Faculty Rights Tip: The Work Year

As spring break recedes into the past and summer approaches, we are reminded that there is a yearly rhythm and cycle to our work. Now is also when administrators, at times, begin to ask faculty to “volunteer” to be part of summer projects and committees that perform service to the university.

There are three types of “Work Years” in our Collective Bargaining Agreement:

• Academic Year (AY)
• Ten (10)-Month Work Year
• Twelve (12)-Month Work Year

While the individual campuses have their own particular academic calendars, they must conform to the parameters set out in Articles 20.4, 20.5, and 20.6 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

If you are a counselor faculty member on a 12-month appointment, a new provision in the contract, 20.13 (preceded in the contract by Article 20.24), allows you to request a different type of appointment, stating: “A counselor faculty unit employee who is employed on a twelve (12) month basis may request to be employed on an academic year basis or ten (10) month basis.” The article further elaborates the process, as follows:

A counselor faculty unit employee shall provide written notice to the appropriate administrator of such a request, at least six (6) months prior to the start date of the requested effective academic year. Approval of the request is at the discretion of the appropriate administrator, and the academic year or ten (10) month assignment may be changed (converted back to twelve (12) month basis) based on the operational needs. If the appropriate administrator denies the request the appropriate administrator will provide a written reason as to the denial to the counselor faculty unit employee within thirty (30) days of the request. The appropriate administrator must provide a written reason if the academic year or ten (10) month assignment is changed (converted back to twelve (12) month basis) at least six (6) months prior to the start date of the effective academic year.    

Most instructional faculty members are employed for Academic Years (AYs) not to exceed 180 days.

If you have an academic year (AY) appointment, you are not required to perform “free work” during the summer – including trainings, workshops, webinars, or meetings related to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic (or any other topic).

If you are being asked to perform additional work during the summer months and your appointment is AY, CFA is here to support you and defend your workload rights.

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here. 

• Browse the faculty contract here.
• See an archive of Faculty Rights Tips.
• If you have questions about a faculty rights tip or would like to suggest a tip, please write us with the subject line “Faculty Rights Tip.”