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Policy and Procedure Manual

401-5 Faculty Workload

Title: Faculty Workload Calculation
Owner: Provost
Last Update/Revised: 07/31/2024

Policy: Aspen University recognizes and supports the important work that faculty members do in and outside of the course room to benefit students, academic disciplines, the University, and the community. It is critical that Aspen University carefully manage workload equity while also capitalizing on the efficient use of teaching, research/creative activity, and service resources. In support of that obligation, the following workload guidelines provide details regarding faculty workload calculations and describe the association between workload and the staffing profile that is used to inform decisions regarding staffing needs.

Aspen University has several different categories of faculty. Each has a recommended workload as follows:

  1. Full-time online faculty teaching at the undergraduate level carry a student to faculty ratio of up to 110:1. Full-time online faculty teaching at the master's level carry a student to faculty ratio of up to 100:1. Full-time online faculty teaching at the doctoral level carry a student to faculty ratio of up to 75:1.
  2. Full-time campus-based faculty carry a credit-based load of up to 16 credits/semester or 8 credits per 8-week session.
  3. Part-time online adjunct faculty carry a student to faculty ratio of up to 50:1.
  4. Part time Clinical faculty (School of Nursing and Health Sciences- BSN: Pre-Licensure program only) carry a student to faculty ratio of no more than 10:1 in accordance with the requirements of clinical agencies.
  5. Part-time adjunct Lab faculty (School of Nursing and Health Sciences- BSN Pre-Licensure program only) carry a student to faculty ratio of no more than 15:1 in accordance with the requirements of applicable Boards of Nursing.
  6. School of Nursing and Health Sciences DNP workload max for all faculty is no more than 12 DNP projects at one time.
  7. School of Education and School of Business & Technology dissertation workload max for all faculty is no more than 15 dissertations at one time.

Faculty load is monitored by the Faculty Services and Scholarship department.  For part-time adjunct faculty who convert to a full-time faculty position, their existing students become part of their FT load and salary, and those courses are not paid separately.