Effective Spring 2026
CAHNRS promotes excellence in teaching, innovative research, and Extension programs that address complex local and global agricultural, human, and natural resource issues. Faculty and staff in CAHNRS commit to cultivating diverse, equitable, inclusive, and safe environments that foster transformative student experiences, authentic community engagement, and respectful knowledge exchange.
CAHNRS has the broadest statewide impact of any college at WSU due to its statewide presence and breadth of disciplines. CAHNRS faculty are located at all campuses throughout the state and expertise spans agricultural science, natural resource sciences, and human sciences through the CAHNRS network of schools, departments, Extension program units, Research and Extension Centers (RECs), county and tribal Extension offices, and almost 10,000 acres of farmland. Teaching, research, and Extension programs take a transdisciplinary approach to building capacity and exploring feasible solutions for the most challenging societal issues of the day and future.
CAHNRS values the capacity of faculty to integrate their work across the land grant missions of research, teaching, Extension, and service. Those faculty members who are engaged in two or more missions of the land grant university can integrate their work across their teaching, Extension, research, and service roles. Faculty who successfully demonstrate this integration embody the ideals of the land grant university, and their efforts should be recognized and rewarded accordingly, regardless of track.
Please refer to the CAHNRS Faculty Guide for Promotion and Tenure Guidelines (PDF) for additional details, expectations, and examples of scholarship, scholarly activity, impact, and creative activity for tenure and career track faculty.
2. Workload Categories
Faculty work may be allocated across the following categories, as appropriate to appointment:
- Teaching
- Scholarship
- Service
- Extension
- Administration
- Other
Each department will define specific activities that constitute satisfactory and meritorious performance within these categories. For example, scholarship may include grant activity, peer- reviewed publications, or community-engaged research; service may include contributions to Faculty Senate or leading accreditation efforts. Teaching should include activities involving instruction, advising, and mentoring.
3. Workload Allocation
Faculty workload in CAHNRS is assigned in terms of % FTE across categories, based on appointment type and aligned with departmental and college goals. The WSU Faculty Workload policy defines the baseline workload on a semester basis for teaching as:
| Teaching %FTE | Number of three-credit courses, (Distinct courses, not the same course with different course prefixes), or equivalent teaching, advising, mentoring. | Total credit equivalencies for academic year |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 X 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 1 X 1 | 6 |
| 40 | 2 X 2 | 12 |
| 60 | 3 X 3 | 18 |
| 80 | 4 X 4 | 24 |
| 100 | 5 X 5 | 30 |
The following table adopts WSU’s recommendations for CAHNRS’ use.
| Faculty Type | Teaching /Mentoring/Advising | Creative Scholarship / Research | Service | Extension/ Applied Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenure-track faculty (Department based) | 5%–80% | 10%–80% | 10%–20% | 0%-70% |
| Tenure-track faculty (Extension Unit based) | 0% | 0% | 10% | 90% |
| Career-track Teaching faculty | 60%–95% | 0%–30% | 5%–20% | N/A |
| Career-track Research faculty | 0%-20% | 90%-100% | 5%–20% | N/A |
| Career-track Scholarly faculty | 50%-80% | 10%-45% | 5%–20% | 0%-45% |
| Career-track Extension faculty | 0% | 0% | 10% | 90% |
| Administrative appointments | Adjusted depending on scope of admin role – may reduce other areas proportionally | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Workload should reflect a faculty member’s appointment, career stage, and unit needs, with consideration of external funding, class size, course modality, outreach efforts, and administrative service.
Note: Faculty with appointments including multiple roles (e.g., Extension + Teaching, Extension
+ Research, Extension + Research +Teaching) will have integrated workload plans reflecting a blend of these functions.
4. Workload Measurement (percent values are expressed on a semester basis)
Workload is measured through normalized percent effort (%FTE) and activity equivalencies.
- Teaching, Mentoring and Advising: A 3-credit course = 20% FTE or equivalent* assuming full responsibility and dependent upon effort/semester. A 3-credit course is considered 20% FTE on a semester basis (10% on an annual basis). Adjustments will be made for type of course, e.g., continual updating/prep, complex technical courses, writing in the major, capstone, modality, high enrollment (50+), TA supported or not supported, new prep, new faculty, or shared instruction. Adjustments will be documented in each department’s workload policy document.
