professional scheduling
From the Office of the Dean for Extension
August 2005
The subject of “Professional Scheduling”for county faculty has come up numerous times recently in relationship to our effort to do a better job of balancing work and personal lives.
As you are aware, the charge of extension employees is to extend the educational mission of the land-grant university to the people of Florida. Often the availability of these clients and/or the nature of the programs do not coincide with an 8:00 – 5:00 workday. Lunch hours, evenings and weekends are often the most opportune time to provide educational programs. Extension employees must be flexible to schedule these peak times to enable successful educational programming. However, it is also desirable that employees will achieve a balance in work, home and community life.
County extension faculty are to meet their work objectives, and as professionals, are entrusted with the flexibility of balancing their work schedules. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service expects that its professionals will do what must be done to ensure successful programming while practicing professional scheduling which is defined as the responsibility of controlling ones schedule to best meet the needs of clients while achieving a balance in professional and personal time that is healthy for the organization and the individual. The application of professional work scheduling is a matter of judgment on the part of the faculty member with the support of the appropriate supervisor. This is not equivalent to compensatory time, as faculty are exempt from wage and hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and do not qualify for compensatory time. We realize that an extension professional’s responsibilities typically require more than 40 hours per week and alternate non-routine hours.
In order to ensure that professional scheduling is implemented equitably throughout the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the following points should serve as a guide:
- County extension faculty, specialists and extension administrators are accountable for their own time and also fulfilling the assigned job responsibilities.
- Professional time should be taken at the convenience of the organization and the individual. Professional courtesy requires that employees notify their immediate supervisor in advance when they are taking professional time.
- It is the employee’s responsibility to develop and maintain their professional calendar. Scheduling activities outside the normal workday is at the discretion of the employee, keeping in mind the educational program objectives.
- Supervisors will not negotiate with the employees a specific number of days or hours off in lieu of professional scheduling. Rather, professional scheduling is primarily the responsibility of the employee.
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- As a general guideline, extension professionals working excessive hours at nights and on weekends should schedule some personal time. As stated earlier, this does not mean that professionals must work a certain number of hours a day or week to be able to use professional scheduling. Professional scheduling is the responsibility of designated employees.
- Professional scheduling does not negate the need to use annual and sick leave consistent with UF policy. Use good judgment and when in doubt, consult with your immediate supervisor.
For county extension faculty, there can sometimes be a perceived conflict between our professional scheduling philosophy and rules and regulations imposed by county government. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the County Extension Director and the District Extension Director to clarify expectations with the county government regarding the roles and responsibilities of county extension faculty members, why professional scheduling is critical and concerns regarding county and state policies relative to professional scheduling with their County Extension Director and/or District Extension Director.
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