Inside Iowa State

May 21, 2004

Faculty work week averages 58 hours

by Linda Charles

Iowa State faculty continued to work a 58-hour week during FY04, according to a report presented to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, during its May meeting. Faculty reported the same length work week in FY03. (A national survey showed the average faculty work week is 56 hours.)

The report, compiled from a faculty survey, shows Iowa State faculty work weeks have remained relatively constant for several years, varying only a couple of hours from year to year. The faculty work week has ranged from 57 hours (1984) to 59 hours (1992).

Faculty at the University of Iowa reported a 57-hour work week for FY04; those at the University of Northern Iowa reported a 55-hour work week.

As in other years, teaching remained the major activity of faculty, with Iowa State professors spending 40 percent of their time on teaching activities, associate professors 41 percent and assistant professors 44 percent.

The amount of time spent on research activities varied with rank, with professors and associate professors devoting about 37 percent of their time to research activities and assistant professors spending about 42 percent of their time on research.

Professors spent more of their time (10.5 percent) on administrative duties than did associate professors (4.5 percent) and assistant professors (2 percent).

Many Iowa State departments reported their tenure and tenure-track faculty teach a higher percentage of student credit hours (SCH) than their counterparts in comparable institutions (institutions with a land-grant mission or public comprehensive institutions, with Carnegie R1 ratings).

Overall, according to the report, Iowa State tenure and tenure-track faculty teach more than 60 percent of the SCH. The percent of SCH taught by tenure and tenure-track faculty at all three state universities has increased almost 3 percent since FY03, while the percent of SCH taught by non-tenure faculty has decreased by slightly over 3 percent.