Workload Increases in the Faculty of Business

It has been brought to AUFA’s attention that approximately thirty tenure-track faculty and academic coordinators in the Faculty of Business have been asked to use a new formula for calculating their teaching workload that will require these individuals to take four to five times their current teaching load. 

AUFA has sent a letter to Provost Dr. Matthew Prineas and President Alex Clark requesting clarification on this new process for workload planning and the resulting workload increase. We have highlighted these important factors: 

This process violates Article 3.3.4 of the collective agreement, which requires workload to be equitable both within and between centres and equivalent academic units, as well as defining workload as no more than “what is reasonably possible for individuals to accomplish in a working year.” 

• These workload changes are happening only in the Faculty of Business. 

• While we don’t have good information about the current distribution of work across AU faculties, the average teaching load is roughly one block, or 32 undergraduate students, along with responsibility for coordinating 3 to 5 courses, in which the registration numbers for individual courses may vary.  

Accompanied by the threat of layoffs for non-compliance to the revised workload demands, Faculty of Business members are unable to negotiate the terms of their workload in accordance with Article 3 in the collective agreement. 

AUFA will support members who are under pressure to agree to unreasonable workloads including interventions on negotiations, grieving conditions of work, etc. 

Please feel free to reach out to AUFA if you have any questions or concerns and/or if your workload is changing significantly. 

Help us to understand teaching workload distribution by completing this form: https://forms.gle/yrcnqRoL2wYnnSjy8