Guidelines: Making Individual Workload Assignments Available Securely, Online (PDAD&C #37)

From: Heather Boon, Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life
Date: April 22, 2022
Re: Guidelines: Making Individual Workload Assignments Available Securely, Online (PDAD&C #37)

I am writing to provide instructions on how unit level workload assignments should be made available to faculty members and librarians annually via a secure site. Beginning with your June 2022 workload assignments, and on a yearly basis, please ensure that you follow these guidelines and make all individual workload assignments available on a secure site accessible only to faculty or librarians holding a budgetary appointment in your unit.

Expectation

The University’s Workload Policy and Procedures for Faculty and Librarians (WLPP) includes a provision that “[a]ll written assignments for each Unit will be collected in the Office of the Unit Head and made readily available for review at the request of any member of the Unit or the Association.” (WLPP, Section 2.17)

Purpose

Traditionally, units have made these workload assignments available in a multiplicity of ways. More recently, as communicated in PDAD&C, 2020-21, #54 issued March 19, 2021, the University committed to developing a mechanism whereby workload assignments could be posted to a secure site. My office undertook to take the lead in working to determine how this might best be facilitated. This memo, “Guidelines for Making Individual Workload Assignments Available Securely, Online”, is the outcome of that work.

Written Assignments of Workload

The WLPP provides that “Each member will be provided with a written assignment of their workload duties on an annual basis that includes the member’s percentage appointment and details of teaching and service or, in the case of librarians, professional practice and service, by no later than June 30th. Where an individual member’s assignment is materially different from the unit’s workload norms, standards, or ranges, the variation and the reason for it should be identified in the individual member’s written assignment of workload, subject to any accommodation agreements.” (WLPP, Section 2.17, emphasis added)

Principle

It is critical in sharing individual workload assignments that this be done securely so that the assignments are only accessible to all of the faculty or librarians holding budgetary appointments in your unit.

Individual workload assignments for the coming academic year should be posted as soon as they have been finalized and issued and should remain accessible until replaced by the next year’s assignments.

Process

Create a Secure Site

Please follow the instructions posted to the Academic Administrative Procedures Manual (AAPM) on how to create a secure site in SharePoint or OneDrive.

Limit Access to the Site

Both SharePoint and OneDrive will allow you to create a folder with limited access. It is important to provide access to the site only to all of the faculty or librarians holding budgetary appointments in your unit.

Remove and Replace Content Annually

Each June, you should remove the workload assignments posted to the site and prepare to post the new set.

Strategies That Should Not be Used

Other solutions such as Google Drive or Dropbox are insufficiently secure and should not be used