CON Faculty Workload Guidelines

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Appendices

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER COLLEGE OF NURSING
Faculty Workload Guidelines	Subsection: Appendix B2
Section - Appendices	Originating Date: January 2006
Responsible Reviewing Agency: Executive Council	Revised: September 2006 Revised: January 2008 Revised: August 2009 Revised: August 2010 Reviewed: January 2015 Revised: November 2020 (changes) Revised: August 2023 (changes)
Related documents:

1.0    General Principles

1. The work of the College of Nursing (CON) is accomplished through the committed and collaborative activities of its faculty which are based on the professional model and directed toward achievement of the College of Nursing mission, goals, and strategic plan.
   1. The work of the CON faculty includes teaching, scholarship, and professional service (including practice) as defined in the Standards and Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure for Academic Rank (Appendix A1) or in the Standards and Guidelines for Promotion for Clinical Rank (Appendix A2).
2. Consistent with the promotion and tenure documents faculty select their preferred roles based on rank. Work allocation is differentiated based on faculty role.
3. Faculty are encouraged, in collaboration with their supervisor, to focus their professional development in two of three areas (teaching, scholarship (in teaching, research, practice), or professional service) as consistent with the Promotion and Tenure Standards and Guidelines.
4. The work of the CON faculty will fulfill the educational mission aligned with existing resources.
5. The CON supports all forms of scholarship: research, practice/service and teaching scholarship defined as: generating new knowledge, translating knowledge, and disseminating knowledge to the professional community and the public.
6. These guidelines are flexible and should be interpreted broadly, as the needs of individual faculty members, specific courses and projects, and those of the College will vary. The goal of this document is to provide a framework within which faculty members, their assistant deans, and associate deans and program directors collaborate to meet the College’s mission, support the strategic plan, and foster individual faculty growth, development, productivity, and success. Effort allocation guidelines are designed to promote the best faculty effectiveness available to meet the mission, goals and strategic directions of the College of Nursing.
7. Faculty effort is communicated in relation to percentage of FTE. The full-time equivalent (FTE) percentage makes work assignments comparable across various contexts. An FTE of 1.0 means that the person is a full-time faculty member, while an FTE of 0.5 signals that the faculty member is only half-time or that a particular assignment will require half time work.

Faculty Role Preferences

Faculty role preferences are varied and depend on personal development goals (academic promotion and tenure or clinical promotion), rank and credentials, employment negotiations, and organizational needs. Faculty effort is inherently related to faculty preferences and areas of role productivity, and faculty effort guidelines, in general, are consistent with the concept of role preferences and productivity and those for promotion and tenure. There are three major roles: a) teaching intensive and/or teaching scholarship productive, b) research/scholarship productive, and c) practice/scholarship productive.

Teaching

Teaching is a core value and all faculty are expected to have a teaching assignment.

•      An example of full-time work for teaching intensive and/or teaching scholarship productive faculty is:
  • 80% (.80 FTE) teaching in a semester
  • 10% service in a semester
  • 10% teaching scholarship in a semester (See below for examples of teaching scholarship)

Division Assistant Deans and faculty may negotiate for an alteration in teaching based on other workload considerations.

Research

Research is a vital component of the mission of the UNMC College of Nursing, and the college is committed to increasing its research initiative. Faculty who have identified research as a priority focus area are expected to fully engage in those efforts, with the support of their Assistant Dean and the Niedfelt Nursing Research Center (NNRC).

•      An example of full-time work for research intensive and/or research scholarship productive faculty is:
  • 40%-60% teaching in a semester
  • 30%-40% research in a semester
  • 10%-20% service/funded practice in a semester (See below for examples of research scholarship)

Practice

Practice is another area valued within the college of nursing. Nurse Practitioner faculty are expected to keep current their knowledge and skills to support continued licensure and certification, and quality nursing education. However, practice is not limited to APRNs. Any faculty member is welcome to partner with another institution for faculty practice. Faculty who seek practice agreements outside the CON are asked to work through the Morehead Center for support in that process.

•      An example of full-time work for practice and/or practice scholarship productive faculty is:
  • 40%-70% teaching in a semester
  • 20%-40% funded practice in a semester
  • 10-20% service/scholarship in a semester (See below for examples of practice scholarship)

Scholarship

Scholarship in nursing can be defined as those activities that systematically advance the teaching, research, and practice of nursing through rigorous inquiry that 1) is significant to the profession, 2) is creative, 3) can be documented, 4) can be replicated or elaborated, and 5) can be peer-reviewed through various methods. (Edwards, J., Alichnie, C., Easley, C. E., Edwardson, S., Keating, S. B., & Stanley, J. (1999). Defining scholarship for the discipline of nursing. AACN White Paper.)

