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1.
Increasing demands on academic work have resulted in many academics working long hours and expressing dissatisfaction with their working life. These concerns have led to a number of faculties and universities adopting workload allocation models to improve satisfaction and better manage workloads. This paper reports on a study which examined the workload models in use across a large Australian university. Analysis revealed that the various models could be categorised into three types. The pros, cons and impacts of these three categories of model were compared from both a management and staff perspective. The study found that while models of all types can lay the foundation for equitable distribution of workload, some categories of model can have unintended consequences with negative effects on the work culture and hence staff satisfaction.  相似文献   

2.
Abstract

The role of the academic developer mirrors that of the current day academic. It is increasingly diverse and complex. Staff employed in academic development units are expected to respond to the needs of individual academics and are also expected to provide leadership in teaching and learning, conduct research into higher education, contribute to policy on a broad range of issues, and undertake community service. In addition they are expected to take responsibility for their own professional development. They are constantlyjuggling priorities of personal, professional and organizational commitments. To maintain competence in the face of multiple demands there must be significant overlap between work and learning. The learning opportunities inherent in working within a large multi‐dimensional organization must be acknowledged and embraced through the concept of a ‘learning organization’. It is important that the organizational culture of the Academic Development Unit (ADU) values learning, encourages reflection and fosters collaborative practice. This paper outlines an organizational model of academic development highlighting the opportunities for intervention at the level of organizational culture, staff development and student learning. It also suggests strategies for organizing and managing an ADU that provides a positive model of an effective working and learning environment.  相似文献   

3.
An online survey of workload activities was circulated to academics across Australia seeking estimates for the time to undertake a range of academic-related tasks associated with teaching, research and service. This article summarises the most important findings from the teaching data of the 2059 respondents. This detail of workload data has not been reported before across the Australian university sector. The findings showing that most academics work more than 50 h per week are consistent with previous studies. Although the estimates of the individuals varied greatly, statistical inquiry indicated the median time required does not vary by experience and online teaching generally requires more preparation time than on-campus teaching. The paper proposes this methodology as a credible means to derive realistic time-based standards for other aspects of academic work and will assist university managers by providing an external benchmark upon which to develop local academic workload models.  相似文献   

4.
Abstract

Recent studies of academic work have identified increasing pressures on universities and academics throughout the world. These pressures relate to such factors as diminishing resources available to the higher education sector, widening diversity of the student clientele, moves for increased accountability and tensions between the research and teaching goals of academic work. Among the pressures being placed on the teaching component of academic work are the need for increased accountability of teaching performance and the need to update professional competence related to teaching. This paper reports a study of a selected group of academics — relatively junior staff who have participated in significant professional development activities related to their teaching. The data provided by the interviews with these academics allow a glimpse at their academic lives and how they fit teaching and professional development related to teaching into their working lives. The study highlights how these academics structure their work around their teaching commitments and how, although they make time available for professional development related to their teaching, this is done in response to the activities offered rather than as a proactive component of their career planning.  相似文献   

5.
Higher education in the UK is under increasing pressure to manage the workload of its academic staff in a way that maximises the outputs from teaching and research. The emergence of this trend can be traced back to 1989 and the government legislation that introduced neo-liberal managerialism into the sector mirroring the laissez-faire approach to the economy that was prevalent at the time. This article examines the literature surrounding workload management and staff performance in the sector to try to establish whether the two have been conceptually linked. A desk-based narrative literature review was executed in order to scrutinise the literature and attempt to answer the main question: what does ‘performance’ mean in relation to an academic role and how is this related to an academic’s workload within the post-92 (referring to ex-polytechnics and colleges of higher education granted university title following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992) higher education sector? The results of the review show that the literature is dichotomous both in terms of the two areas being discrete and also in the conceptual stance taken by writers in each area. Whilst there are inferred links between workload management and performance, these have not been explored. The article concludes by outlining what further research is needed on the linkages between workload management and staff performance specifically, using socially-critical methodology.  相似文献   

