Version 9
WORKLOAD ALLOCATION AND MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
Approving Body: WAMM Implementation Group
Date of Approval:
Status: Draft
Version: 0.9
Review date: tbc
Please note that these are still draft, as the WAMM is a developing model, and therefore to date available in English only. The Effective Contribution scheme, which seeks to fully align SDPR, PeRP, WAMM and is under development, will be referenced.
Technical support for using the on-line tool is provided on the website. These guidelines refer specifically to what each role entails and accompanying rationale.
1.Introduction
The Workload Allocation and Management Model (WAMM) is an online system which captures the roles and planned activities of academic staff and can be used by Academic Line Managers (IDs, Heads of Department, Team Heads) to assist in planning workloads for the academic year.
Most academic work is not project-based but cyclical to fit around the demands of the timetable. Therefore it is important for Institute Directors (and Heads of Department and other Line Managers) to have an overview of the workload of their staff in each Institute in order to effectively manage resources and ensure an equitable balance pf workloads for staff. The WAMM helps this by aligning activities with student load so that in a time of fluctuating student numbers, resources can be diverted to.other strategic priorities – such as portfolio development, or recruitment activities.
Much of the information to inform workload planning, such as modules to be taught in each Semester and student numbers (student load), is automatically uploaded on to an on-line Workload Management Tool from ASTRA and the Timetable System.
Line Managers will be expected to confirm staff teaching on modules and individual lectures - this is to enable the WAMM to override data in the timetable if, for instance, the timetable has listed all lectures in a group being given by one lecturer when in reality they are shared. Managers will also have a choice whether they want data pre-populated (and editable) or input information from scratch.
The Staff and Organisational Development Strand of the Student Success Plan is in the process of developing a policy on Minimum Expectations for Academic Appointments at lecturer grade and above. Once approved, this policy should be referred to when completing the WAMM to ensure that all key areas of professional activity are incorporated into an individual’s workload, as appropriate for that individual’s grade and contract.
2.Teaching Activities
Many Teaching Activities will be automatically uploaded from the timetable system and ASTRA at during April/May. This will capture details of lecture and seminar delivery for each module but it will still be necessary for the department to check that this information is correct and make any necessary adjustments for joint teaching etc. Additional roles such as Personal Tutor, Scheme Coordinator etc. will also need to be allocated to individual members of staff.
Activities which are aggregated up into Teaching when managers are taking an overview of the WAMM include - contact hours with students, assessment and marking, personal tutoring, programme and module coordination, curriculum development and scholarship time.
i)Teaching Preparation and Delivery
Teaching activities include the preparation and delivery of lectures, seminars and help classes. The preparation time for these activities has been agreed at¼ hour for every hour of delivery. This is intended as to cover the ‘set-up’ time for the teaching activity only. Other activities associated with the creating of new modules or refreshing of existing modules are covered elsewhere in the WAMM.
ii)Assessment Activities (including marking)
The tariffs for assessment activities are based on the number of students being assessed and on the number of credits per module. The suggested tariff for this is 1 hour per student for a 10 credit module however this can be adjusted depending on assessment type. Staff teaching load is not automatically prepopulated with assessment and marking load. Marking and assessment need to be entered manually, however overall calculations are based on 1 hour of marking per students per 10 credits. Work is being done in Astra to record all the assessment components, including assessment type (essay, written exam, multiple choice etc.) in a moduleand, coupled with the WAMM, this will enable greater visibility of where both the amount /typesof assessment are out of line with norms or good practice.
iii) Personal Tutor
This role is not intended to be used for hours spent with studentsas part of the academic curriculum but for the role that the Personal Tutor plays in addressing personal and academic concerns of students on a one-to-one basis including working with students on their Personal Development Plans. A tariff of 2.5 hours per year per student has been suggested. During 2016/17 the university is rolling out a new Personal Tutor system to ensure consistency and help implement key enhancements of the Student Success Plan – such as mechanisms and interventions to promote student performance, retention and employability. As scoped, the Personal Tutor role will continue both group work and one to one work, and it is currently envisaged that 2.5 hour per tutee will be adequate.
