Do you feel burned out? Help us document it.
Dear Teaching Faculty Colleagues,
How many hours do we actually work each week? Where do these hours go? Could we reduce some of these hours?
We now have an opportunity to answer such questions—with real data. The Cortland UUP Academic Concerns Committee is launching a Teaching Faculty Survey on work hours to document the full scope of our labor and inform a Teaching Faculty Town Hall in Fall 2026. This data will directly support faculty mobilization and union advocacy for sustainable workloads and improved working conditions.
This is also a chance for you to gain a clearer picture of your own work patterns across the semester.
What participation involves:
- Review your rights then sign up to confirm participation and select three non-consecutive reporting weeks in Spring 2026 (link below)
- During each reporting week, set aside just 3 minutes per day (Monday–Sunday)
- Complete a brief daily form reporting minutes spent on teaching, service, research, and related work
That’s it—just 3 minutes a day, for three selected weeks.
Who can participate:
All teaching faculty—full-time or part-time, any rank—are encouraged to join.
Why this matters: Your participation will help generate concrete evidence on work hours. Such evidence is essential for strengthening our collective ability as union members to advocate for fair and sustainable working conditions.
Confidentiality: Only Avanti Mukherjee (Economics) and Juan Prieto (Political Science) will have access to, and manage and analyze data. Only findings aggregated at the level of school, rank and gender would be presented at the town hall. This study is not for publication and does not need IRB review.. More on how data will be de-identified, kept confidential and then deleted is given in the description portion of the sign-up form below.
Get more information and sign up here or simply exit the form if you don’t want to participate.
Deadline to sign up: Friday, February 27 at 5:00 pm
This survey was developed by a Cortland UUP Academic Concerns Committee subgroup, with Avanti Mukherjee and Juan D. Prieto leading questionnaire design.
Questions can be directed to avanti.mukherjee@gmail.com.
Note: This survey is distinct from the Faculty Senate Ad-Hoc committee survey, which is about faculty expectations. The UUP survey focuses specifically on work hours using time-use methodology and will continue throughout the Spring semester.
This effort depends on broad participation. Your 3 minutes a day will help build the evidence and mobilization needed to improve our working conditions.
In Solidarity,
Kris Newhall