6.
The changing work roles and resulting workloads of distance educators hold significant implications for the wellbeing and mental health of academics. New work roles include redesigning curricula for online delivery, increasing staff-student ratios and demands for student-support, management of part-time staff, and 24-h availability. This research was conducted to investigate the perceived importance of various job roles constituting the quantitative and qualitative workload of distance educators at an open and distance learning university in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional self-report survey design was employed. A stratified random sampling technique was used to ensure generalisability. The questionnaires were completed online, and the results were statistically analysed. The findings include a priority list of 40 distance educators’ work roles that may impact on their perceived workload. The article offers recommendations for policy development to facilitate a healthy workload allocation for distance educators.  相似文献   

7.
This study aims to identify sources of stress and consequent stress levels in university academic staff, to identify the coping strategies used by staff, and to examine the relationship between stress levels and job satisfaction. The study sample, consisting of 414 (305 males and 109 females) academic staff, was asked two open‐ended questions which invited them to specify the five main causes of stress in their lives in general and at work. The Life Stress Scale (LSS) was used to assess academics’ stress levels. A coping strategies list was used to identify the strategies used by academic staff during stressful periods. Two questions were asked to assess the level of satisfaction felt by academics with their jobs. The results indicated that academic staff rate work as the most significant cause of stress in their lives (74%) and conducting research (40.3%) was the main cause of stress at work. Results showed also that 74.1% and 10.4% of the academic staff fall into the moderate and serious stress categories respectively, and that there were no significant differences between males and females in stress levels. There were significant differences between the four academic rank groups in stress levels, with lecturers as the most stressed group. The results also indicated that academic staff use a wide range of coping strategies. A negative significant correlation between stress and job satisfaction (r= – 0.444) was found, indicating an inverse relationship between stress level and satisfaction.  相似文献   

8.
ABSTRACT

Currently, Russian academics are facing significant demands because of a new, urgent requirement to pursue their research in accordance with international standards. Until recently, these academics were used to working within a familiar community and communicating their research via the Russian language, but now, they are expected to move beyond that and function on a global level, which can challenge their academic identities. A qualitative study was carried out in a research-intensive Russian university. The aim was to explore academics’ experiences and perceptions of the dynamic changes in their academic work with a particular focus on the limitations and pressures they meet in their career path towards global research. The data were collected by means of reflective journals during a course on English for academic purposes. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. The results showed that global trends turned out to be unachievable for Russian academics due to the lack of specific knowledge, attributes and skills required to do research globally. This might be the first study from Russia contributing to the literature on academic identity construction. The article provides insights into the experiences and perceptions of Russian academics and offers a research agenda for further investigation to bridge identity shifts in academia. In terms of practical purposes, the results will be used as a source of preliminary data within a broader research project aimed at supporting Russian academics in their research in an international English-speaking academic context.  相似文献   

9.
ABSTRACT

This article explores the experiences of a group of established academic staff in New Zealand and the UK, as they undertake a doctorate in their home institutions. Our interest is in how individuals negotiate this dual status from a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) stance that explores how rules, tools, community and divisions of labour, and interacting activity systems, shape doctoral experiences. The focus in this article, having analysed their detailed narrative accounts, is on how academics experience three interdependent activity systems: those surrounding the thesis, the institutional context, and the home-life spheres. Issues related to time, workload and supervision issues, variability in collegial support and impact on personal priorities and time emerged. There is a range of particularities – from easy access to resources/supervisors to inflexible institutional regulations – applicable to this group of doctoral candidates. Negotiating life as an academic with concurrent doctoral candidature provides positive outcomes in terms of teaching, research confidence and general personal and professional development. However, a range of difficulties can also be encountered, particularly in relation to personal and professional relationships, and workload management.  相似文献   