iv)Scholarship Allowance
This is a general allowance for academic staff to keep at the forefront of their field and to update material regularly. A tariff of 200 hours is suggested for staff on Teaching and Scholarship contracts. It is suggested that staff on Teaching and Research contracts are allocated100 hours of Scholarship which is counted as Teaching activity in the WAMM rather than Research. These allowances, however, have to be allocated manually in the WAMM.
v)Curriculumdevelopment
Portfolio development, whether this is new subject areas or refreshing current provision to ensure that it is up to date, responding to market and employer needs is an important activity which can help recruitment and student satisfaction. Therefore it is a separate activity which needs to be recognised as a time-consuming demand which has to be decided in discussion with the Line Manager; and for which there needs to be strategic allowance made in the WAMM. In some cases, staff changes will necessitate the substantial reworking of existing material. A starting point allowance for this is suggested at 100 hours.
vi)Additional Preparation Time
Additional preparation time for the delivery of teaching activities may be allocated at the Line Manager’s discretion. For example, this might be required if a new member of staff has taken over teaching a model from another lecturer and needs time to familiarise themselves with the material. The tariff for this has been left open and is not linked to student numbers. This is allocated on a case-by-case basis and is in addition to the (¼ hour) set-up time for teaching activities.
vii)Supervision of PhD, MPhils and Dissertations
A link has been made between supervision time and the number of credits given to the dissertation UG and PGT work. For PhD and MPhil (research degree) supervision it is recommended that between 15 and 40 hours should be allocated per year. If applicable, around 10 hours can be allocated to second supervision, leading to a maximum of 50 hours (this is in line with a number of competitor universities).
viii)Teaching Activities within the Graduate School
The Graduate School is not set up as a separate academic department on Astra. Therefore teaching activities within the Graduate School will need to be manually set up on the WAMMby each department. (A report will be provided from the Timetable to show teaching commitments of lecturers on Grad School programmes). It is complicated because lecturers share teaching on modules; and student numbers are not he student numbers of the department. But the obligations of individual academic staff teaching for the Graduate School must be remembered.
ix)External Examiner
External examiner activity is included in the WAMM (although it is technically paid for externally by the commissioning university, at nominal rates) as it is important for the University to foster relations with other institutions and learn from best practice. External examiner duties may become more time consuming as new national QA structures are put in place as a result of the Green Paper/QAA review. Time can be allocated at the department’s discretion.
3.Research Activities
Being a World Class research institution remains one of the top strategic priorities for the University. Funding regimes have changed radically in recent years and continue to do so and are shaping the way the University plans to deliver the outputs of REF 2020 (REF 2014 delivered outputs which had been created under the old funding regime). The Green Paper from UK Government in November 2015 points to an even greater separate of Teaching and Research; and the EU Referendum points to further uncertainties.
i)Research Allowance
All staff on Teaching and Research contracts may have between 200 and 550 hours for research allocated on the WAMM. 200 hours is therefore, the starting point for discussions about research time. However, in many cases, and certainly where individuals are key to the success of the department’s research strategy, up to 550 hours will be awarded.
Whether the time allocated for research per individual is funded by internal or external sources is for the Head of Department to determine. In some departments, the entire 550 hours may be funded from external research grants; in others, the source may be entirely internal. A combination of both is more likely to be expected.
ii)Externally-Funded Research Projects
Externally Funded Research Projects have been categorised according to funding source and align with the TRAC codes (e.g. RCUK or EU funded) – this will enable a triangulation with the TRAC return. Whilst there is not a direct link between WAMM and TRAC it is intended that the data should be compatible in order to allow for comparisons and ‘sense checking’ of information. Once the Awards Management facility on ABW is in place some of this information may be automatically uploaded to the WAMM but currently it requires manual input. The hours allocated to externally funded research projects should be based on the FEC form.
iii)Grant writing, other research support activities, and internally-funded research
This allows the WAMM to capture how much research activity (whether grant writing, independent research or collaborative activities such as peer review will need to be funded from internal resources. It is intended that this information will reflect outputs as specified in the PERP/SDPR/Efficient Contribution Scheme. This helps ‘justify’ the use of general funds for research.
