Current practice in academic workload allocation processes in Australia

Embarking on a large-scale research project to investigate aspects of academic workload management, it was first necessary to gain some understanding of current practice in that context within Australia. With that aim a pilot survey was conducted in 2013 that targeted Deans of Science on the one hand, and workload managers on the other. Survey questions covered three key areas related to workload management: models and rules; process and policy; and systems and software. Comparisons between different types of university, different allocation models for teaching, research and service components of academic workload, and different sizes of academic unit were explored. While the number of responses in absolute terms was relatively limited, and hence the outcomes were not always statistically testable or generalisable, broad trends were readily identifiable. This paper reports on the method and outcomes of the survey, and describes how the information that was obtained has informed the development of an in-depth research project.