Abstract

This presentation will unpack the dynamics that shape an academic manager’s engagement with workload allocation in a university setting. It will offer an overview of the global and South African contexts within which academic workload allocation decisions need to be made. The presenter’s researcher location at an ODeL university in the Global South will be brought into the frame of discussion for a rich, self-reflexive sharing of experiences from actual workload allocation management. Following the overview, the presentation will reflect on the usefulness of workload allocation models at institutional level, with particular emphasis on how these dynamics emerge in ODeL universities. The high degree of scepticism with which academics view workload allocation models will be exposed and critiqued before suggesting a way forward. In plotting the next steps, the presentation will conclude by arguing that a nuanced engagement with context-specific workload allocation models opens up sufficient avenues for turning challenges into opportunities to make them a useful managerial tool for university leadership.

Author: Tennyson Mgutshini

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2024)

  • Date of Conference: 2-4 April, 2024
  • DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2024.0005
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-70-9
  • Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland

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