It is vital for career advancement of academic staff and for the reputation of the University that academic staff are involved in peer review activities and research collaboration. These activities (e.g. Member, Peer Review Panel etc.) should count as time spent on (unfunded) research and should be agreed with Line Managers. These activities should be carried out within the 200-550 Research Allowance.
iv)Research Leave
The WAMM provides visibility of the fact that research leave time is often created by higher than usual teaching loads in Semester One or Two.
Please refer to Research Leave policy available at:
4.Administrative / Other Activities
i)Institute Roles
A drop down list of Institute Roles is provided in the online interface comprising:
- Institute Director of Research
- Institute Director / Assistant Director of Postgraduate Studies
- Institute Director / Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies
- Institute Director of Recruitment and External Relations
- Institute Director of Employability and Enterprise
- Institute Director of Welsh Language and Culture
- Institute Director of Infrastructure
These roles were set up as part of the move to Institutes in 2013, however it is recognised that the Institutes are of different sizes/profiles and have different levels of research and teaching. Each Institute has these roles, but an adjustable tariff has been assigned for these roles. It is suggested that between 200 and 550 hours per year be assigned to each. The post of Institute Director is a substantive role and therefore not included in WAMM.
ii)Departmental Roles
In some Institutes specific departmental roles, other than Head of Department, are gradually being subsumed into the institute roles. In some cases however, the departmental roles may still be required. The tariffs for these roles have been left blank - the number of hours assigned is at the discretion of the Head of Department, possibly guided by the Institute Director. This will be dependent on the nature of the department (e.g. a research-heavy department may require more hours for the Departmental Director of Research role; a science department may require more hours for an academic to undertake health and safety activities).
Where the roles on the WAMM are not an exact match for the departmental role, the ‘best fit’ should be selected from the drop-down list and the departmental title can be manually added under ‘Role Name’.
iii)Other Leadership / Management and Coordination Roles
A number of different roles are included in WAMM which are routinely carried out by academic staff, although in some institutes some of the roles may be undertaken by administrative staff. These have been allocated at a suggested tariff of between 10 and 50 hours per year to be agreed with Line Managers. It is important to try to be realistic about the number of hours spent on a particular role. Many roles will require concentrated work at particular times of year but very little at other times, so that a blanket allocation of an hour a week, for instance, may be more than is required over the course of a year. However the roles are included in the WAMM for visibility – the University values these essential ‘hygiene’ roles which can make a significant difference to student satisfaction.
iv)Good Citizen
This role is primarily about promotion activities which have become increasingly important as a result of the marketization of the Higher Education sector over the past few years. Discussion should be held between Line Managers and their Direct Reports about the level of commitment required for these activities, particularly for time away from the University and external engagement. This should also include attendance at Open Days and Visiting Days. Due to the wide-ranging nature of these activities a ‘broad brush’ tariff of between 10 and 100 hours per year has been suggested. It is however important that the contribution of ‘good citizens’ is recognised, and the time consuming nature of building essential relationships with schools and applicants. The kind of work which is expected here should be clarified in the Effective Contribution meeting.
v)Recruitment Activities - Outreach
In addition to the more general Good Citizen activities above, academic staff are also expected to participate in a range of activities which are specifically intended to boost recruitment. This includes Schools Liaison work, A level Enrichment days etc. These activities are included as separate activities in the WAMM given their strategic importance for the university. Tariff can be allocated as required - - involvement in planning, preparing and attending an A level enrichment day in the West Midlands, for example, could take 25 to 50 hours work over a year.
vi)Staff Development Activities
The University recognises the importance of staff developing their professional and research skills and that sufficient time be allocated for these activities. This includes PGCTHE, Staff PhD and other approved staff development. The tariffs for these activities are adjustable at the Institute’s discretion.
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