Workload Policy Task Force

Faculty effort at WSU has traditionally been apportioned into the categories of teaching, research, and service that incorporate a wide diversity of activities including teaching, research/scholarship, extension, clinical practice, librarianship, administration, student advising, mentorship, etc. Historically, however, WSU has not prescribed the division of workload for each faculty member (Faculty Manual, section IV.A.3, 2024-25 Academic Year version).

Failure to explicitly define workload and commensurate expectations likely contributes to dissatisfaction with recognition for faculty teaching (59.8%), scholarship (74.7%), service (62.5%), advising (74.7%), outreach efforts (72.8%), and with division of labor for committee (63.6%), teaching (66.4%) and advising (76.6%) assignments (COACHE 2024 faculty satisfaction survey).

To address these concerns, the Washington State University (WSU) Provost’s Office assembled a Workload Policy Task Force (WPT) (January-May 2025), with the goal of developing a system-wide workload policy. The resulting draft policy was introduced through three townhalls with the goal of collecting feedback throughout this process. Moving forward, the next goal is to develop draft college- and unit-level policies.

Proposed Timeline

August 15, 2025

• All colleges should have a draft workload policy ready for discussion and to provide guidance to departments and schools. Smaller colleges and those with less diverse missions may elect to exempt departments and schools from developing unit-level policies in preference for a detailed, college-wide policy.
• Colleges electing to exempt units from having unit-specific policies should not preclude units from having a unit-specific policy should the faculty elect to develop their own policy. Units exempt from developing a formal workload policy should still, where appropriate, apply unit-specific workload calculators or similar strategies to maximize transparency around workload effort.
• Unit policies cannot conflict with college or university policies.

September – December 2025

• Provost Office will work with the Faculty Affairs Committee, the Faculty Senate Steering Committee, and the Faculty Senate to integrate workload into the Faculty Manual.

October 15, 2025

• Colleges submit final workload policies for approval.
• Departments submit final unit bylaws for review and approval by the dean.

November 15, 2025

• Expected provost approval date for college workload policies.

December 15, 2025

• Departments and schools submit final workload policies and updated promotion & tenure policies/handbooks to deans for review.

January 2026

• Annual review guidance will include updated forms that allow documentation of percent effort across different workload categories, and updated guidance for completing annual reviews and individual faculty workload plans.
• Deans complete review and approval of unit bylaws; units post bylaws on website.

March 1, 2026

• All department and school workload policies are due at the provost office. Colleges will submit these policies on behalf of their departments and schools.

April 1, 2026

• Expected provost approval date for unit workload policies.

Approval Process

Workload policies must be reviewed and approved at several levels to ensure that standards and expectations are applied fairly within and between units, colleges, and campuses. Approval involves routing draft policies as indicated below with a cover memo and cognizant signatures.

• All college, department and school policies must be approved by the dean and provost.
• Where workload policies concern faculty serving on the Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, or Vancouver campuses, signature approval should include the respective VCAA(s). These units should consult with their respective academic directors to avoid unintended complications and fiscal impacts on different campuses.
• Policies emanating from the Spokane campus require signature approval from the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences.
• All department and school bylaws must be approved by the dean, and should be available at the department website.

Questions?

Questions and concerns can be sent to Douglas Call (Senior Vice Provost) at drcall@wsu.edu.