Background
Phase 2 of the Lecturers' Salary Agreement 1990/91 provided
for the introduction of a new contract of employment supported by a
Staff Handbook. The text of the contract, and most important
sections of the handbook, has been agreed nationally, and is being
introduced at The University of Westminster in the nationally
agreed form.
However it will be necessary to add sections to the handbook
to reflect local matters and to offer guidance on aspects of the
contract to ensure its satisfactory introduction. Key features of
the new contract are the provisions related to Lecturers'
duties and hours of work. The purpose of these guidelines is to
assist in the systematic and consistent interpretation of these
provisions, and the promotion of best practice. They have been
drawn up, and will be revised from time to time, in consultation or
where appropriate negotiation with the recognised Lecturer Union
Representatives, in order to ensure that the institution sets a
standard of best practice in these matters. The objectives of these
guidelines are:
- To maintain educational provision of a high
standard
- To recognise the professional contribution which
lecturers make to the HE sector
- To ensure that lecturers' workloads are
reasonable
- To enable the distribution of work to be carried
out locally and fairly within the institution taking into account
the local circumstances
The University of Westminster recognises the importance of
seeking to provide the best educational environment for all its
staff and its students, and accepts that the Management of the
institution bears full responsibility for ensuring that Lecturers
are not obliged to cope with excessive workloads which damage the
quality of our educational provision.
The Determination of Lecturers' Duties and Hours of
Work
(To be read in conjunction with with the agreed National
Contract & Guidelines)
The challenge facing the institution is to develop and expand
the use of new approaches to teaching and learning, which reconcile
reasonable workloads with our commitment to maintaining quality,
while increasing access to Higher Education. The professional
contribution of Lecturers will involve a commitment to working
flexibility and efficiently within the parameters established in
the contract and the staff handbook, while maintaining the highest
professional standards in the discharge of their duties.
The duties and responsibilities of a lecturer are inherently
of a professional nature and cover a wide range of activities. They
may include, for example, direct teaching, tutorial guidance to
students' learning, scholarly activity including research,
curriculum development, preparation of learning materials,
educational management and administration, participation in the
democratic processes of the institution, participation in Quality
Assurance procedures, recruitment and admission of students, staff
appraisal, income generating activities, and representing the
institution on or to external bodies.
The proportion of time an individual should devote to any of
these activities is a matter for professional judgement, which is
necessarily made on an individual basis. The focus of this process
is the discussion between the individual and his/her Dean of
School or nominee. This discussion should be informed by the
collective views of colleagues within the School through an
appropriate Staff/Subject Meeting. Deans should ensure that
such discussion take place on future workload, developments and
work allocations within the School to develop greater openness and
transparency to the process and to encourage the wider adoption of
best practices.
The duties of individual Lecturers will then be determined,
normally on an annual basis, by the Dean of School in
consultation and full dialogue with the individual before the end
of May, with a provisional timetable agreed by mid-June of the
session preceding that being timetabled. This discussion will take
into account the needs of the individual as well as as those of the
institution, and where possible the arrangement of timetables will
have regard to the family responsibilities of individuals. The
major accountabilities of each individual (i.e. formal scheduled
teaching, scholarly activities including research and
teaching-related duties) will then be recorded on a pro-forma, a
copy of which is retained by both parties. The duties of individual
lecturers are subject to regular review through the Staff Appraisal
and Development Scheme.
Hours of Work
The agreed National text in the Staff Handbook states that as
a general guide, an individual lecturer may expect formal scheduled
teaching responsibilities for students within a band of 14-18 hours
per week on average but that these should not exceed18 hours in any
week or 550 hours in the teaching year. This implies, by way of
illustration, that the weekly maximum of scheduled teaching duties
and any offsets for teaching related duties, if averaged over the
year, would be about 15 hours. Some supplementary guidance may
assist in the consistent interpretation and application of these
figures.
The working year will run from from 1 September to 31 August.
