SP 14-12 - Policy on Assigned Time for Exceptional Service to Students

The CSU will allocate $1.3 million to this program. These funds will be allocated to each campus based on the number of full-time equivalent students at that campus. The cost of assigned time will be based on the minimum salary for Assistant Professors. CI has been allotted 9 weighted teaching units in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Accountability: The Senate at CI is responsible for creating the policy and overseeing the process for determining the awarding of exceptional service WTUs.

Applicability: All faculty unit employees are eligible to apply.

Definition(s):
WTU : weighted teaching unit

Policy:
Procedures: The awarding of assigned time for exceptional levels of service to students shall be as follows.

1. All calls for applications are distributed electronically to all CI faculty, along with a copy of Article 20.37 of the contract explaining the purpose of the assigned time.

2. Faculty members shall write a narrative of no longer than one single-spaced page to apply for the assigned time. In the narrative, faculty should describe the exceptional service they will perform as well as the impact it has on student success as described in Article 20.37.

3. The Professional Leave Committee will determine awardees and forward recommendations to the Provost and to the Chair of the Academic Senate. The committee should make a decision before draft schedules are due during the previous semester to the one assigned time is to be granted.

4. If the committee determines that there are not enough meritorious applicants for the funding during a semester, the committee may decide to bank funds for the following semester.

5. The Provost or his/her designee will notify the faculty member and distribute the funding to the appropriate department for the assigned time. The Provost or his/her designee will ensure all funds in the pool are awarded in the period of time mandated by the contract. The Provost or designee will also prepare a report of expenditures for this program and make it available to the faculty through the Chair of the Academic Senate.

6. Faculty members may appeal the decision of the Professional Leave Committee within ten calendar days of notification. Should this happen, the Chair of the Academic Senate shall appoint a three member committee to serve as an appeals committee. The appeals committee shall make a final decision on all appeals for that application cycle prior to the start of the following application due date.

7. Because of the limited amount of funding and the large number of faculty performing exceptional service, no faculty member can receive more than one award per academic year from this pool.

8. This policy extends to the next contract should there be essentially the same pool of funds available. If the next contract does not contain such a pool, this policy will expire.

CRITERIA

• Applications will be reviewed as to the impact the faculty member’s additional workload will have on the quality of students’ educational experience. In general activities may include, but are not limited to: course and curricular redesign (including new modalities and service learning), especially for large class size; scholarly and creative activities with students; developing and operating internship programs; developing more effective advising procedures (aiding in retention, timely graduation, etc.); or assessment and accreditation activities, and activities supporting underserved, first-generation, and/or underrepresented students. In no case will awards be granted to cover excessive workload assignment as this is not the spirit of exceptional level of service to students, and is the responsibility of the University to assign workload equitably (per CBA 20.3). These awards are to aid faculty who take on additional workload beyond the requirements of their normal assignment for improving the student learning environment.
• Qualified applications will be ranked with respect to their contribution to exceptional service to students and awards made to the available limit of funds.
• Applicants will be notified by email on the outcome of their application. Letters of awards will be placed into awardee’s PAF.

The 2014-2017 Faculty contract with the California State University includes Assigned Time for Exceptional Service to Students (Article 20.37, below). This policy establishes a process for the application, distribution, and appeal of this assigned time. Because of the timing of the contract and the limited amount of assigned time, the following calendar is suggested.

September 1, 2015 - Application due for Spring 2016
September 15, 2015 - Committee determines awards for Spring 2016

February 1, 2016 - Applications due to Fall 2016
February 15, 2016 - Committee determines awards for Fall 2016

September 1, 2016 - Application due for Spring 2017
September 15, 2016 - Committee determines awards for Spring 2017

Exhibits:
Article 20 - Section 20.37 Assigned Time for Exceptional Levels of Service to Students

For each fiscal year 2014/15, 2015/16, and 2016/17, the CSU will provide a pool of $1.3 million, allocated based on campus full-time equivalent students (FTES), to provide assigned time to faculty employees who are engaged in exceptional levels of service that support the CSU’s priorities, but who are not otherwise receiving an adjustment in workload to reflect their effort.

Assigned time from this pool may be awarded for student mentoring, advising, and outreach, especially as these activities support underserved, first–‐ _generation, and/or underrepresented students; the development and implementation of high–‐ _impact educational practices; curricular redesign intended to improve student access and success; service to the department, college, university, or community that goes significantly beyond the normal expectations of all faculty; assignment to courses where increases to enrollment have demonstrably increased workload; and other extraordinary forms of service to students.

Such adjustments shall be in addition to any adjustments already in place on a campus. Faculty members already receiving assigned time for the same general category of activity (e.g. assigned time for excess enrollments, assigned time for committee service) shall not be eligible for support from this pool for the same activities.

In 2014/15, assigned time under this program shall be awarded in the spring and be based on work performed during the 2014/15 academic year. Awards shall consist of WTUs and may be banked for use in the 2015/16 academic year. Campuses shall establish timelines for 2015/16 and 2016/17 so that assigned time is taken during the academic year in which the activities occurred. All faculty unit employees are eligible to apply.

Academic Senates on each campus shall develop criteria and procedures for the use of the funds. Applications shall be evaluated by the appropriate faculty committee(s), which shall make recommendations to the appropriate administrator. Consideration shall be given to the items listed in 20.3 (b) and (c). Priority shall be given to applications which demonstrate that the quality of students’ educational experience could not have been maintained without an increase in the faculty member’s workload.

Denials shall specify the reasons. Appeals shall be heard by a faculty committee designated for the purpose. Decisions of the appeals committees shall be final and binding and not subject to Article 10 of this Agreement. Awards granted after appeal in 2014/15 and 2015/16 shall be funded from the pool allocated for this program in the subsequent fiscal year and shall not exceed 10% of the annual pool. Any unused funds from this program in 2014/15 or 2015/16 shall roll over for use in the following Academic Year. Appeals in 2016/17 must be funded from the available funds for 2016/17, including any rollover from previous years.

Campuses shall expend all funds allocated to them under this program. Each campus shall provide an accounting of expenditures for this program for the prior fiscal year by no later than November 1 of the subsequent year. For accounting purposes, costs of assigned time shall be calculated based on the minimum salary for assistant professor.