Unit Policy
Title
School of Civic Life and Leadership: Faculty Workload Policy
Introduction
Purpose
This policy establishes expectations for faculty workload within the School of Civic Life and Leadership ("SCiLL" or "School") at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("University"). It is intended to ensure that faculty workloads support the School's mission of excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service while providing sufficient flexibility to recognize differing faculty appointments, responsibilities, and leadership roles.
This policy should be read in conjunction with the School's Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Manual and all applicable University and UNC System policies.
Scope
This policy applies to all full-time (1.0 FTE) faculty with a primary appointment (whether 9-month or 12-month contracts) longer than one year in the School, including:
- Tenured faculty,
- Tenure-track faculty,
- Teaching-track faculty,
- Research-track faculty,
- Professors of the Practice, and
- Fixed-term faculty.
Policy
Consistent with the interdisciplinary character of the SCiLL, faculty responsibilities are understood as integrated rather than compartmentalized. Excellence in teaching, research/scholarship, and service is mutually reinforcing, and every faculty member is expected to contribute meaningfully to the School's mission of advancing civic life and leadership.
SCiLL faculty contribute to the University's mission through three interconnected areas:
- Teaching
- Research and Scholarship
- Service
Consistent with the School's mission, every faculty member is expected to contribute in all three areas, although the relative emphasis may vary according to appointment type and assigned responsibilities.
Workload Expectations
The following definitions are drawn from and intended to be consistent with the SCiLL Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Manual.
Teaching
Teaching encompasses the dissemination of knowledge and skills through classroom instruction, curriculum development, supervision of student research, experiential learning, and other educational activities that advance student learning.
Teaching responsibilities may include:
- Undergraduate and graduate instruction
- Course and curriculum development
- Independent studies
- Honors theses, capstones, and directed research
- Supervision of internships and experiential learning
- Faculty participation in co-curricular educational programs
- Development of innovative pedagogical materials and instructional methods
Teaching excellence is demonstrated through the successful education of students, including high-quality instruction, curriculum development, and innovative pedagogy.
Research and Scholarship
Research encompasses original scholarly inquiry, public-facing scholarship, creative activity, and the dissemination of knowledge that advances understanding of civic life, leadership, constitutionalism, political institutions, history, philosophy, public policy, and related fields.
Research activities may include:
- Books and peer-reviewed articles
- Public scholarship grounded in academic expertise
- Grants and sponsored research
- Edited volumes
- Editing scholarly publications (journals, special issues of journals, etc.)
- Scholarly conferences
- Policy reports
- Digital scholarship
- Public lectures based upon scholarly expertise
- Interdisciplinary research collaborations
The School values scholarship that contributes both to academic disciplines and to public understanding of civic life and leadership.
Service
Service includes contributions to the School, the University, the profession, and the broader public consistent with SCiLL's mission.
Examples include:
- Faculty governance
- Service on School, University, and system committees
- Faculty recruitment
- Mentoring junior faculty
- Academic program development
- Professional organizations
- Public engagement
- Civic education initiatives
- Outreach activities
- Public lectures, debates, and educational programming
- Leadership of School initiatives
- Administrative roles within the School
Student Advising and Mentoring
For purposes of faculty workload, undergraduate and graduate academic advising, mentoring, career guidance, honors advising, and other forms of sustained student mentorship are considered institutional service responsibilities rather than teaching responsibilities. Such activities are separate from other instructional efforts such as developing materials for a new course, updating materials for an existing course, weekly course preparation activities, developing courseware or other materials for technology-based instruction, supervising undergraduate research and master's theses and doctoral dissertations, supervision of teaching assistants, supervision of internships, and other efforts that support student success.
Because SCiLL places exceptional importance on forming students for lives of civic leadership, every faculty member is expected to contribute meaningfully to advising and mentoring students as part of the normal 20 percent service allocation. These activities are evaluated as service during annual reviews while remaining central to the School's educational mission.
