TSB Teachers Too Busy to Take Vacation: ‘The Work Just Piles Up’

Teachers at the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences are encouraged to take their vacation days. Yet it rarely works out that way. Due to a packed academic year and high workload, many teachers remain engaged with their work even during their holidays.

For university staff, summer marks the moment to step back from work for a few weeks. But for teachers at the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (TSB), that isn’t always straightforward. The issue came up in the faculty council before the summer break. Because of the combination of teaching, research, and other academic duties, taking a longer holiday proves difficult for some.

Quita Muis, a lecturer in Sociology, recognizes this. Despite the call to use vacation days, she still has days left over at the end of the year. According to her, it’s not a matter of unwillingness, but of how the academic year is structured and the resulting workload.

Retakes During Vacation

One bottleneck, according to Muis, is the scheduling of a course’s final retake exam. Students could sit this retake on August 19 this year. Teachers heard on August 11 how many students had registered and had to submit the exam paper the next day. ‘Even if you’re on vacation, you still have to open your laptop,’ says Muis.

In theory, teachers can prepare the exam in advance and share it with a colleague, but according to her, that’s not an ideal solution. ‘Maybe it ends up not being needed after all, and you’ve prepared it for nothing. Besides, you shift the problem to a colleague who then has to take something over during your vacation.’

Teaching Doesn’t Stop

Taking vacation as a teacher is complicated anyway, according to Muis. Although TSB teachers generally have one block free from teaching duties, that doesn’t mean they’re actually free.

‘You often have theses to supervise or use that period to do research or write articles. Teaching might be on pause, but the work isn’t.’

She adds that much of the work cannot easily be postponed. ‘If you take vacation, the work just piles up. Afterward, you have to catch up on everything anyway.’

There’s also a lot to do right before the new academic year starts. Syllabi need updating, Canvas courses need setting up, and student questions need answering. ‘You can’t just take time off until the end of August. There are always things that need finishing.’

Workload Has Multiple Causes

Yet the high workload isn’t solely due to the amount of work, according to Muis. The culture within academia also plays a significant role.

‘There are objective factors: we simply have to do a lot with relatively few people. But the type of person working here also plays a part. Many colleagues feel responsible and quickly take on extra tasks. Then you’re finding yourself finishing teaching or other work in the evening.’

Would a Shorter Academic Year Help?

Within the university, there is consideration for a shorter academic year, creating more room in the schedule for both students and teachers. A longer vacation period would then also be possible, but Muis doubts whether that solves the workload problem.

‘I haven’t yet heard in the faculty council meeting exactly how they want to organize that. My feeling is that the same amount of work has to be done in less time. That just shifts the peak. I wonder if that ultimately gets you anywhere.’

Better Planning

The executive board of Social and Behavioral Sciences is aware of the problem, which was raised in the participatory council. According to dean Jane Cramm, the faculty is working on a more planable academic year. Teaching activities need to be planned more transparently and realistically, so it becomes clearer when teachers experience peak loads.

According to Cramm, this should help distribute the work more evenly throughout the year. ‘Not all peak loads can be eliminated,’ she tells Univers. If staff feel they don’t have enough room to take vacation, they should look together with their manager to identify where the bottleneck lies. ‘Adjusting the schedule, task distribution, or norming’ can provide a solution.

Taking vacation is a joint responsibility of employee and manager, the HR department also told Univers upon request. Managers should therefore discuss with employees in advance how work can be covered during vacations.

More Colleagues

Muis sees another, more obvious solution to the high workload: hiring more staff. ‘When there was a period of extra lecturers being hired under the national sector plans, we felt immediate relief.’

At the same time, she realizes this isn’t easy. The money for more staff is often unavailable. Due to declining government funding, universities increasingly have to secure external subsidies. This puts fresh pressure on researchers, as they must find ways to bring in that research funding.

‘It takes more and more time to secure grants and projects, whereas that should really be a means, not the goal. The goal is doing research and providing good education.’

That pressure sometimes leads to a striking thought, says Muis. ‘I hear colleagues occasionally say: I actually hope I don’t get that grant. Not because they don’t want to do the research, but because they simply don’t have the time to execute the project as well.’

_Advertentie.