- Academic Advising Undergraduate Students: Faculty members who advise undergraduate students, 10% FTE = 25 students (recommended maximum).
- Mentoring Undergraduate Students’ Research Projects: 1% – 2% FTE/student/semester per student.
- Mentoring of Graduate Students: Credit is typically allocated 50% for teaching/mentoring/advising and 50% for scholarship/creative activity. Credit for mentoring/advising graduate students is limited to a maximum of 5% FTE per semester, regardless of the number of students mentored, and may not exceed 10% FTE per academic year. The annual maximum (10% FTE) is equivalent to one 3-credit course release per academic year. Mentoring credit cannot substitute for more than 5% FTE of teaching responsibilities per semester. Committee Work: Service on graduate committees is credited at 0.5%–1% FTE per student per semester. Direct mentoring/advising of graduate students is credited at 2.5%–5% FTE per student per semester (approximately 1–2 hours per week), with this effort typically allocated as 50% teaching/mentoring/advising and 50% scholarship/creative activity. All credit is calculated on a per-semester basis, and total release time across both semesters must remain within the annual cap of 10% FTE.
- Advising undergraduate students in professional programs, departments decide % FTE.
- Multi-instructors: If two instructors share equal responsibility for a conventional 3-credit course, then they are each credited with 1.5 credit effort.
- Teaching load for all tenure-track faculty members with teaching appointments (does not include 100% Extension Unit faculty, refer to chart above) need to be fulfilled through graded courses in academic departments. Generally, unless approved exceptions* are in place, all tenured faculty with a teaching and research appointment should maintain at least a 10% annual teaching appointment by teaching one 3-credit course or equivalent effort per academic year. Co-teaching a 3-credit course at 50:50 is 5% annual effort.
- Please see Appendix A for specific guidelines related to satisfactory and meritorious teaching performance. Departments are encouraged to follow these guidelines.
- Scholarship and Creative Activity: Time dedicated to grant writing, research, creative activity, and supervising student research (when scholarly). Department faculty will clearly define their departmental expectations for satisfactory and meritorious performance. Dependent upon federal capacity funds, all research funded faculty must be part of a Hatch or McIntire Stennis project.
- Faculty with scholarship appointments >40% FTE are expected to cover salary and benefits above 40% FTE with funding from non-state funding.
- Mentoring of Graduate Students: Credit is typically allocated 50% for teaching/mentoring/advising and 50% for scholarship/creative activity. Credit for mentoring/advising graduate students is limited to a maximum of 5% FTE per semester, regardless of the number of students mentored, and may not exceed 10% FTE per academic year. Service on graduate committees is credited at 0.05%–1% FTE per student per semester. Direct mentoring/advising of graduate students is credited at 2.5%–5% FTE per semester (approximately 1–2 hours per week), with this effort typically allocated as 50% teaching/mentoring/advising and 50% scholarship/creative activity. All credit is calculated on a per-semester basis, and total release time across both semesters must remain within the annual cap of 10% FTE. The appropriate credit within these ranges reflects the level of student independence, with higher FTE assigned to earlier-stage students who require more intensive time and effort, and lower FTE assigned as students gain skills and independence.
- Advising undergraduate students in professional programs, 1%-2% FTE/student/semester. Departments decide % FTE, not to exceed 2% FTE/student/semester.
- Please see Appendix A for specific guidelines related to satisfactory and meritorious scholarship and creative activity performance. Departments are encouraged to follow these guidelines.
- Service: Based on committee work, leadership, governance, and disciplinary service to professional organizations. A minimum 10% service load is recommended (average 4 hours per week), and some departments may recommend 5% depending upon how much salary is paid by grant funding. If paid 100% with extramural funds, a minimum of 5% can be covered by indirect cost recovery or other sources so that faculty can continue engaging in grant preparation efforts. In practice, expectations for service are lower for pre-tenured faculty members.
- Please see Appendix A for specific guidelines related to satisfactory and meritorious service activity performance. Departments are encouraged to follow these guidelines.
- Extension: Includes outreach programming, applied research, stakeholder engagement, and reporting/deliverables. All Extension faculty must be a member of an official Extension reporting program, approved by USDA/NIFA, that aligns with the critical issues areas for the Integrated Research and Extension Plan of Work.
