Equivalency Credit-- A Guide to Getting Paid for All of Your Work

What the Contract Says

Article 24 Instructional Workload sets the maximum workload for all lecturers at nine course per year, and 8 course per year for writing and foreign lecturer courses. Many campuses and individual departments have lower maximum workload limits than set in the contract.  In addition to setting upper limits on workload, the Unit 18 contract establishes a mechanism for compensation for instructional duties that do not fit neatly into the model of a regular course, and for non-instructional duties that a department requires or clearly expects a lecturer to perform. At the bottom of this page is a representative list of such duties. 

The contract allows for the university to compensate lecturers through means other than equivalency credit.  One common way for a lecturer to receive compensation for program service, or other work that is not clearly defined as part of your course load, is to receive additional step increases in a merit review.  While it is possible for a pre-six lecturer to recieve a pay increase based on merit, this is more likely for continuing NSF who are in the three-year merit review process. In some cases departments may offer lecturers a stipend or honorarium.  UC-AFT generally discourages these types of arrangements because they often undervalue the amount of work performed, and for lecturers working less than 100% time there could be negative implications for access to health care, service credit, etc.

Why Do We Do Extra Work for No Pay?

Many lecturers take on work in addition to their instructional duties and receive no compensation.  Some do not receive compensation for additional work like teaching large classes or independent studies because their campus doesn't have a clear policy to handle these things.  Some lecturers feel like the "extra" work is essential to their program and it won't get done if they don't do it.  They may also have  been told they cannot get paid for it, or they are made to feel like the department or division would rather not have the work performed than pay for it. Some lecturers have been told that if they receive compensation or equivalency credit for their "extra" non-essential work, then their program might have to sacrifice one of its essential core courses. Still others choose to perform additional work without compensation because they view themselves as professionals and believe that this work is just part of the job.  Despite the clear language in our contract this is a complex issue and it's a difficult area of our contract to enforce.

What are the Ways They Can Pay Me for this Work?

• Equivalency credit- Some fraction of the credit you would recieve for teaching a regular course.  These fractions could accumulate until they are equivalent to one course.  When you have reach a full one course equivalency, you could be granted a course relief.  This would work well for lecturers who are full time.  Work with your UC-AFT Local to encourage your department or division to develop a rubric for valuing the various types of additional work that lecturers perform, i.e. 10 independent studies is worth 1 course relief. 
• Equivalency credit added to your part-time load for a quarter or over the year.
• Consideration in annual, continuing or merit reviews.  Work with your UC-AFT Local to encourage your department or division to develop a rubric for valuing the various types of additional work that lecturers perform, i.e. 3-4 independent studies is worth an extra step. 

Taking Steps Toward Full Compensation

• Document the "extra" work that you do.
• Establish the value provided to the department or program and share it with faculty colleagues.
• Start a conversation with the department chair. Try to come to an undersanding about ways that your department might be able to compensate you going forward. (see above)
• If the department or the division makes it impossible to get equivalency credit for the additional work, include documentation of the additional work in your review file for your annual, continuing, or merit review.

If your department refuses to acknowledge the value that your additional work provides to the university by compensating you fairly for it, consider halting performance of the work.

Below is a representative list of duties which require consideration for equivalency credit or additional compensation: 

a. Committee work for department or program, e.g., standing personnel committee, curriculum development committee, exam committee. (It would not include review committees such as an excellence review committee.) 

b. Designated service as an advisor or mentor to undergraduate students and graduate students, e.g. thesis or dissertation adviser, undergraduate majors, honors work, or training of Teaching Assistants. 

c. Provision of independent study courses. 

d. Administration of placement examinations, e.g., writing, languages, arts, or music. 

e. Coordination and supervision of extracurricular activities, e.g., student publications, student organization, field trips, performances, exhibits, fundraising, and special events. 

f. Development and coordination of internships. 

g. Course coordination for instructional offerings that are delivered via multiple instructors and sections, e.g., administrative scheduling for locations and times of sections, coordination of laboratory facilities, development, compilation and management of common course materials. 

h. Course, curriculum or program development, e.g., on-line instructional materials, course redesign, or website content. 

i. Special advising, tutoring and coaching, or community outreach programs sponsored by a program or department, e.g. 

interactions or meetings between language and music faculty and students outside of office hours. 

This list of duties is not exhaustive. Equivalencies may be awarded in any situation where an NSF is required or clearly expected by the University to perform duties in addition to his or her assigned teaching duties.