Experiences of Academics of Workload and Responses by Unions and Management

Abstract

Academic staff in tertiary institutions say they are overworked and undervalued. Recent changes in education provision and funding have meant that providing safe, equitable and reasonable workloads is an increasingly difficult management task. The paper arises from a joint union/management working party that surveyed historical and current contexts, including approaches used to assess and allocate academic work in a variety of tertiary institutions. We surveyed regulatory provisions contained in tertiary education collective agreements and found there was no single solution, given the diversity of the sector. Nevertheless we have identified workload models that provide a framework for discussion and negotiation between unions and management in the tertiary education sector.