Allocation of Staff Duties

Aim

The allocation of staff duties in a fair and transparent fashion to the benefit of the School.

Objectives

1. To produce an allocation of duties which will be effective in delivering the teaching, research and supporting administration of the School.
2. To balance the duties of individuals across the three main categories of Teaching, Administration and Research.
3. To take account of the strengths and preferences of individuals as far as possible.
4. To allow for professional development through a fair distribution of workloads.

Rationale and Background

The effective operation of the School requires that all members carry out a range of duties (see job descriptions). At the same time, these duties are often in conflict with the perceived interests of the individual staff. It is therefore important that the School has a fair and transparent mechanism for allocating duties so that the strengths, preferences and career development needs of individuals are taken into account.

A time for each task is allocated across the whole spectrum of duties, excluding personal research time, and the resulting load for each staff member gives a measure of the contribution of that member to the School. Although by its nature this is an approximate measure, it does have the benefit of being both quantitative and easily understood. An important aspect is the semi-confidential nature of the process; individuals are given their own entry together with statistical data on the School for comparison.

Mechanisms

1. The duties that are required to allow the School to operate efficiently are reviewed each year by Management Committee with reference to Research Committee and Teaching Committee as appropriate. These vary from year to year with some changes being introduced due to external factors (e.g. accreditation, University directives, new codes of practice).
2. Each duty is allocated an estimated time cost. This can vary between a major laboratory headship or lecture course, which may require up to a day a week or more, down to a task which may require less than a few hours in total over the whole year. For example, a new lecture course will require a greater time allocation, because of preparation, than a course that has been given for a number of years, but both are assigned time as a multiple of the lectures given. Administrative duties are assessed by the Management Committee in the light of the relevant job description and are divided into one of five categories for convenience. These weightings are submitted to periodic staff scrutiny.
3. The total load for each staff-member is calculated for their present duties. This is sub-divided into teaching related, research-related and administrative loads. The only aspect which is left out of the exercise is the personal research time of the academic involved (though the supervision time and administrative load associated with research students and postdocs is estimated).
4. The entry for each staff member is circulated each year in the Spring term, to allow for the estimation of the research-related load, along with the statistical data for the School for comparison.
5. Each Year in the Summer Term, judgements are made as to who is available to (or needs to) undertake new duties. These may result from any imbalance in the workload of the staff, suggested teaching changes from Teaching Committee, comments from Research Committee (including study leave) and the effectiveness and staff development needs of the current incumbents. New junior staff have reduced loads for the first three years to allow them time to establish their research.
6. Following discussions with staff and consideration of aptitudes and preferences, decisions as to the final delegation of responsibilities are made and presented to the last School Meeting of the Summer Term for approval.

Important Dates