10.
Abstract

The Median Test was employed to test null hypotheses relevant to the perception of the college experience and variables related to academic motivation. Statistically significant differences were found for academic motivation variables, i.e., direction of aspirations, influence of precollege peer group, influence of the home, independence In planning, persistence, and self-control in terms of the type of “philosophy” of education endorsed by a random sample of 280 entering freshmen at a private midwestern university. The dominant perceptions, or “philosophies” endorsed were the “academic”, the “vocational”, or the “collegiate”. In general, on those academic motivation variables where statistically significant differences were obtained, the “collegiate” were lower while the “academics” were higher. The “vocational” tended not to depart from the grand population median value. Implications for student personnel workers in higher education are indicated and suggestions for further study are made.  相似文献   

11.
ABSTRACT

How should academic staff engage in outreach with communities outside of the university? The need of academics to answer this question has intensified in the UK given the changing priorities of academic job roles, shaped by increasing institutional concern for widening participation, graduate employability and research impact in an era of austerity and high tuition fees. While university outreach professionals, such as those in widening participation, have access to a range of networks, resources and support mechanisms for outreach activity, academics often face a series of profession-specific pressures that make engagement in outreach complex and contingent. This article draws upon the experience of 25 academics from 18 different subject areas and 18 institutions to examine and provide responses to key challenges faced by academics involved in outreach in the UK. We examine such issues as: the conceptualisation of outreach; funding; recognition and management of workload; nurturing relationships with internal and external partners; capacity-building; commercial interests, payment and responsibility; pedagogical style and content; integration of outreach into curricula, and evaluation of programmes. The examination offered is not all encompassing, but acts as a series of reference points to consider the challenges faced by UK academics in an evolving outreach sector.  相似文献   

12.
《Africa Education Review》2013,10(2):187-207
Abstract

The academic workplace is experiencing numerous changes in South Africa and around the world, including increasing managerialism, declining governmental funding and massification of university systems. Global trends have impacted South Africa, and additional local contextual factors combine to create a situation in which the pool of prospective academics is limited, particularly with regard to individuals from diverse backgrounds, at the same time as vacancies for academic staff are expected to increase. In order to address the question of who will become the next generation of academics in South Africa, the author investigates potential barriers to developing academics through qualitative research conducted with postgraduate students, academic staff and administrators at two higher education institutions. Two central thematic categories are explored—induction into postgraduate studies and induction into the academic profession. The author posits that systematic socialization, both into postgraduate studies and into the academic profession, is a vital link toward cultivating emerging academics to fill academic positions for an equitable workplace in South African higher education institutions.  相似文献   

13.
The workload of academics in Australia is increasing. Among the potential ramifications of this are work-related stress and burnout. Unions have negotiated workload models in employment agreements as a means of distributing workload in a fair and transparent manner. This qualitative pilot study aimed to explore how academics perceive their current workload and the utility of workload formulas within their workplace. The findings revealed five themes: scepticism, anger, vindication, justice and balance. Workload models appear to have utility within academia as a means of balancing role expectations in an equitable and transparent manner. They are also useful for demonstrating workloads to management objectively and identifying staff at increased risk of burnout because of inappropriately high workloads. Problematic issues identified were perceptions that workload models are management tools to control and monitor the workplace, and their implementation would not result in change.  相似文献   

14.
Abstract

Multipurpose community colleges have a special opportunity for distinction through one of their missions—community development. One southern community college has assessed the similarities and differences of the perceptions of selected community leaders and of the college professional staff concerning the role of the college in community development.

The opinions of both groups were very similar, but the community leaders showed more variation in perceptions. Both groups believed the college should be involved in community development activities, but that the college could meet the needs of individuals better than it could meet community-wide needs. The college professional staff was more opposed to granting academic credit for community development activities such as work experiences of students and continuing education courses than were the community leaders.

