Know your SWF!
All faculty: if you have 9 weeks of holiday between now and September, you should have received your fall SWF by Tuesday, May 19. What should you be looking for?
First, if you are not yet in receipt of your fall SWF, please contact Peter Hupka, Chair, WMG. You will receive a bonus $500 for a late SWF (Seven Durham faculty have received this payment).
Second, ALL WORK must be noted on your SWF: teaching, meetings, coordinator, field placement, research, mentoring, and any other work such as new course development or special projects. Be aware: your work needs to result from a “collegial” discussion with your manager. Managers have the right to assign work, but at the same time, YOU have the right to ask for changes and to express preferences or priorities. It is meant to be a positive, co-operative process.
Third, be aware of how many different courses you teach: No more than 4 course “preps” can be assigned to you in a given week except by voluntary agreement which shall not be unreasonably withheld. A new Prep (course you have not taught previously or that has changed significantly) should have a higher factor of 1.1. The first prep of a course you have taught recently is calculated at 0.6. Repeat sections are calculated at 0.35.
Fourth, if you have over 260 students, your manager MUST initiate a conversation with you and offer you some alternatives such as extra time, less work, or marking assistance. Breakout class sections are counted as a separate group of students. Failing agreement on how to address the over-260 student total, the teacher SHALL be attributed an additional 0.015 hour for every student in excess of 260.
Fifth, make sure your marking factor is accurate: if you do ONLY mechanically assisted marking, then you should get a factor of 0.15. If you do marking of short answer or written assignments, you should get a factor of 0.3. Some faculty receive a factor of 0.25 if much but not all marking is mechanically assisted.
Finally, you may “sign back” your SWF if you have a concern; do so within 72 hours of receiving your SWF. This will be flagged and reviewed by your Union reps on WMG. If you sign agreement or do not sign your SWF, you will be considered to be happy with the SWF, meaning you are okay with your workload. HOWEVER, after 72 hours, you still have the right to ask for clarifications or changes to your SWF. If you have any questions or want clarification or changes, talk to your steward.
CONFIDENTIALITY IS ALWAYS GUARANTEED!