Navigating Faculty Workload Challenges in PA Education

Walking into the Dean’s office for another meeting about faculty workload in PA education filled me with dread. Previous encounters hadn't gone well.

The dean insisted that all programs must apply workload equally. "I see no reason your faculty can't teach twelve credit hours per semester," he argued. "Your clinical coordinator doesn't have any teaching credits. All she does is coordinate rotations and do site visits. That doesn’t meet the college’s teaching guidelines. Besides, I read your ARC-PA standards, and nowhere does it say the workload has to be different for PA education."

I held back my frustration because he was technically correct.

Though fictional, this scenario accurately reflects the administrative challenges I’ve faced throughout my career. Even now, I feel the tension from those encounters.

As PA educators, we often feel like a square peg in a round hole. PA programs, often housed in different divisions and colleges, create a clash of perspectives. The best solution I’ve found is to be creative and proactive.

Firstly, use the ARC-PA standard A1.03 to provide evidence of faculty sufficiency. Then, develop guidelines that fit the PA education model, which often includes collaborative or guest lecturing and small lab sections with about an 8-to-1 faculty-student ratio. Here are some guidelines I’ve developed over the years to help conceptualize workload:

• Didactic Lecturing in Solo-instructor Course: Each credit hour = 1-hour equivalent

• Didactic Lecturing in Team-taught Course: Every 15 hours of campus-based lecturing = 1-hour equivalent

• Seminar: Every 15 hours of seminar time = 1-hour equivalent

• Laboratory Skills Instruction: Every 30 hours of lab teaching = 2-hour equivalent

• Solo Coordination of Team-taught Course: For class sizes up to 30 students, 0.5-hour equivalent per credit. For example, a 3-credit Clinical Medicine course would result in 1.5 credit hour equivalents for the coordinator, justified by administrative tasks such as test construction.

• Experiential Education: Every 6 full-time equivalent student weeks = 2-hour equivalents for the clinical director or coordinator for site visitation and evaluation, recognizing the importance of ensuring quality clinical education.

Additional credit hour teaching load can be awarded for:

• Special committee and educational projects

• New course development: 3-hour equivalents per course

• Substantial revision of existing course: 2-hour equivalents per course

• Experiential education fieldwork: 1-hour equivalent for every 10 site visits

• Major service/committee/accreditation work: Up to 6-hour equivalents, with each committee granted 1-hour equivalent per semester

• Special projects related to accreditation: Up to 3-hour equivalents per semester

• Grant Project Director/Investigator: Release time according to institutional policy

• First-year practice start-up time for new faculty: 8-hour equivalents

Workload credits can also be organized according to administrative responsibilities. These examples show how credit load can be compressed into deliverables, which can help administrators understand the demands on program directors:

• Program Director: 12 to 16-hour equivalents annually

• Associate Director: 6 to 9-hour equivalents annually

• Clinical Education Coordinator: 12 to 16-hour equivalents annually

• Research and Assessment Coordinator: 6 to 9-hour equivalents annually

• Service Learning Coordinator: 6-hour equivalents annually

• Capstone/Thesis Coordination: 6-hour equivalents annually

• OSCE Coordination: 6-hour equivalents annually

Programs can use several data sources to validate workload responsibilities, including the concept of faculty sufficiency. An evidence-based approach to PA educational workload can help program directors have productive conversations with their dean or provost.

I hope these suggestions ease the tension of your next meeting with your program’s administration!