| Faculty productivity can be affected by an university's or department's workload policy. To date, little research has been performed on the subject of faculty workload policy in the engineering and engineering technology disciplines at public doctoral and research universities. Consequently, the purposes of this study are as follows: (1) to gain an understanding of the workload policies associated with the engineering and engineering technology disciplines at public doctoral and research universities, (2) to determine the extent by which such policies have provisions for reducing or increasing course load, and (3) to determine administrator and faculty preference for the inclusion of "flexible elements" in a policy, and if such preference can be linked to various demographic, career, and research related attributes.;A number of literature sources were consulted in an effort to obtain the background needed for this study including ERIC documents, periodical literature, past dissertations, and books. In addition, the literature section contains information reflecting analyses performed on data retrieved from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty.;Three types of data were collected for the study: (1) surveys, (2) documented workload policies, and (3) case study interviews. The data were obtained from public doctoral and research universities which have engineering and engineering technology programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.;As a result of the study, it was determined that the majority of public doctoral and research universities have written workload policies at either the university level or at the department level. Unwritten policies also exist, but for many institutions, classification of the policies by the deans and chairs differ.;The majority of workload policies contain provisions for reducing course load, however, only a small percentage of the policies contain provisions for increasing course load. The frequency of use of reduced course load provisions is greater than the frequency of use of increased course load provisions.;Research results indicate that administrators and faculty desire workload policies which contain "flexible elements." In addition, a substantial percentage of faculty stated that they would prefer to teach a greater load for a stated period of time in lieu of performing advisement, research, or service. |
