Have you ever heard someone say, “What’s on the back of your SWF?” Or, “Just put it on the back of your SWF?”
What are they talking about?
The Standard Workload form is a PDF document, emailed to Full-time Faculty at least six weeks before the start of the new semester, but it used to be a two-sided paper document. The “back of your SWF” is page 2 of the PDF document.
The first page lays out the hours attributed to your teaching load (preparation and evaluation factors, discussed in earlier postings). The second page (or “back of your SWF”) is where all the other work hours are accounted for and is headed “Complementary Functions for Academic Year”.
Full-time Faculty are given a minimum of 6 hours per week for Routine Allowance (RTN) and Normal Administrative Tasks (ADM)–answering emails, assisting students, attending routine program or department meetings, for example.
Office hours, proctoring tests or exams, and sitting on committees are not considered RTN or ADM and if any of these functions are expected of you, they should up on the back of your SWF as something other than RTN or ADM. (You read that right: Office hours are not, in fact, mandatory.)
Other activities can be indicated on the back of the SWF. These can include coordinator duties, special projects, curriculum development and program mapping, committee work, and more.
Check the back of your SWF. Are your non-teaching, mandatory responsibilities reflected accurately?
A further note regarding Workload Monitoring Group (WMG):
After referring your SWF to WMG, a manager might ask for some feedback or information to help them understand your request for a WMG referral. However, explaining the reason for your referral is not a requirement and any conversation you have with your manager about the referral would merely be a courtesy. Read more about WMG here: slcfaculty.ca/cant-agree-swf
Learn more about your SWF here: slcfaculty.ca/standard-workload-form