Call for requests for CSAA for spring 2025

February 11, 2025 / Faculty/Staff Highlights

Now is the time for teaching faculty to request compensation for substantial additional assignments (CSAA) for AY2025-26.  This is an opportunity to request supplemental compensation for full-time teaching faculty who perform substantial additional non-teaching assignments that are outside the scope of the standard institutional responsibilities and service requirements of faculty. The requests must be supported by the supervising dean, approved by the campus provost or appropriate Administrative Council member and submitted to the VPAA/CAO by March 1, 2025. Please review the full article for details on how to complete the request process.

Why this is important: A standardized process ensures that opportunities for compensated substantial additional duties are equitable and transparent. Please read the linked article for details on how to make the request.

Compensation may be requested for full-time teaching faculty who perform non-teaching assignments that are substantially outside the scope of the standard institutional responsibilities and service requirements. The requests must be supported by the supervising dean, approved by the campus provost or appropriate Administrative Council member and submitted to the VPAA/CAO by March 1, 2025.

Requests are made by the person who will be supervising the work and accountable for the outcomes, referred to hereafter as the assignment supervisor.

How to Request Funding for a New Substantial Additional Assignment

The assignment supervisor does the following:

  • Develop a detailed assignment description, which must include
  1. Name of assignment/project.
  2. Beginning and end date of assignment/project.
  3. Scope of work to include specific duties and responsibilities, performance expectations/objectives, requirement of progress report(s) and/or finished work product and expected outcomes.
  4. Justification for the assignment/project, including if it is required by program accreditation. For collegewide assignments that involve specific disciplines, the endorsement of the discipline group chair and/or pathway dean should be included.
  5. Estimated number of work hours per week to perform assignment/project.
  6. Knowledge, skills and abilities needed for assignment/project.
  7. Additional information about assignment/project (if applicable),
  8. Proposed type of compensation (number of credit hours of RAT or the amount of SWA).
  • Calculate proposed compensation:
    The dollar amount of a supplemental work assignment/project is determined based on the duration and complexity of the work assignment. The assignment supervisor overseeing the assignment/project must consult with HR prior to offering the assignment to ensure the scope of work is well defined and aligns with proposed compensation. Per VCCS Policy 3.5.7.1.9, one hour of reassigned time equates to 40 hours of work.
  • Obtain approval for the assignment and compensation:
    The assignment description and the compensation request must be reviewed and approved by the supervising dean and appropriate Administrative Council member. Criteria considered in making approvals will include but are not limited to the following:
  1. budget availability,
  2. alignment with the college mission and strategic plan,
  3. criteria of a substantial additional duty outside the scope of normal teaching responsibilities as outlined in VCCS Policy Section 3.5 and
  4. accreditation and grant funding requirements.

How to Renew Funding for On-going Assignments
Unless otherwise noted by the CAO, on-going assignments, such as discipline group chairs, department chairs, and QEP or Mandel leads, do not require re-justification unless a change in compensation is requested. Any new openings (e.g. due to terms ending) in ongoing roles should be publicized as described below. Note: NOVA Online course revisions are funded separately and do not follow this process.

How to Fill an Approved Assignment
Once an assignment has been approved, the assignment supervisor should do the following:

  • Announce the opportunity to faculty for a minimum of five days.
    1. Include the detailed scope of work
    2. Specify what should be included in the letter of interest
    3. Post in the Daily Flyer or email to more targeted distribution lists, as appropriate (e.g., all full-time faculty in a discipline).

Note: Grant-directed work that identifies a specific faculty member in the grant will not be advertised.

  • Select the faculty member to take on the substantial additional assignment/project.
    1. Review the letters of interest based on current college work experience.
    2. Meet with all faculty who have the background and experience for assignment/project.
    3. Confirm with the supervising dean that the selected faculty member is in good standing and that the division will be able to meet business needs (e.g., staff any released classes, etc.).
    4. Inform non-selected faculty of assignment supervisor’s decision.
  • Notify the selected faculty of their assignment and initiate forms for RAT or SWA. All forms must be completed and approved before the start of the semester.

Final Approval Process
Final approval will be made by the provosts and VPAA/CAO. Last year, an ad hoc committee reviewed all applications and provided recommendations to the provosts and VPAA/CAO. However, several committee members noted that the review process seemed redundant and potentially unnecessary given the budget limits of CSAA. The committee will be eliminated from the process this year. To ensure transparency about what is receiving CSAA, a list of approved assignments will be published on the Academic Affairs NOVAnet site. 

Other Considerations and Definitions

A substantial, additional assignment is a defined project that is outside the duties outlined in VCCS Policy 3.5.4, for full-time teaching faculty members. Compensation for a substantial additional assignment may be in the form of Reassigned Time (RAT) or Supplemental Work Assignments (SWA).

Reassigned time (RAT): A portion of a faculty member’s total workload expressed in workload credits and measured in clock hours that represent a temporary assignment of non-teaching administrative, professional or other special duties, calculated into the workload as one credit hour of reassigned time equals one workload credit and a total of 40 clock hours devoted to the assigned duties (VCCS Policy 3.5.7.1.9). Regular nine- and twelve-month teaching faculty may be temporarily assigned non-teaching duties (released time) for administrative/professional activities of more than 50% of an individual’s full-time teaching load for a maximum of two academic years by the college president (VCCS Policy 3.5.4).

Supplemental Work Assignment (SWA): This supplemental compensation is monetary payment for full-time teaching faculty who perform substantial professional-level non-instructional assignments during the period of their regular full-time employment contract or during the summer academic session or non-contractual session. Supplemental compensation from one or more assignments may not exceed a total of 10% of a faculty member’s full-time base salary if performed during regular full-time employment contract. 

Teaching Faculty: The teaching faculty includes full-time nine-month and twelve-month faculty whose primary duty is teaching (VCCS Policy 3.0.0. and 3.0.2) and adjunct faculty.

Adjunct faculty: Part-time faculty may be considered for certain assignments/projects, if appropriate. The assignment supervisor must consult with HR before assigning or starting any assignment.

  • If an adjunct faculty member is selected, the assignment will be performed as a P14/wage assignment and subject to dual assignment limitations as required by the Chancellor’s 2014 Directive.
  • The assignment supervisor must verify the teaching load of the adjunct faculty to ensure the adjunct faculty is not teaching the maximum load for the semester. Adjunct faculty must be notified by the assignment supervisor that they cannot teach additional courses while performing the assignment.
  • Exceptions to the P14/wage assignment requirement include assignments that pay the same amount regardless of which faculty member is performing the assignment.

—Dr. Eun-Woo Chang, VPAA/CAO