Definitions

These guidelines are intended to clarify the role of a designated sub i.e. an instructor or an Associate Program Manager who has designated subbing hours as part of their termly staffing assignment.

How is a designated sub selected?

Designated subs are instructors who are not staffed full-time into teaching assignments (200 hours per term) and are selected in this order:

1. Full-time, 12-month instructors whose teaching assignment for the term adds up to less than 200 hours will be assigned the difference in designated subbing hours. Typically, this will be no more than 20 hours per term.

2. If more designated sub hours are required for the term, term-to-term instructors who are staffed at less than full time will be given designated subbing hours. Each designated subbing assignment of 2 hours per term is equivalent to 0.01FTE.

When can I expect my designated subbing hours to be used?

For full-time (12-month, 9-month or term-to-term) instructors, designated subbing hours may be assigned during staffing for any program, at any time in the week and in any week of the term[1] when the instructor is not on approved vacation or other leave.

However, it is recognized that it is very demanding for a designated sub to be on call from 7.30am to the end of the teaching day from Monday to Friday. Therefore, in an effort to help designated subs manage their time and their weekly schedules better, the following parameters apply:

1. Designated subs will be assigned blocks of time within which their subbing hours can be used[2]. For example, this may be from 8am to 2pm (am sub) or 12pm to 6pm (pm sub). Alternatively, it could be blocks of time that match with lighter times in the designated sub’s weekly schedule e.g. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays from 2 to 5pm. If a designated sub is asked to teach within this assigned block of time, the request cannot be declined.

2. Designated subs may be asked to sub outside their assigned blocks of time, as outlined in #1 above. In this case, the designated sub should feel free to decline.

3. Typically, a designated sub may teach 20 teaching contact hours in total in a single week (regular classroom hours + designated subbing hours) and up to a maximum of 24 teaching contact hours. A designated sub may be asked to teach above 24 hours in a week, but should feel free to decline. This type of situation may occur, for example, as the preference is to have one consistent sub for the same class whenever possible.

4. The Program Managers team endeavors to ensure that no instructor has more than 4 hours of teaching in a single block. The ‘assigned blocks of time’ should reflect this. However, due to the nature of subbing, designated subs should be aware that this may happen occasionally.

5. Once a designated sub has taught their designated subbing hours for the term, no further subbing requests will be made.

6. If designated subbing hours are not used within the term¹ , then these hours are ‘lost’ and the instructor is not expected to make them up at a later date.

As with teaching assignments, a 50-minute class is recorded as an hour and an 80-minute class is recorded as an hour and a half of subbing.

What does subbing involve?

Subbing is filling in for an instructor during a planned or unplanned absence. A planned absence is one for which an instructor has requested and been approved for an official leave from his or her duties. An unplanned absence is an emergency absence due to illness, adverse weather, or other uncontrollable factors that prevent an instructor from teaching.

Subbing for a Planned Absence

A planned absence is an absence approved by a Supervisor in an Academic Team meeting well in advance of the absence period. The instructor is expected to provide all necessary lesson plans and materials to the sub for classes that are missed during the absence at least 48 hours in advance. If an absence is for a single day, the sub is generally not expected to grade homework or do work outside of teaching the class. If the absence is for an extended period, however, a sub may be asked to do light grading (not research papers or major high-stakes examinations) so that the term-pacing of the course is not disrupted.

Subbing for an Unplanned Absence

An unplanned absence may require more versatility and ability to adapt to classroom situations. The absent instructor contacts his/her Supervisor (Program Manager or Associate Program Manager) who in turn contacts the sub with details about the class to be filled. As much notice as possible is given to the sub, but in emergencies a sub may be given less than an hour’s notice and may need to find materials and prepare the lesson to be taught. For this reason, as a designated sub, it is recommended to have some adaptable generic lesson plans in mind as a back-up.

Once a Supervisor is contacted by an absent instructor, s/he will follow the same protocol as that for emergency subs (see “Emergency Subbing Policy” document). Instructors requiring an emergency sub should also follow the procedure outlined in the “Emergency Subbing Policy” document.

How is subbing documented?

When a sub is asked to cover for an absent instructor, details of the subbing are recorded on a subbing log that includes the name of the absent instructor, the name of the sub, the date and time of the absence, program and course information, and room location. The running total of subbing hours and details of subbing during a term are available to any sub by request.

Protocol for a designated sub

When s/he covers a class, it is important that the designated sub:

a) take attendance.

b) follow the absent instructor’s/Supervisor’s instructions wherever possible.

c) return materials to the absent instructor or Supervisor after the cover.

d) indicate, either in writing or in-person, any unexpected changes or deviations from the absent instructor’s or Supervisor’s instructions upon the instructor’s return.

A designated sub should:

a) be contactable.

b) check his/her e-mail account at least 30 minutes before the start of the ‘assigned block of time’ for subbing notices.

c) check his/her email account regularly throughout the normal working day from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

d) be available by either cell phone or office phone during the ‘assigned block of time’.

e) be flexible, prepared and able to respond quickly to changing situations.

 

[1] The definition of ‘term’ with regard to designated subbing is as follows. The term starts on the day that the OSU term dates start i.e. 16^th September; 16^th December; 16^th March and 16^th June. The term finishes on the last day of teaching in any INTO OSU program that term. This may include short course programs that run between, before or after terms.

[2] For term-to-term instructors who are not working at 1.0 FTE, assigned blocks of time will be agreed on a pro rata basis that fairly reflect the FTE that the instructor is working. Term-to-term instructors who are not working at 1.0 FTE should not be expected to be available at any time.

Last updated ES May 2015