Academic workloads

New provisions (clauses 210-239) are included to promote the fair and effective management of academic workloads.

Each ‘academic work unit’ is required to have a workload allocation policy, and this may be determined at the Faculty, School or other unit level. Provision is made for individual workload allocation to be determined in consultation with staff, and factors to be considered in determining allocation are included in clauses 224 – 227 of the Enterprise Agreement (EA). Individual allocations are to be based on 37.5 hours per week / 1725 hours per year.

The EA includes specific provision for ‘teaching focused’ roles to be an option within a Faculty’s workload model to allow staff to concentrate on learning and teaching.

Provision for teaching focused roles will have regard to the personal and/or professional circumstances and preferences of individual staff and will enable staff to be employed in teaching focused work for agreed and specific time periods. Staff employed in teaching focused roles will have access to promotion (taking into account teaching excellence, leadership and record of scholarship), performance management and development as well as a career path in teaching.

Provision is also made for a University-wide Workload Monitoring Committee to oversee and support the implementation and monitoring of workload allocation policies. The membership of the Workload Monitoring Committee will be four nominees of the University (the Provost, a Dean, a Head of School and a Senior Faculty Administrative Manager) and four nominees of the NTEU.