How does an institution determine the proper workload for staff? Most institutions have a standard calculation for faculty workload, thanks to the standardization of the credit hour, but no comparable measure exists for evaluating staff load, which can hinder student service and staff morale.
Credit hours and full-time equivalency (FTE) calculations of student load are relevant for financial projections, of course, but they are almost meaningless when it comes to assessing staff workload because they do not directly correspond to the time required to serve students. For that, student headcount is a much more realistic measurement. Each student requires roughly the same amount of time and service, regardless of the number of courses taken. Each student must still be recruited, apply for a program, apply for and be awarded financial aid, be advised and register for classes, and be evaluated for progress.
A standardized evaluation and planning tool for staff workloads should include:
- A baseline headcount against which to measure the actual headcount of each program can be evaulated.
- A program complexity factor that compares the complexity of the program served to the baseline.
- The administrative load of the position.
- The position's percent of full-time status.
All of these variables must be combined to compare a staff member's existing service level and workload to the benchmark. Once that comparison is completed, administrators can see at a glance if each staff member is at, below or over capacity.
For a more in-depth discussion of these variables and how to use them, read and download the complete white paper "Evaluating Staff Workload: The Need for a Standardized Tool for Institutional Planning" from AACRAO Consulting.
Are you attending the SEM Conference in Chicago? Stop by the AACRAO Consulting booth to meet the author of this paper, Dr. Reid Kisling, or attend his session, Taking SEM from Strategy to Implementation, on Tuesday, November 12th at 9am.