Differentiated Annual Workloads for Faculty

This policy affirms the university’s commitment to appropriate use of differentiated workloads and establishes requirements for campus policy.

A faculty appointment reflects responsibilities in one or more of the areas of teaching, scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service, and where relevant, other activities relative to their specific units (e.g., clinical activity, librarianship).  A faculty member’s annual workload has two components:  (1) a percentage weighting across areas of assigned responsibility that is used in the annual evaluation process; and (2) the expected activities associated with the weighting.  Together, these two components represent a differentiated workload.  While the phrase “differentiated workload” is used for historical purposes, it should be understood that the percent weighting is used for merit evaluation, while the expected activities for different weightings are unit specific.  The allocation of weightings is not a specific allocation of faculty member’s time.

1. The University of Colorado (1) affirms that it needs and values faculty contributions in teaching, scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service, and other activities relevant to specific units and (2) provides a mechanism to facilitate annual recognition and support of these activities.
    
2. The university recognizes that there are legitimate differences in: (1) faculty development needs; (2) interests and areas of expertise among faculty members; (3) conventions particular to academic disciplines; and (4) academic unit program needs.  A prescriptive, rigid, and/or uniform formula that inflexibly dictates annual workloads for individual faculty is not conducive to responding to these differences.
    
3. This policy creates no unilateral rights for a faculty member to insist on a particular workload assignment.

1. Each campus shall maintain a publicly available written policy on differentiated workload.  Faculty governance shall be involved in the development and implementation of differentiated workload policies at the campus level.  These policies shall be consistent with:  (1) the university's commitment to its mission of teaching, scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service; (2) the development and advancement needs of individual faculty members; (3) conventions particular to academic disciplines such as clinical or professional practice and other activities relevant to specific units; (4) academic unit program needs; and (5) the goals and objectives of the primary unit and campus.  Thus, while the campus policy shall set the basic framework, it is expected that more specific guidelines will be developed at the primary unit level.  A faculty member’s annual evaluation shall explicitly reflect the percentage workload and associated expected activities.
    
2. Campus policies shall require:
   1. For the purposes of annual merit evaluations, clearly specified weighting of teaching, scholarly/creative work, service and leadership, and other activities.
   2. A standard weighting of activities for tenured and tenure-track faculty (e.g., 40% teaching, 40% scholarly/creative work, 20% service and leadership).  NOTE: Standard weighting may not apply to faculty members on the Anschutz Medical Campus.
      1. The standard weighting may differ based on discipline and faculty rank, but within a discipline and faculty rank, the activities associated with a given weighting should be consistent.
   3. A process by which a tenured or tenure-track faculty member may negotiate variations to the standard weighting and/or associated activities.
      1. Any agreement for a variation from the standard weighting shall be provided in writing.  The effective period of the agreement shall be indicated and the agreement shall be provided before the effective period begins. Email qualifies as written documentation.
      2. An administrative appeals process for a faculty member who has been denied a variation from the standard weighting and/or associated activities.
   4. Eligibility criteria and approval procedures for instructional, research, and clinical faculty to  request a weighting to accommodate professional development.
      1. The agreed upon weighting shall be provided in writing to the faculty member.  Written confirmation may take various forms, including but not limited to, a letter of offer or employment agreement or addendum thereto, and shall be provided before the start of the agreement period.
   5. A process for determining weighting for tenured faculty members on sabbatical.
3. In years prior to comprehensive review or tenure review, the annual workload of a tenure-track faculty member should allow adequate time for the faculty member to meet the standards for reappointment and tenure.  Variations from the standard should be only approved after careful consideration.  Similar consideration shall be given to workload assignments prior to promotion of faculty in units with “up-or-out” promotion clocks.
    
4. In order to ensure appropriate communication between faculty and the primary unit chair, and a clear understanding of the appropriate uses of differentiated annual workloads, the chancellor should provide for training and orientation for primary unit heads and other academic administrators regarding the use of differentiated annual workloads.

1. Related Policies and Procedures

• APS 1022 - Standards, Processes and Procedures for Reappointment, Tenure, Promotion, and Post-Tenure Review
• APS 5008 - Faculty Performance Evaluation
• Regent Policy 5.D - Reappointment (to a tenure-track position), Tenure, and Promotion

• Adopted:  July 1, 1989.
• Revised: Revised: July 1, 2007; The term “service” was replaced with the term “leadership and service” effective April 30, 2014 per resolution of the CU Board of Regents; July 1, 2014; Approved March 18, 2020; became effective July 1, 2020, with the rollout of the new regent article and policy 5 regarding faculty.
• Last Reviewed:  July 1, 2020.