Scholarship is highly valued by the College and University. Faculty shoulder the responsibility to seek and bring in funding to support their scholarship, and they receive investment time for scholarship with the expectation that they will become funded and/or disseminate teaching, research, and practice scholarship for this effort allocation. Tangible outcomes, such as funded grants and contracts and publications, are considered the return on investment. Faculty who do not engage in scholarship will have the FTE allocated to scholarship reassigned to teaching. The following are examples of scholarship in the areas of teaching, research, and practice. These are consistent with P & T criteria.

Teaching

• Educational grants
• Author of educational peer-reviewed publications on teaching innovations and/or evaluations
• Text books and book chapters
• Development of simulation activities
• Regional, national, international presentations of learner-centered strategies and evaluation
• Editor of an education journal
• Development of evidence based guidelines
• Program consultant
• New course development and evaluation
• Program development and evaluation
• Writing test questions for national certification exams
• Member of editorial boards of education journals
• Inter-professional collaboration to develop new courses or learner-centered activities
• Develop and/or pilot-test innovative use of technology in teaching

Research

• Recipient of intramural and extramural funding
• Demonstrate progression from small intramurally funded studies to extramural funding with dissemination of findings
• Dissemination of research in peer reviewed journals, and at regional, national, & international meetings
• Serve on editorial boards of research journals
• Serve on national grant review panels (e.g., for national specialty organizations, private foundations, NIH)

Practice

• Develop innovations in clinical teaching and disseminate through peer reviewed publications and regional, national, or international presentations
• Develop and publish practice guidelines/clinical pathways
• Serve on regional, national, or international practice evaluation panels
• Consultation to clinicians or agency administrators
• Evaluation of practice outcomes and dissemination through peer reviewed publications and regional, national, or international presentations
• Translate and evaluate research into practice
• Develop disease state management protocols

Service

Professional service is important to the university and community. Faculty are asked to participate in service activities at about 20% of FTE. As rank progresses from assistant, associate, to full professor, the level of service changes; for example, one progresses from a task force within the College to higher level University service and from a committee member to committee chair.

The following are examples of service activities:

• Committees within the CON or University
• Professional service to community groups
• Service to local, regional, national, international professional organizations
• Holding a leadership position in a professional organization

Effort Calculation information

•      FTE for calculating effort per semester:
  • The unit for calculating teaching work assignment is the FTE.
  • Faculty teaching effort is calculated each semester.
  • Faculty in the CON may negotiate a reduction in teaching work assignment beyond what has been allocated within the faculty preferences and role differentiation recommendations. Final determination of teaching assignment is at the discretion of the supervisor and is based on scholarly activities such as demands of a program of scholarship (grant proposal development--research, practice & teaching grants), manuscript preparation, work requirements for special teaching projects, planned reimbursed practice, pilot projects and service projects. This is typically highly individualized, so an exact recommendation is not practical; FTE reductions for scholarship would be based on FTE determination.
  • Funding for scholarship and practice activities are subtracted from a 100% teaching assignment. For example, a faculty member funded for one day of practice each week is allocated 20% effort for that practice. A faculty member funded for 20% time on a grant is allocated 20% effort for the grant. Additional effort for scholarship and practice may be possible, depending on the nature of the need and available faculty resources.
  • All faculty engaged in service are also allotted FTE for service, with 20% typically the maximum allotment.

FTE for classroom teaching

A classroom course is allotted .067 FTE per credit. Therefore, a three credit course is assigned 20% effort.

If faculty team teaches a course, the FTE increments and work units will be divided by the number of faculty in the course.

Faculty may receive additional work units based on the following factors:

1. Class size — for each section over 36 students, faculty may receive up to .05 FTE.
2. Course coordinator role for a course with multiple sections and multiple instructors, add .10 FTE.
3. Semester coordinator role, add up to .05 FTE.
4. Committee Chair for PhD or DNP students: FTE = .025 per student per semester for up to four semesters or .10 or 10%; graduation semester = .10 FTE or 10%.
5. Committee member for PhD/DNP students: FTE = .025 per student the semester they graduate.
6. Teaching a course for the first time or development of a new course may receive additional FTE.

Participation in formal faculty mentoring programs may receive additional FTE. Informal faculty mentoring is considered part of service.