- Please see Appendix A for specific guidelines related to satisfactory and meritorious Extension activity performance. Departments are encouraged to follow these guidelines.
- Administration: Associate Deans and Chairs/Directors typically have a split faculty and administrative appointment based upon the scope of their role, size and complexity of the unit, etc.
Departments may adopt workload calculators or equivalency rubrics for their specific use. Approval is needed from Chair, Associate Dean, Dean, Vancouver VCAA as needed, and Provost.
5. Review and Adjustment of Workload Plans
Each faculty member’s workload plan must be:
- Reviewed annually during the performance review process.
- Updated to reflect changes in responsibilities or accomplishments.
- Adjusted for sabbaticals, new course development, administrative roles, external funding, performance concerns, or faculty requests.
Adjustments may be made due to:
- Buyouts (e.g., grant-funded salary support with benefits) will be reviewed case-by-case by Chair/Associate Dean/Dean. Example – Allowing up to 10% of salary buyout/course for teaching on a one-to-one basis. One course plus benefits is equal to 10%. Considerations include adjustments for Fulbright Scholars, new teaching faculty, developing new courses, etc. Service can be decreased to 5% if needed.
- Approval from Chair/Associate Dean/Dean (Vancouver VCAA) is required annually.
- New faculty onboarding (different workload expectations may apply at time of hire and dependent upon offer letter details).
- Teaching releases (e.g., for curriculum development or grant productivity).
- Administrative assignments need to be approved by the Dean (or VCAA in Vancouver).
- Shifts in department needs or individual career trajectories.
- Performance-based changes (e.g., unsatisfactory research performance).
Faculty may negotiate workload adjustments (such as those listed above) with chairs, and departments must define a formal process for such adjustments to ensure transparency. Workload changes exceeding 10% FTE for over one year require approval by the Department Chair, CAHNRS Dean, and the WSU Provost.
6. Review and Adjustment of Policy
This CAHNRS college-level workload policy will be:
- Reviewed two years after initial implementation
- Reviewed every five years thereafter
- Updated as needed through CAHNRS governance structures and in consultation with the Provost’s Office
Departments must align their policies with this CAHNRS college-level framework and WSU systemwide policy.
- Reviewed within two years of initial implementation, and
- Reviewed every five years thereafter.
Policy updates will follow shared governance processes, with consultation across departments and the CAHNRS Faculty Affairs Committee.
7. Appeals and Grievances
Faculty may appeal their individual workload allocations using the following process:
- Initial discussion with department chair or director.
- Written appeal to a Departmental Workload Appeals Committee or equivalent (if established).
- College-level review by the CAHNRS Workload Review Panel.
- If unresolved, final appeal to the CAHNRS Dean’s Office and the Provost as necessary. All appeals will be handled confidentially, promptly, and in good faith to uphold fairness and equity.
Teaching, Mentoring and Advising: A 3-credit course = 10% FTE – 20% FTE (assuming full responsibility)/semester. Adjustments will be made for type of course, e.g., continual updating/prep, complex technical courses, writing in the major, capstone, modality, high enrollment (50+), TA supported or not supported, new prep, new faculty, or shared instruction.
- Academic Advising Undergraduate Students: Faculty members who advise undergraduate students, 10% FTE = 25 students (recommended maximum).
- Mentoring Undergraduate Students’ Research Projects: 1% – 2% FTE/student/semester.
- Mentoring of Graduate Students: Maximum credit is 5% FTE (no matter the number of graduate students you are mentoring/advising). You cannot substitute mentoring of graduate students for more than 5% FTE of your teaching/mentoring/advising FTE. Committee work: 0.5%-1%
- FTE/student/semester for time served on graduate committees, 2.5%-5% FTE/student/semester (1-2 hours per week) for advising/mentoring graduate students and split 50% for teaching and 50% for scholarship.
- Advising undergraduate students in professional programs, departments decide % FTE
- Graduating students: 2.5% -5% FTE/student/semester and split 50% for teaching, and 50% for scholarship.
- Multi-instructors: If two instructors share equal responsibility for a conventional 3-credit course, then they are each credited with 1.5 credit effort.
CAHNRS Faculty Workload Policy, June 2026 FINAL