As a philosophical approach to community development, both groups preferred the college's approaching community improvement through the organization of a wide spectrum of people concerned with democratic processes, self-help, and educational objectives. This process approach requires professional staff members with organizational, research, survey, and teaching skills to assist the community in working to solve problems.  相似文献   

15.
The purpose of this article is to examine the validity of perceptions by academic staff about their past and present workload and working hours. Retrospective assessments are compared with time‐series data. The data are drawn from four mail surveys among academic staff in Norwegian universities undertaken in the period 1982–2008. The findings show that many academic staff retrospectively perceive that expectations of their work and task performance have increased and hence that they now work longer hours. In contrast, when time‐ series data are used to measure changes in time use (on an aggregate level) no empirical evidence is found in support of this claim; instead, a slight decline in the average number of weekly working hours can be observed. Two possible reasons for this disparity are discussed. First, that heavier workloads do not necessarily imply that academic staff work longer hours. Second, that younger generations of academic staff may report fewer work hours than previous counterparts.  相似文献   

16.
Abstract

This paper stems from conversations between the authors who recently came to work together in staff and educational development. Having pursued different academic careers in Higher Education (HE), we questioned whether we had a common understanding of our academic community. In particular, we discussed two aspects. First, the extent to which our different disciplinary backgrounds influenced our perspectives on academic practice and our attitudes and approaches to staff and educational development. If we held different views on academic practice, how many other variations were we likely to encounter? Second, we felt it important to be sensitive to the needs of our colleagues in terms of their practices. The research that emanated from our discussions began with an empirical study, reported in this paper. We explore tensions between the various work activities performed by academics at the University of Sheffield. Eighty staff maintained a diary over a specified week early in the academic year 1997‐98. They recorded time spent on the activities of research, teaching, administration, external work, and professional development. Biographical data, including staff grade, length of service in HE, and length of service at the University were collected via a questionnaire attached to the diary. It would appear that the majority of academics surveyed support a role in both teaching and research, with a preference to spend more time on research at the expense of administration but not at the expense of teaching. These empirical data help us to understand more about the role of academics in changing times, and how we, as staff and educational developers, might become more effective and efficient.  相似文献   

17.
Abstract

This study investigated the differences between demographic, enrollment, academic, and self-directed learning characteristics of completers and noncompleters in online courses at one community college. The study also obtained students' self-reported reasons for not completing their coursework. No significant differences were found in the characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity, financial aid eligibility, grade point average, and total hours enrolled; significant differences were found in gender, academic readiness, and completers enrolled in more online courses than noncompleters.  相似文献   

18.
ABSTRACT

There have been widespread changes to working arrangements and employment relationships, including significant decreases in continuing/full-time employment contracts. This trend is particularly notable in academia, with more universities relying on the expertise of sessional, teaching-focused academics. This qualitative study extends understanding of this important group of professionals, identifying sessional work as a ‘double-edged sword’ and suggesting a typology of sessional academic careers to be tested in future research. It reports on the diversity among sessional academics, some enjoying the autonomy and flexibility of this working arrangement, others seeking more job security and greater alignment with continuing employment. It also identifies synergies and contradictions between sessional academic careers and key themes in the contemporary careers literature.  相似文献   

19.
The effect of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) strategies in higher education has arguably been transformative despite the not-insignificant barriers existing in this context. Throughout the discourse very little attention has been paid to those primarily responsible for this implementation—academic teaching staff. This paper aims to highlight the impact of academic workload allocations, an often silent barrier to the uptake of TEL strategies in higher education. We will discuss the effects of academic identity and culture, preferential time allocation to associative activities, academic technological capacity, university policies and workload and funding models on the uptake, and implementation on TEL in higher education. Our aim is to highlight the risks to staff, students and institutions should these concerns not be addressed and to propose a model for utilisation by all staff responsible for implementing flexible workload models supportive of further implementation of TEL strategies across the sector.  相似文献   

20.
Abstract

Casual academics form the backbone of learning and teaching practice in higher education in many developed countries and in many respects can be considered the norm around which academic policy and practice might be formed. Yet a narrative inquiry into the lived experience of women casual academics within Australian universities reveals that recruitment and management of casual teaching staff is generally ad hoc, and although they are committed to and enjoy teaching, casual academics rarely engage in professional and career development. Consequently, recommendations to contemporise recruitment and professional development policy for casual academics are made.  相似文献   

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