Standard Distribution of Effort
Standard Distribution of Effort, by Faculty Type
| Category |
Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty |
Fixed-Term Teaching-Track Faculty* |
Fixed-Term Research-Track Faculty** |
Professors of the Practice*** |
| Teaching |
40% |
80% |
0% |
Variable |
| Research and Scholarship |
40% |
0% |
80% |
Variable |
| Service |
20% |
20% |
20% |
Variable |
*Teaching-track faculty are encouraged to engage in scholarship related to their teaching, discipline, or the School's mission, although such activity is not ordinarily a required component of workload unless specified in the appointment.
**Research-track faculty may teach when appropriate to their appointment or funding source.
***Faculty workload for Professors of the Practice will be determined individually by the Dean based upon the faculty member's appointment letter, professional responsibilities, source of funding, and contributions to the School.
Workload Flexibility
Although the distributions above represent the School's normal expectations, faculty workloads may vary based upon:
- Administrative responsibilities
- Leadership of major School initiatives
- Externally funded research
- Programmatic responsibilities
- Significant curriculum development
- Temporary institutional needs
- Course buyouts supported by external grants, gifts, or other approved funding sources
Differentiated workloads will be approved by the Dean and documented in the faculty member's annual work plan.
Annual Workload Planning
Each faculty member shall develop an annual work plan in consultation with the Dean. The faculty member should consider the following components when developing their work plan: the position description, rank, and essential duties of the position along with specific outputs and efforts for: teaching, research/creative expression, service, and other professional activities.
Because the School does not have departments or department chairs, responsibility for assigning and evaluating faculty workload rests with the Dean, who may consult with associate deans or other faculty leaders as appropriate.
Normally, these discussions occur as part of the annual review process, and the work plan should be finalized by July 1 each academic year.
The annual work plan should include:
- Assigned teaching responsibilities;
- Planned scholarly activities;
- Service commitments;
- Student advising and mentoring responsibilities;
- Administrative assignments, if applicable;
- Major goals and expected outcomes; and
- Allocation of effort across teaching, research, and service.
For faculty holding appointments in multiple academic units, the Dean shall coordinate workload planning with the heads of the other appointing units.
Annual Faculty Evaluation
Each faculty member shall receive a written annual evaluation based upon the approved annual work plan. Annual evaluations of faculty must:
- Be in writing;
- Be completed at least once per academic year;
- Apply to every faculty member, regardless of tenure status;
- Cover all areas of a faculty member's duties;
- Occur before salary increase recommendations; and
- Not replace the post-tenure review process already set by the University for tenured faculty.
During this review, the Dean or the Dean's designee will evaluate the faculty member's performance based on their approved work plan. Any faculty member rated as "Not Meeting" on one or more of their agreed-upon performance goals must be presented with a "Faculty Success Plan" to get them back on track.
Evaluations must:
- Assess accomplishments in teaching, research, and service;
- Consider progress toward annual goals;
- Recognize contributions to student advising and mentoring;
- Be completed annually before salary recommendations; and
- Be discussed in an individual meeting between the faculty member and the Dean or Dean's designee.
Faculty whose performance does not meet expectations in one or more assigned areas may be placed on a Faculty Success Plan consistent with the University's Faculty Workload Policy.
Faculty Success Plans
Faculty Success Plans are intended to support faculty development and improvement.
A Faculty Success Plan must:
- Identify areas requiring improvement,
- Establish measurable goals,
- Specify available institutional resources,
- Include an implementation timeline, and
- Describe the consequences should satisfactory improvement not occur.
The faculty member's second-level supervisor will review and approve the Faculty Success Plan, in accordance with the University's Faculty Workload Policy.
Relationship to the SCiLL Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Manual
This workload policy is intended to complement, not replace, the School's Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Manual. Applicable University policies and the School's Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Manual still govern expectations for teaching, research, service, annual evaluation, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review.
Monitoring and Reporting on Faculty Workloads
The School will submit aggregate data annually per the University's Faculty Workload Policy.
Related Requirements
External Regulations
University Policies
Contact Information
Primary Contact
Name: Daniel DiSalvo
Email: disalvo1@unc.edu
Other Contacts
Name: Kavita Hall
Email: kavita.kapur@unc.edu
Publication Details
- Issuing Officer: Dr. Jed Atkins, Dean, School of Civic Life and Leadership
- Effective Date: August 3, 2026
- Next Review Date: August 31, 2027