Other types of student advising are considered part of a faculty member’s service. Similarly, independent study courses are considered part of service because such courses do not meet the minimum class sizes for regular courses and are highly variable depending upon negotiated agreements between faculty and students. Faculty effort allocation may be negotiated if an independent study course results from providing a course needed by a small number of students to meet program requirements.

Examples of calculating faculty effort for different types of courses are presented on the attached grid.

FTE for face-to-face clinical supervision (includes time spent in making assignments, pre- and post-conferences, evaluation, planning, etc.)

FTE are assigned based on credit hours. Thus, a 3 credit hour direct clinical supervision course would receive 30% or .3 FTE. A single section is considered to be a group of 8-10 students. Simulations are considered direct clinical supervision courses.

FTE for Dedicated Education Unit supervision

FTE’s are assigned at 10% per credit hour for DEU supervision. As an example, a 3 credit clinical course would receive 30% faculty effort allocation for supervision of 14-16 students.

FTE for preceptored clinical supervision (includes organizing, coordinating, mentoring, scheduling, evaluation, planning the clinical, and OSCEs):

FTE are assigned slightly less than face-to-face clinical supervision, with 3 credits of precepted clinical supervision equal to .10 FTE. A clinical coordinator for a course with multiple sections may receive .10 FTE.

For APRN clinical credit assignments, faculty effort is calculated based on 6 students per clinical group. The faculty-student ratio will not normally exceed 1:6 for precepted clinical experiences, except in situations where faculty feel a slightly higher ratio is justified, such as for more advanced students where a 1:8 ratio might be considered.

SERVICE EFFORT CALCULATIONS

Faculty at the CON are expected to be involved in service-related activities that benefit the CON, UNMC, or the profession. Faculty members are allocated 10-20% effort for service. An exception to this policy is made for new Assistant Professors who are research productive.

PRACTICE WORKLOAD CALCULATIONS

Practice is considered with professional service in the Promotion and Tenure Guidelines. The CON supports all types of faculty practice for purposes of teaching, maintaining credentialing and scholarship. The most desired models of practice are CON reimbursed practice, as this provides the opportunity for practice time to contribute to the resources of the CON and engages faculty fully in practices addressing the full range of reimbursement and billing issues. A faculty practice of one day per week is allocated 20% time per semester. If additional time is needed for documentation, on-call, or care coordination, that is included in the negotiations with the practice agency so the time is reimbursed. Faculty have the privilege of engaging in outside work up to 16 hours per month according to the Board of Regents bylaws (Outside Employment Policy #1049). Such work is outside the faculty effort allocation guidelines, but per university policy, it is expected that faculty members complete the Outside Employment Form and submit it to their supervisor.

SCHOLARSHIP EFFORT

Scholarship is defined broadly in the College of Nursing, using Boyer’s model as the framework for the types of scholarship that contribute to achieving the College’s mission. Thus, scholarship includes the scholarship of discovery, dissemination, application, and integration. An ongoing record of research and scholarship (external dissemination of project results, writing grants and manuscripts) is required of active research faculty to attain tenure. Active research faculty generally may be allocated 40% FTE to engage in scholarship activities which will be negotiated annually based on productivity. Faculty focused on the scholarship of dissemination, application, and integration also are expected to advance understanding of these areas through original, creative work. Faculty are responsible for seeking and bringing in funding to support their scholarship. Tangible outcomes, such as funded grants and contracts and publications, are considered examples of productivity. It is an expectation that faculty with active programs of scholarship will establish annual goals with specific outcomes for their continued FTE effort. After the first three years of employment, faculty members who are research active are expected to have research time reimbursed by grant funding, or to negotiate with their assistant dean if they need time to write grant proposals.

Faculty members with funded grants may have their teaching or service assignments further reduced commensurate with funded grant responsibilities, although this depends on productivity and work that is planned and needed. To illustrate, a faculty member with a 25% effort funded by a research grant will be allocated 25% of his or her 100% work assignment for the grant. He or she may negotiate for a reduction in teaching or service load to supplement the time funded by the grant, depending on needs related to the grant and College needs related to teaching effort. Any additional reduction in teaching or service will end when the grant funding ends.

Doctorally-prepared faculty, not wishing to participate in scholarship activities or not meeting their expected scholarship goals, will allocate their effort to the teaching and/or practice missions commensurate with the FTE effort that had been allocated.

New PhD Faculty coming in at the rank of Assistant Professor will be given a reduced teaching assignment (e.g. additional 20% FTE reduced assignment) for the first three years depending on available budgetary resources with the expectation of yearly progress towards funding and publications.

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ⁱ  Boyer, E. (1991). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.