Compensation Framework

FTE-generating Instructional Labor

History

The School of STEM was charged by the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (VCAA) to develop a compensation framework for FTE-producing instructional labor that would be used to supplement the UW Bothell faculty compensation policies. To address this, a working group was charged in the school to develop a framework and policy for faculty compensation regarding undergraduate courses such as 498/499 in the School of STEM. The group surveyed faculty in all divisions on workload impacts and laid out a framework for how to credit this work, which has been expanded to include fee-based graduate courses.

Purpose

This policy provides a compensation framework for FTE-producing instructional labor that is not part of a faculty member’s teaching load.

Definitions

An individual student supervision (ISS) credit is a student credit hour appearing in the time schedule data for a faculty member who is the instructor of record for individualized instruction for FTE-generating courses that are not part of their regular teaching load. A course credit is a collection of ISS credits that are considered as one 5-credit course equivalent.

Framework

1. Faculty who provide individualized instruction for FTE-generating courses (see Table 1 in Appendix) that are not part of their regular teaching load during the autumn, winter, and spring quarters may choose 1) to incorporate course credits into their regular teaching load either as a full or half course equivalent in the following biennium or 2) to receive period activity pay at a fixed rate that is equivalent to the mean part-time salary averaged across all divisions during the biennium in which the work is completed. To provide the best educational experience for students and support faculty wellbeing it is recommended that faculty who expect to supervise many ISS credits work with their division chair to incorporate course credit(s) into their teaching load.
2. No more than one course credit can be accumulated each academic year (autumn, winter, and spring quarter), and individuals need to work within limitations in place for academic year workload and compensation such as STEM’s Differentiated Workload Guidelines and UW’s rules on excess compensation.
3. Faculty who provide individualized instruction for FTE-generating courses (see Table 1 in Appendix) during a summer quarter will be compensated during the summer the work is completed. No more than one course credit can be approved each summer, and individuals need to work within limitations in place for overall summer pay.
   

Process

1. Each division chair in consultation with division faculty will establish a process for collecting information from student/faculty. The following items should be included as part of this process:
   1. Project goals, instruction plans, meeting schedule, grading scheme and student/mentor expectations are documented.
   2. Division chairs will consider the approval of ISS credit documentation to enable advisors to register the students by the census day (2nd Friday of the quarter). Special approval is required for part-time faculty.
      1. Part-time faculty who are proposing experimental work that would utilize lab space must seek the division chair’s approval to ensure there is available lab space. Division chair must work with the
         individual responsible for the dedicated lab space (e.g., PI for research lab, lab coordinator for teaching lab) to verify that all safety protocols are in place.
      2. Part-time faculty not on active pay status need approval from the division chair.
   3. Full-time faculty are responsible for monitoring so that their ISS credits do not exceed limits above. ISS credits (undergraduate and graduate combined) beyond the limitations will not be compensated. Division chairs are responsible for monitoring ISS credits for faculty who are on quarter-to-quarter appointments so that they do not exceed the limitations above.
2. The STEM Dean (or their designee) will communicate to the registrar and the assistant dean for academic advising the appropriate approval flow for each division.
3. The STEM Dean (or their designee) will track ISS credits using census day enrollments for all faculty in the school. Late enrollment for ISS (past census dates) will not be considered or compensated. If individual sections of a course should be credited differently (e.g., CSS 497 INT, CSS 497 UGR), divisions must clearly identify these differences in time schedule information (e.g., section comments, different course number (best option), different section).
4. ISS credits associated to state-based programs will be compensated from state-based budgets. ISS credits associated to fee-based programs will be compensated from the fee-based operating budgets. ISS credits can be accumulated from both sources at once and will be accounted for properly from different budgets.
5. After course credits are planned as course releases and/or excess compensation is given, credits will be set to zero. At a minimum, this will happen at the close of each biennium, but could happen more frequently. For example, faculty who retire or separate from the institution will be compensated for the accumulated ISS credits under this current policy. Additionally, faculty with quarter-to-quarter appointments will be compensated during the quarter of instruction.
6. If the STEM budget does not allow for full financial compensation in a given biennium (e.g., the RCM allocation and provisos are less than the sum of faculty/staff salaries/benefits and general operations), the Dean will choose a uniform % of the compensation rate to apply across the entire School. This policy is effective beginning in Autumn quarter 2024, and ISS credits for all faculty, as they pertain to this policy, will be set to zero on September 16, 2024. This policy will be reviewed/revised by the STEM Dean in consultation with the STEM Elected Faculty Council every biennium for equity, transparency, and financial viability.

Endorsed by the STEM Faculty Council on June 5, 2024

Appendix

Table 1 SCH per course credit for individualized learning experiences

*Committee chair is the only one who earns ISS credits.