In the context of the changing world of Higher Education there is
likely to be an increasing need for flexibility with regard to the
definition of the teaching year, particularly in regard to
fully-funded short courses, for example. The majority of courses
and therefore teaching arrangements over a calendar year will
conform to the common regulatory framework and will in any case not
exceed 38 weeks. Two of these weeks will be spent on
teaching-related administration, at times to be arranged by
agreement with the Dean, having due regard to the operational needs
of the School and the wishes of the member of staff. This will
normally be organised into 3 terms of an average of 12 weeks in
length , with 3 week breaks over the Christmas and Easter periods,
as approved by the Court of Governors on the advice of the Academic
Council. In any event staff will not be timetabled to teach
for more than 14 consecutive weeks. Staff will not normally be
required to teach outside the 36 term-time weeks, but may agree to
do so.
The working hours of a lecturer will be those reasonably
necessary to fulfil his/her duties and responsibilities. It must be
recognised that these hours may fluctuate during the working year;
that required patterns of attendance on any day or within any week
should not place unreasonable demands on a lecturer; and that the
working hours are compatible with the objectives set out under
"Background" above. As stated in s.1.3.1 of the nationally agreed
text of the staff handbook, "it is not appropriate in a
professional contract to be specific as to the exact hours of
availability for duties". However, having regard to the contractual
position of other professional staff at the University of
Westminster, 35 hours per week may be regarded as the norm.
Teaching sessions will normally run between Monday and Friday.
A lecturer may be required to teach up to two evenings per week.
Additional evenings and weekend work will only be worked with the
prior agreement of the individual lecturer concerned. Evening
sessions are defined as those commencing after 17.30 hours.
Arrangements which require a lecturer to teach the first session of
a day following one the previous evening should be avoided if
possible.
Whenever possible timetables will be arranged so that staff
will not be formally scheduled to teach more than two complete 3
hour sessions (i.e. not morning, afternoon and evening) on any one
day. Such sessions will be contiguous where possible. Breaks,
normally of one hour, between teaching sessions are recognised.
When drawing up timetables due account should be taken of the need
to spend time travelling between sites. Deans should endeavour
to ensure that a lecturer's scheduled duties are arranged in such a
manner as to provide adequate time for a period of concentrated
research and other scholarly activities, but not in such a way as
to lead to an unacceptable concentration of teaching
activity.
Because teaching and learning methods vary across the
institution it would not be practicable to enforce a standard
definition of "formal scheduled teaching activities". However,
Deans are encouraged to develop a shared understanding within
Schools of the implications and interpretation of this term for
their specific activities. For the sake of consistency it is
suggested that this would normally include activities which are
formally timetabled, including for example:-
- tutorials, including Personal tutorials
- workshop, laboratory or studio practical
work
- supervision of research students
- supervision of students on project work
where courses involve field trips Deans will agree with staff
the extent of
formal scheduled teaching involved and this will be set
against the annual total of 550 hours. Due account should also be
taken of the overall time involved and the intrusion into
normal domestic and leisure activities.
Teaching related duties. There is a range of administrative
and developmental activities which support the learning process.
Where these form an identifiable part of a lecturer's duties, the
lecturer will not be expected to undertake the maximum formal
scheduled teaching load i.e. they will be offset against formal
scheduled teaching. Again, the following list of roles and duties
is not intended to be exhaustive:-
- HoD delegated responsibilities
- admissions, including APL/APEL
- approved staff development activities, including
acting as appraiser
- new and existing course and curriculum
development , monitoring and review
- attending examination boards
Other Scholarly Activities including
Research
It is expected that all staff will engage in scholarly
activity, which amy include research, and that this may be partly
interwoven with teaching responsibilities. There will also be
periods of the working year when lecturers are free from other
scheduled responsibilities and are free to concentrate on scholarly
activities. The allocation of duties to lecturers will take into
account School and Faculty policies and the need for all members of
staff to have sufficient time to pursue their academic and
professional development.
There may be occasions when it is agreed that a lecturer
should place a particular emphasis on research or other scholarly
activities for a period, either because of a particular individual
expertise or because of the needs of the institution. In such
instances, the lecturer's teaching and other responsibilities will
need to be set at a correspondingly lower level. It is expected
that the appropriate Head and the lecturer will agree the nature of
the research or other activities, and that these will be included
on the individual's pro-forma and subject to review as part of the
Staff Appraisal and Development Scheme.
