A faculty appointment at UBC creates a challenging and rewarding set of responsibilities and entitlements for faculty members. Faculty members in CFIS engage in a great diversity of appointments and activities, and these tend to generate highly variable expectations.  The following guidelines provide an overview of the normal expectations of a faculty member in CFIS, and complement the provisions of the faculty Collective Agreement, UBC policies and procedures, and faculty letters of appointment. Given the range of working conditions at the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, as well as a high number of joint appointments, these guidelines describe basic expectations from which faculty members can discuss and confirm their responsibilities and support with their Directors. It is recognized that the balance among the expectations varies depending on the different stages of a faculty member’s career and the actual responsibilities of the faculty member. Progress through the ranks will be dealt with in a separate document.

College faculty appointments

1. A faculty appointment is to a centre, institute or school, or in the case of a joint appointment, more than one centre, institute or school.

2. Faculty members are expected to comply with University policies including Policies on Scholarly Integrity; Research; Patents and Licensing; Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment, as well as the University’s Respectful Environment Statement.

Joint appointments 

1. Joint appointments in general will not increase the faculty member’s responsibilities or entitlements.

2. A letter of appointment for a joint appointment will specify expectations regarding the “home unit” and other joint units. Specifically, the letter will

   • designate a home unit to lead all administrative activities for the faculty member. The home unit will normally hold the largest percentage of the appointment, which is often reflected by funding for the faculty position. Examples of the home unit’s administrative responsibilities include taking the lead on the appointment, reappointment, tenure, and promotion review processes; the annual review for merit and progress; annual performance reviews; retention considerations; negotiating teaching commitments; graduate student responsibilities; financial accountability on research grants and research support; leaves of absence; and space assignments.

   • designate the non-home unit responsibilities and entitlements as negotiated at the time of appointment. Further responsibilities and entitlements may be agreed to by the unit directors with approval by the Principal.

   • clarify that the faculty member is  responsible for participation in the evaluations of teaching; merit; reappointment, tenure, and promotion in all UBC units in which they have an appointment.

Participation and presence in the life of the University

1. Unit, College and University service is expected of all faculty members, and should be discussed and confirmed with the unit director(s).

2. Faculty members are expected to keep regular University hours, including being available to participate in all aspects of the work of their home unit and, as reasonable, their joint appointments to other units. This generally means that faculty will keep regular office hours in proportion to the number of courses taught and supervisions provided, and be readily available to graduate students and for administrative assignments and duties.

3. Out of town travel and absences for more than a week whether for work or for pleasure require approval of the Director (or in the case of Directors, of the Principal). Directors may, when necessary, require changes in travel plans and absences when they interfere with the operations of the unit.

4. Faculty members are responsible for maintaining current contact information via the Faculty Self-Serve Portal and ensuring that Directors and administrators know how to reach them during reasonable working times and days, and have an emergency contact number for other times.

5. Faculty members are responsible for ensuring appropriate communication with colleagues, staff and students. The College strongly supports the development of a respectful work environment, and encourages faculty members and units to strive for equitable and respectful conduct in managing research staff and students. To this end, the College will provide support to develop and seek funding for faculty and unit initiatives to improve equity and diversity.

Teaching

1. Teaching loads are assigned by the Head or Director of the unit. All CFIS faculty have an annual teaching load of four 3-credit courses (or an appropriate equivalent), preferably including one undergraduate course or equivalent each year. Letters of appointment, deeds of endowment, arrangements with funding agencies, and annual commitments negotiated with Directors are the basis for variation.

2. Graduate instruction: All CFIS faculty members must associate with at least one graduate program and actively supervise graduate students. This will be presumed to be the graduate program within their home unit, if the unit has a graduate program. Faculty members from units without graduate programs will negotiate affiliation with one or more graduate programs in which they are allowed to supervise graduate students and/or teach. These arrangements and graduate student supervisions will be reviewed with the home unit’s Director at the annual performance review, and with the graduate program directors as required by the program.

3. Undergraduate instruction: All CFIS faculty will be involved in undergraduate teaching through offering courses, co-teaching, or other innovative engagements with undergraduate learning. These arrangements will be formalized through the host unit Director and will be reported to the Principal annually.

4. In order to maintain a comprehensive teaching dossier, the faculty member should obtain a copy of teaching evaluations and peer reviews for courses taught outside of CFIS units.

Research

Research is understood to include scholarly work that produces public results that are subject to peer review or public feedback and that builds on a body of professional or academic knowledge (including established or new interdisciplinary areas). This is most often achieved through publications, but also includes contributions at conferences and professional meetings as well as knowledge transfer to relevant communities, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and substantive contributions to public policy.

1. All CFIS faculty are expected to compete for and hold research funds from major granting agencies, including but not limited to the Tri-councils.

2. All College faculty are entitled to reasonable grant support from the College’s grants and development officers. This includes help planning research programs, seeking funding sources, and identifying the appropriate signatures for applications.

3. Without exception, faculty must report to their home unit Directors their plans for applications, and submit in a timely manner all registrations or letters of intent, budgets, and applications for unit and College approval. This includes non-competitive funding and funds raised through development campaigns.

4. Faculty members are responsible for the following:

   • ensuring UBC requirements for research are completed and current. Among other things, use of human subjects, animal care, hazardous materials, conflict of interest forms, as well as overhead, salaries and honoraria documentation must be appropriately completed before a research application receives final signatures.

   • submitting completed applications before signatures will be provided by Directors, and then by the College and University, including budgets and infrastructure requirements, and accounts of how administrative, staff and facilities costs will be covered. This documentation must be complete and provided with adequate time for review, usually a few days. Faculty are strongly advised not to expect to be able to receive all signatures on the final day for submission. Requests for same day signatures are rarely justified, and must be supported by reviews of earlier drafts by the Director and the College.

   • Submitting appropriate budgets and avoiding over-expenditures for research expenses.

5. Directors bear the primary responsibility for determining that the budget is sufficient for the proposed research and that the grant is within the expertise of the faculty member, as well as the administrative and facilities capacity of the unit and those involved in the application.

6. Directors must have sufficient knowledge of faculty members’ research plans and applications to be able to fulfil their responsibilities related to strategic planning, representing unit interests to the College, ensuring costs and facilities are adequate, and managing staff and students. A Director’s signature indicates responsibility for overspending at the unit level. Consequently, Directors must have adequate time to assess the budget and proposed research activities.

7. Directors are entitled to set deadlines to permit time for review prior to signature. The College and the University will not sign applications that do not include a Director’s signature.

8. The College will support collaborative research by actively advocating with senior administration and negotiating with Deans.

9. Indirect costs of research or overhead are important to maintain the infrastructure necessary for research. All such expenses must be negotiated according to UBC policy, and any applications for exceptions approved by the Principal.

Service

1. All faculty members, including jointly appointed faculty, are expected to be active in their home unit and to discuss and confirm appropriate service expectations with their Directors. For example, faculty members are expected to participate on a minimum of one unit or faculty committee, on Senate, or a University-wide committee.

2. Professional service to the university, academic, professional and government organizations are all important parts of service activities.

3. Faculty members should negotiate their service commitments with their Director in advance of making service commitments outside the unit. Extra-unit forms of service may in some instances justify a reduction in administrative tasks within a unit, but will not typically reduce participation in unit activities.

Faculty members, at all ranks, are encouraged to meet with their Head or Director on how best to meet the expectations given their rank, abilities and position, as well as the needs of the Unit and students.

Principal’s Office, Sept. 2009

Download a pdf of this document here.