Faculty Workload

Ad Astra provides two options for getting feedback on term-specific faculty workload while making instructor assignments.

Option 1: Workload units imported from Ellucian Banner

If the Faculty app is licensed as part of your Ad Astra implementation, and your institution uses Ellucian’s Banner SIS to manage faculty workload, then Ad Astra will calculate and display a total workload and FTE % that can be seen when scheduling instructors for sections.

• Instructional and non-instructional assignments are imported from Banner, with associated workload values.
• Workload values are summed to determine the total workload.
• The institution’s default FTE factor is used to determine the FTE %. If this is not available, “N/A” is displayed as the FTE %.
• If an instructor assignment change is made, the instructional workload is updated accordingly. The course default workload is used for new assignments.
• Non-instructional assignments are read-only if imported and managed in Banner.
  
  If non-instructional assignments are edited in Ad Astra (see option below), these assignments must be manually entered in the SIS as needed.

When editing a section in the Align, Schedule, or Monitor apps (anywhere section editing is supported):

1. Click Edit
   
   
2. To search for an instructor, click the search icon
   
   
3. The suggested instructor list will include a “current load” information row. The total workload for the term is displayed as the current load. The breakdown of instructional and non-instructional workload is shown in parenthesis, followed by the calculated FTE %. You can hover your cursor over the info icon to see the assignment detail.
   
   

Assignment Type

If the Faculty app is licensed as part of your Ad Astra implementation, when editing the instructor assignment for a section, an Assignment Type can optionally be specified. Assignment types may be configured in Ad Astra App Settings (see below), and if using Ellucian’s Banner SIS any existing assignment types will be imported to the list.

When editing a section instructor assignment, use the drop-down menu to choose the desired Assignment Type.

Option 2: Credit hours as workload only

If the Faculty app is NOT licensed as part of your Ad Astra implementation, you will still see credit hours assigned as an indicator of term-specific instructional load.

• An instructor’s current section assignment credit hours are summed as total load as an indication of workload.
• Hours and individual assignments are displayed.

In this case, the editing process is the same as above. The “current load” information for a given instructor will show the total currently assigned credit hours.

Settings: Configure Assignment Types

To configure and manage the Assignment Types in Ad Astra, go to the “Settings” link under the profile icon in the upper right corner. You must be an Admin user for your institution to change user settings. Learn more about Faculty Settings. 

Select the “Faculty” from the left sidebar or by using the search bar.

Under Faculty Assignment Types, click the + icon to add a new assignment type. Enter a code and description.

To delete an assignment type, click the three dots icon and choose Delete.