With a proposed state budget asking higher education instructors to increase their teaching workload, some OU faculty say Gov. John Kasich is asking them to do “more with less.”
“Ohio public colleges and universities will be encouraged to increase full-time research and instructional faculty teaching loads by one class in each of the two years of the biennium,” Kasich’s budget proposal states.
“The intention is for all faculty members to be included (in teaching extra classes), but … the chancellor and Board of Regents will work with universities to determine the best way to implement this plan,” said Connie Wehrkamp, deputy press secretary for Kasich’s office, in a March email.
Workload equality could suffer, however, according to some faculty.
Defining a workload is the first problem, said Ruth Palmer, a professor in the department of classics and world religions.
“It’s a little bit difficult because there is no one set workload,” Palmer said. “We’re actually trying to figure out what that is, and it’s a combination of your department and specialty.”
In some departments at OU, a faculty member’s workload can be measured, but each is designed to adjust to the needs of students, faculty and programs, said Ann Paulins, chair of the department of Human and Consumer Sciences. Paulins added that because of the design, faculty members often do uneven amounts of work.
“The greatest concern for faculty, in my opinion, is that the baseline benchmark has not been identified,” Paulins said. “ … Do both a faculty member who is already teaching nine courses each year and a faculty member who is currently teaching six courses per year add an additional two courses?”
Defining a class could also pose a problem.
It would be difficult to compare a snowshoe physical education course with a 300-level history course, said Palmer.
“Personally I think it can’t be enforced because then you have to define what a class is,” Palmer said. “There are seminars, practicum, labs and writing-intensive courses.”
“The whole thing is — the way it’s phrased it makes it very clear that Gov. Kasich has no idea how things are run,” Palmer added.
It is unknown whether or not faculty members will be compensated for picking up the extra classes.
“I cannot speak for the governor, but my understanding of the expectations is to address a budget deficit by doing more with less,” Paulins said.
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