Scholarly activity will generally be self-managed and may
include the production of books, articles, conference papers,
creative work in all media, professional updating and practice and
personal academic development. This part of a lecturer's duties
will normally be integrated into the lecturer's overall workload
throughout the year, at times when formal scheduled teaching
workload permit.
Other Professional Duties
As well as teaching, scholarly activities, and other original
work, it may be to the mutual benefit of staff and the institution
for lecturing staff to engage in other agreed activities from time
to time. These include staff development, including attendance at
approved courses and conferences, industrial liaison and
consultancy, activities which generate income for the institution,
external examining and other agreed external commitments. In some
cases these activities are occasional, and can be accommodated
within the normal pattern of the lecturer's work without formal
adjustment of other responsibilities; in other cases they may
involve a quantifiable commitment and Heads will need to take them
into account in allocating teaching, research, and other
responsibilities.
Monitoring and Review
In order to ensure that the overall allocation of workloads
within Schools has been achieved in a fair and consistent manner,
it will be necessary for Heads to monitor the initial allocation
and provide a basis for comparison as the situation develops. This
should take account of the range of work, numbers of students,
numbers of modules, and total hours. The institution recognises the
frustration of staff from having to do administrative and clerical
tasks not strictly requiring their academic expertise. Heads are
encouraged to review the balance between teaching, technician and
administrative support staff with a view to maintaining an optimal
balance in the ratio of staff types to workload.
Once the individual allocation of responsibilities to
lecturers is complete, Heads will compile a schedule of
responsibilities (based on the individual pro-formas) for
publication within the appropriate peer group. The schedule will
include for each member of staff a list of formal scheduled
teaching responsibilities, together with a statement of research
and/or other scholarly activities where these are scheduled, other
academic responsibilities and a statement of managerial and
administrative duties.
The process of discussion on next year's timetable will
normally begin early in the summer term with an initial schedule of
responsibilities being published by mid-June. Schedules will be
lodged with the Dean of the Faculty , who has responsibility for
ensuring consistency across the Faculty. The Pro-Rector (Academic
Affairs) will monitor arrangements across the institution in
liaison with the Deans. The process will then be reviewed with the
recognised teacher Unions with a view to identifying problem areas
and possible improvements.
Appeals
Where a member of staff disagrees with the allocation of
duties or with the interpretation of guidelines in the staff
handbook the matter should be:
i) Raised informally with the appropriate Manager responsible
for the decision. Issues raised in this way should be dealt with
promptly.
ii) If still dissatisfied, raised formally in writing with
the Dean of School. The Dean should respond within 5
working days.
iii) If still dissatisfied, raised formally in writing with
the Dean. The staff member should have the right to be accompanied
by a colleague or trade union representative at this stage. The
Dean should respond within 5 working days.
iv) Nothing in this procedure shall inhibit the individual's
right to pursue a matter through the grievance procedure.
Annual Leave
There is an entitlement to 35 working days paid leave in each
holiday year. This is in addition to the statutory Public Holidays,
and to those times when the institution is closed in the interests
of efficiency (for example in the period between Christmas and New
Year).
As the institution recognises the mutual obligations which are
placed on the employer as a result of the new contract conditions,
it will not unreasonably insist that lecturers must confine annual
leave to periods outside term times. However, because of the need
to ensure that operational requirements can be met during the 38
week teaching year, annual leave will be subject to mutual prior
agreement between the individual lecturer and the appropriate
Manager. Staff may request that up to 6 weeks of their normal
holiday entitlement be taken in one continuous period, and such a
request will not unreasonably be refused. Annual leave requested
and taken will be recorded on personal leave cards, which can be
seen by the Dean on request, and should be endorsed with the
Dean's initials to indicate approval. Leave cards may be retained
by the member of staff. Records of leave taken will then be
required for example when staff leave part way through the
year.
The leave year runs from 1 October to 30 September. Staff
starting or leaving employment part way through the year will be
entitled to a pro-rata entitlement, rounded up to the nearest whole
day. Up to 5 days of any outstanding (i.e. untaken) leave
entitlement may be carried forward to the following year with the
permission of the appropriate manager, any amount beyond this will
be lost.