meaning that a course or two can be taught “on load” during the subsequent 13 weeks (summer) beyond the normal contract period of 39 weeks. However, faculty will not be required to spread their course load into the summer.
7. Unit Core Faculty may not carry more than two “overload” units (whether instructional or other) in each semester. The Dean in his/her discretion may approve more than two overload units per semester.
8. During the 39-week contract period (and additional 20 days for ten-month faculty), Unit Core Faculty members are expected to attend school/college meetings and department/division meetings, and to participate in a number of University events such as Convocation, Commencement, student recruiting activities, student retention activities, and faculty development days.
9. During the 13-week off-contract period, Unit Core Faculty on nine- and ten- month contracts are required to communicate by email, phone, or video conference, without additional compensation, to:
   1. Promptly respond to reasonable work-related communications from the University (which requires active monitoring of their lesley.edu email accounts);
   2. Be reasonably available to promptly respond to and be involved in the grade grievance procedure, academic review process, or other inquiries or investigations related to students, faculty, or staff; and
   3. Promptly respond to or forward to their supervisor and dean any communication from students, including without limitation student requests for leaves of absence and reports of misconduct.

The University expects that the instances described in sections (ii) and (iii) above will be unusual and limited to time-sensitive matters.

Section 2. Summer Contracts: Instructional and Non-Instructional Work.

1. At the discretion of the University, some Unit Core Faculty may be offered contracts to engage in non-instructional work or instructional work during the 13-week summer period. Such Unit Core Faculty members may decline such offers without any adverse consequences.
2. Each summer contract will include dates of service, FTE basis, salary, and description of responsibilities.
3. The number of work weeks assigned to a Unit Core Faculty member during the summer can vary between zero weeks and 13 weeks for each year of a faculty member’s appointment, subject to the mutual agreement of the Unit Core Faculty member and the University.

Section 3. Twelve-Month Contracts

1. At the discretion of the University, some Unit Core Faculty may be appointed to twelve-month contract periods in one or more years of a multi-year faculty appointment.
2. A twelve-month contract period may be granted to a Unit Core Faculty member who normally performs seven workload units during the 39-week contract period and who is also normally assigned two workload units in a “year-round program” during the 13-week summer period.
3. A “year-round program” is a degree program that is designed to enroll and does in fact enroll students in twelve months of consecutive courses (six consecutive terms or three consecutive semesters). The Provost determines which degree programs are “year-round programs” and which Unit Core Faculty may be awarded a twelve-month contract on this basis.
4. The Provost may also determine that certain Unit Core Faculty may be awarded twelve-month contracts to teach or provide program support in programs that have robust student enrollment during the 13-week summer period.
5. A Unit Core Faculty member on a twelve-month contract is expected to engage in teaching, service, and scholarship during the summer period in the same way as all Unit Core Faculty during the 39-week contract period.
6. The University may alter a faculty member’s length of contract period (i.e. nine, ten, or twelve months) due to changes in programmatic needs (e.g., the program is no longer ‘year round’) or for financial reasons provided one year notice of the change is given. The University may also alter the length of contract period when reappointing a faculty member to a new two, three, five, or eight year appointment. If a faculty member with a twelve-month appointment leaves the University for any reason, the University is free in its discretion to appoint any replacement to a nine-month contract period instead of a twelve-month contract period.
7. Unit Core Faculty may not carry more than two “overload” units (whether instructional or other) in each semester. The Dean in his/her discretion may approve more than two overload units per semester.
8. Unit Core Faculty members on twelve-month contracts are expected throughout the year to attend school/college meetings and department/division meetings, and to participate in a number of University events such as Convocation, Commencement, student recruiting activities, student retention activities, faculty development days.

Section 4. Description of Units.

1. Instructional Units.
   1. Teaching units involve direct faculty to student instruction for which students earn credit. Instructional units include course instruction, Ph.D. student advising (four students equal one instructional unit), thesis advising, and fieldwork supervision. Instructional units do not include independent study supervision. Unit Core Faculty are expected to clearly notify students of their availability to meet or correspond in person, by phone or video conference, or by email, and will promptly and reasonably respond to all student inquiries and correspondence.
   2. A three-credit, semester-long course equals one workload unit (excluding LUCAD studio courses, independent studies and excluding individual field placement and practicum supervision assignments). Therefore, a one-credit course equals one-third (.33) of a workload unit, a two-credit course equals two-thirds (.67) of a unit, and a four-credit course equals one and one-thirds (1.33) units. A LUCAD 6 contact-hour studio course equals one and one-half (1.5) units. A four-credit science lab equals one and one-half (1.5) units. The Provost may determine variations on this formula or equivalent units.
   3. The parties will review workload unit equivalencies of the MFA Visual Arts Low-Residency Program and the MFA Creative Writing Low-Residency Program.
   4. Field placement supervision assignments and practicum supervision assignments equal one workload unit or portion thereof, as determined by the Provost in consultation with program directors and program faculty, and subject to accreditation and regulatory requirements.
   5. Independent study supervision is not allocated to workload unit calculations and is compensated separately. Unit Core Faculty members are not required to teach independent studies.
   6. Academic advising of undergraduate and master’s degree students is an integral part of the academic experience of students, and a normal extension of faculty teaching. Therefore, the normal advising load does not constitute a separate workload unit. Academic advising varies by program and level of study, and includes degree planning and career planning. In the normal course, each Unit Core Faculty member will have college and program specific numbers. An advising load beyond this normal volume may be compensated with the approval of the Provost.
   7. The review and revision of courses is a normal part of the instructional practice. Internal program review, in addition to course review and revision, is also considered a normal part of teaching duties and is not a workload unit.
2. Threshold Program. Workload assignments for Unit Core Faculty in the Threshold Program will consist of instructional and non-instructional assignments determined by the Director of Threshold to achieve a reasonable hourly equivalent total per semester comparable to other Unit Core Faculty as described above.
3. Release Time for Faculty Development and Scholarship. For any release of workload units for purposes related to faculty development and scholarship, see Article 15 (Faculty Development and Scholarship).