Aston Business School's Load and Financial Contribution model
Strategic and Management use of the Model
The University and Aston Business School (ABS) 2020 strategies indicate the strategic direction and objectives
they wish to achieve. The ABS load model is used to accurately reflect and reward academic activities and to
create incentives to encourage positive and innovative behaviours that enhance the student and staff
experience and reinforce the strategic aims of both the School and University.
Aston Business School's financial management systems predate the University’s and have been adjusted so
that Research Groups, Subject Groups and Programmes are sensitive to the income they generate, and in the
case of the programmes, also to the University’s taxation. The aim is to give all parts of the School the incentive
to generate income effectively while working towards the School’s and University’s goals. The financial system
used has two parts: a load model that has been refined by the School over several years and the ABS financial
contribution model that feeds from it.
The load model has many uses within the School. Data inform the School’s financial contribution model where
income is distributed to subject groups based on their STAR (Supervision, Teaching, Administration and
Research output). The results are also used by the subject groups to judge performance and allocate workloads accordingly, and to plan their staff recruitment needs.
The Management Team uses the data to contribute to the development of recruitment targets, and to ensure
that the load on staff is reduced year on year.
How the Load Model works
The ABS load model annually records the teaching duties, research activities and administrative duties of
academic staff (full time, part time and sessional). Each activity is calculated by individual and their respective
Subject Group in terms of Full time Equivalence “FTE’s” earned. The load data forms the basis for calculating
income to each subject group by means of a financial contribution model, and the load data informs
management processes in ABS including the allocation of individual tasks, staff:student ratios, PRP and
appraisals.
The load model is operationalised by the Load Model Group which aims to optimise the use of existing data
sources (including the University student record system known as “SITS”, the room booking and timetabling
system “CELCAT” and the School Research data base), to extract data used in the load model removing the
need for additional data collection and burdensome analytical tasks at the same time as providing simple,
auditable and objective measures as well as ensuring the quality of the data used in the model. The diagram
below shows the flow of inputs and outputs to the Model.
Inputs
In the spring term of each year School academic staff are presented via My Aston Portal “MAP” with a load
summary report of their work for the year. The load model measures five academic activities:
1. Supervision Load– (including Doctoral. Postgraduate Taught projects, Undergraduate Placement and
Final Year supervision). Staff provide information and this is checked by the Programme offices.
2. Teaching load- this includes which modules are being taught, the number of students taking each
module, the number and type of contact hours per module and the module weighting in the assessment
package. Postgraduate students are counted as double that of undergraduate students, to reflect the
greater income they bring to the School and the demands of teaching mature students The Programme
offices enter the module information, which is then checked by academic staff, and then add in student
numbers and the weighting of each module in the relevant assessment package.
3. Administration Load- a list of designated administrative roles, committee membership and a range of
other activities which contribute to the operation of the School. Staff provide information and this is
checked by the Programme offices.
4. Research - Input (grants) and Output (publications). The Research Office collects information and each
member of academic staff on a regular basis and produces a three year average. This is checked by
the Research Group Convenors, who confirm with individual members of the Research Groups as
necessary.
5. Executive Development Teaching - courses taught, to which companies, and the numbers of days
taught. Both lecturers and the Executive Education office provide information and it is cross checked.
All academic staff are required to review and confirm the accuracy of their own load details. The MAP data
screen includes an email facility for staff to contact the relevant member of administrative staff if amendments
are required.
Outputs
Once the data has been confirmed the load model is run to calculate the FTE’s for each Subject Group. These
FTE’s also form the basis of the financial contribution model . The diagram illustrates how individual workload is
fed into the load model that subsequently informs Management processes.
The output is produced in a number of forms:
1. By Subject Group - teaching and supervision hours and FTEs for undergraduate, postgraduate and
doctoral students and for part-time, sessional and full time-staff.
2. By Year - a comparison of teaching/supervision load is produced using data from 1998/99 onwards.
This is done by Group and overall averages of hours and FTEs are also produced per member of staff.
3. League Tables - are produced for teaching and supervision, administrative roles, research activity and
overall for all full-time members of staff.
4. Executive Education Work
5. Degree Programme/Module Data - comparative data are produced giving the FTEs and hours for each
module and for each degree programme.
A final ranking of staff uses a fifteen point scale. The maximum which can be awarded for teaching is five, the
maximum for research is six, and the maximum for administrative work is four. These scores reflect the relative
weighting which the School gives to each activity. Staff are ranked according to the number of points they have
earned for each activity, and also in an overall ranking.
Tom Connelly
July 2012
Filby, J and Higson, H. (2004) The contribution model – a school level funding model. Perspectives, Vol 9
Number 3, 86-91
Higson, H., Filby, J. and Golder, V. (1998) A critique of a model for an academic staff activity database developed to aid
a department in strategic and operational decision-making. Perspectives, Vol 2 Number 1 28-32.