As more and more faculty are being asked to teach online, there is a growing need to address workload, promotion, and tenure policies to reflect the differences between teaching online and teaching face-to-face. Because of the differences among departments and institutions, there is no single solution to these issues. Academic Leader recently spoke with Philip DiSalvio, director of SetonWorldWide, Seton Hall University’s online campus, to get a clearer picture of the policy issues involved with online instruction and to explore possible policy action alternatives.

“The key question in determining whether there is a need for policy change is whether teaching online is more time consuming than teaching face-to-face. DiSalvio says that offering online courses of a quality equal to or greater than comparable face-to-face courses takes more time.

“I think more and more we’re seeing that online instruction demands more time of the instructor because of the interaction that’s involved. I’ve taught online and continue to teach online, and most of our faculty do, and they consistently say that it just takes more time because of the interaction. They’re in the course two or three times a day, and it’s not just sort of floating into class and talking from their lecture notes and having two hours in class. It’s a daily grind, and as such there should be a recognition, I think, and there seems to be a growing recognition that because of those distinctions, there in fact may have to be some differences in the rewards structure when you’re dealing with online instruction.”

A big concern for faculty is how the additional work involved in teaching online will affect their productivity in other aspects of their jobs. The question, DiSalvio says, is this: “Does teaching online reduce your productivity in those areas that will give you tenure or that will give you more compensation or a promotion?” He continues, “Most folks find that [teaching online] is more work, and so it comes to be seen as a perceived threat to productivity in research and service, and this has implications for compensation, promotion, and tenure.”

Attitudes toward online teaching and its prevalence vary widely across disciplines and institutions. “I think we’re beginning to see, and the data seems to show, that more and more folks are recognizing that online enrollment is going to become a more important part of their overall portfolio. The percentage of schools identifying online instruction as a critical long-term strategy continues to grow. And I see among the staunchest detractors in my university and the folks I talk to around the country that there is a growing acceptance that online instruction is part of the future,” DiSalvio says.

Acknowledging the role that online instruction might play in the future is one step in developing a response to the workload, promotion, and tenure issues. The institution needs to have appropriate policies in place, but because of differences among departments an institution-wide policy cannot be the final word on how to address these issues.

“I think it starts with the departmental leadership that either pushes or doesn’t push the department into Web-based teaching. With that has to be a school or college vision that’s consistent with the departmental strategy, and then I think the university has to establish some kind of parameters. Schools are going at different rates, and there are different levels of commitment to online instruction as being an overall strategy. But I think that what we’re beginning to see is more and more a realization that just as technology increasingly becomes a part of our lives, then online instruction is going to as well,” DiSalvio says.

Although many faculty members may feel that online instruction will play a key role in the future of the institution, the climate and culture within the department are more important factors because faculty members often feel closer ties to their departments than to the school, college, or university. And the department chair plays a crucial role in influencing the department. “I think there’s got to be a recognition of the department chair’s pivotal role in setting the direction and establishing a reward system and really articulating how Web-based teaching affects workload, promotion, and tenure,” DiSalvio says.

Whether or not a department chair supports Web-based instruction depends on a myriad of factors. Among them are the following:

• Departmental culture—DiSalvio predicts that as older faculty members retire, younger faculty members will likely bring with them Web-based teaching skills, which will increase the recognition of online teaching.

• Enrollment—DiSalvio says that some department chairs might look to Web-based instruction as an alternate delivery mechanism that could boost enrollment. (“You don’t want the online program to negatively affect the on-campus program. The fear is that an online program could negatively impact the numbers of the on-campus program because certain students or potential students would prefer to be in the online program because it’s more convenient.”)

• Incentives—If the administration wants to encourage Web-based instruction, it could provide money, release time, or even faculty lines to departments willing to participate.

Buy in from the dean is another important ingredient of support for Web-based instruction. It is essential that there are no conflicts of interest between the dean and the department chair, DiSalvio says. In addition, the dean and the chair need incentives so that their interests align.

“One of the things we do is fund faculty lines in certain schools where we have great growth. We’ve seen great growth in our counseling programs and so in order to accommodate that growth and to make sure that there are enough faculty, SetonWorldWide actually funds faculty lines to the deans, and the commitment to teaching would be half for the online program and half for the on-campus program. It’s a way in times of constrained resources to help support the deans, and faculty lines are just so important to deans today,” DiSalvio says.

Currently, each faculty member who creates an online course for SetonWorldWide receives a course author’s fee. “I think that’s going to change down the road. As Web-based courses become part of a university’s portfolio, I think that will change as faculty contracts call for the development and delivery of online courses,” DiSalvio says.

Before considering this or other policy changes, DiSalvio recommends answering the following questions:

• Is online teaching part of the institution’s vision?

• Do the faculty consider online teaching important?

• How are the faculty distributed across the institution? Is there a greater proportion of tenured or untenured faculty? What might online teaching mean for those who are not yet tenured?

• How will a policy discussion be interpreted?

• Are other challenges or priorities more important than online instruction?

There is no single way to address Web-based teaching policy issues, but DiSalvio offers the following approaches to reaching a solution:

• Do nothing—This approach is appropriate if online teaching is not yet a substantial part of the department’s activities or if the faculty are suspicious of the motives for considering policy changes.

• Revise current policies—Take this approach if faculty seem open to discussion on these issues and if it seems that faculty would be encouraged to teach online if there were supportive policies.

• Study the issue—This approach might be appropriate if faculty do not seem open to discussion but may be so in the future once they’ve had a chance to learn more about online teaching.

• Avoid policy—This approach might be appropriate if resources are available to encourage faculty to teach online rather than to avoid such courses out of fear that promotion or tenure might be endangered.

Contact Philip DiSalvio at disalvph@shu.edu.

This article first appeared in Magna Publications' newsletter Academic Leader. If you are an academic dean, provost, academic vice-president, department chair/head or have any role in academic leadership, then Academic Leader is for you! But don't take our word for it--try it free for 3 months and make the decision for yourself!