Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. [1] FTE is often used to measure a worker's or student's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time worker or student, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of a full work or school load. [2]
According to the federal government of the United States, FTE is defined by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as the number of total hours worked divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a full-time schedule as defined by law. [3] For example, if the normal schedule for a quarter is defined as 411.25 hours ([35 hours per week × (52 weeks per year – 5 weeks' regulatory vacation)] / 4), then someone working 100 hours during that quarter represents 100/411.25 = 0.24 FTE. Two employees working in total 400 hours during that same quarterly period represent 0.97 FTE.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, the president's budget office, will often place upper limits on the total number of FTE that a given agency may utilize each year. In the past, if agencies were given a ceiling on the actual number of employed workers, which was reported on a given day of the year, the agency could employ more than this number for much of the year. Then, as the reporting deadline approached, employees could be let go to reduce the total number to the authorized ceiling on the reporting date. Providing agencies with an FTE ceiling, which is calculated based on the total number of hours worked by all employees throughout the year, irrespective of the total numbers employed at any point in time, prevents agencies from using such a strategy. [4]
Although the generally accepted human-resources meaning for the "E" in FTE is "equivalent", the term is often overloaded in colloquial usage to indicate a "direct, as opposed to contract, full-time employee". [5] The term WYE (work year equivalent) is often used instead of FTE when describing the contractor work. [6]
In the United Kingdom, full time equivalent equates to the standard 40-hour work week: eight hours per day, five days per week and is the total amount of hours that a single full-time employee has worked over any period. This allows employers to adopt a single metric for comparison with the full-time average. For example, a full week of 40 hours has an FTE value of 1.0, so a person working 20 hours would have an FTE value of 0.5. Certain industries may adopt 35 hours, depending on the company, its location and the nature of work. Whole-time equivalent (WTE) is the same as FTE and applies also to students in education. [7]
Full-time equivalent students [8] is one of the key metrics for measuring enrollment in colleges and universities. The measure is often annualized to cover the average annual full-time equivalent students and is designated by the acronym AAFTE.
Academics can increase their contribution by adopting a number of strategies: (a) increase class size; (b) teach new classes; (c) supervise more projects; (d) supervise more researchers. The latter strategy has the advantage of contributing to another key metric in universities—creating new knowledge and in particular publishing papers in highly ranked academic journals. It is also linked to another key metric—research funding which is often required to attract researchers.
In Australia, the equivalent to FTE for students is EFTSL (Equivalent Full-Time Student Load).
A professor teaches two undergraduate courses, supervises two undergraduate projects and supervises four researchers by thesis only (i.e. researchers do not take any courses). Each undergraduate course is worth one-tenth of all credits for the undergraduate program (i.e. 0.1 FTE). An undergraduate project is worth two-tenths of all credits for the undergraduate program (i.e. 0.2 FTE). A research thesis is worth all of the credits for the graduate program (i.e. 1 FTE). The professor's contribution is 29.4 FTEs:
Contribution | FTEs allocated | Class size | Total FTEs |
---|---|---|---|
Course 1 | 0.1 | 100 | 10 |
Course 2 | 0.1 | 150 | 15 |
U/G Projects | 0.2 | 2 | 0.4 |
Research thesis | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Totals | – | 256 | 29.4 |
To encourage more research some universities offer 2 FTEs or even 3 FTEs for each full-time researcher.
A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enrollment policy for students who have graduated from high school, also known as senior secondary school or upper secondary school. The term usually refers to a higher educational institution that provides workforce education and college transfer academic programs. Some institutions maintain athletic teams and dormitories similar to their university counterparts.
Earned value management (EVM), earned value project management, or earned value performance management (EVPM) is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress in an objective manner.
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The Open University (OU) is a public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus; many of its courses can also be studied anywhere in the world. There are also a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the 45 hectares university campus at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they use the staff facilities for research, as well as more than 1,000 members of academic and research staff and over 2,500 administrative, operational and support staff.
A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years. The two most common bachelor's degrees are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science. In some institutions and educational systems, certain bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate educations after a first degree has been completed, although more commonly the successful completion of a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for further courses such as a master's or a doctorate.
A Master of Science is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine and is usually for programs that are more focused on scientific and mathematical subjects; however, different universities have different conventions and may also offer the degree for fields typically considered within the humanities and social sciences. While it ultimately depends upon the specific program, earning a Master of Science degree typically includes writing a thesis.
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. They are typically undertaken by students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field. Employers benefit from these placements because they often recruit employees from their best interns, who have known capabilities, thus saving time and money in the long run. Internships are usually arranged by third-party organizations that recruit interns on behalf of industry groups. Rules vary from country to country about when interns should be regarded as employees. The system can be open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers.
A thesis, or dissertation, is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings. In some contexts, the word thesis or a cognate is used for part of a bachelor's or master's course, while dissertation is normally applied to a doctorate. This is the typical arrangement in American English. In other contexts, such as within most institutions of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the reverse is true. The term graduate thesis is sometimes used to refer to both master's theses and doctoral dissertations.
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching, and further education, which usually includes a dissertation. The degree, sometimes abbreviated Dr. habil., Dr hab., or D.Sc., is often a qualification for full professorship in those countries. In German-speaking countries it allows the degree holder to bear the title PD. In a number of countries there exists an academic post of docent, appointment to which often requires such a qualification. The degree conferral is usually accompanied by a public oral defence event with one or more opponents. Habilitation is usually awarded 5–15 years after a PhD degree or its equivalent. Achieving this academic degree does not automatically give the scientist a paid position, though many people who apply for the degree already have steady university employment.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.
A course credit is a measure of the size of an educational course, often used to determine whether the requirements for an award have been met, to facilitate transfer between institutions, or to enhance intercomparability of qualifications. Credit may be input-based – defined by the quantity of instruction given – or outcome-based – defined by the learning outcomes and a notional time to achieve those outcomes.
A full-time job is employment in which workers work a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer.
A supervisor, or lead, is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over workers or a workplace. A supervisor can also be one of the most senior on the employees at a place of work, such as a professor who oversees a Ph.D. dissertation. Supervision, on the other hand, can be performed by people without this formal title, for example by parents. The term supervisor itself can be used to refer to any personnel who have this task as part of their job description.
The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays, or workweek, is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of the world, the workweek is from Monday to Friday and the weekend is Saturday and Sunday. A weekday or workday is any day of the working week. Other institutions often follow this pattern, such as places of education. The constituted weekend has varying definitions, based on determined calendar days, designated period of time, and/or regional definition of the working week. Sometimes the term "weekend" is expanded to include the time after work hours on the last workday of the week. Weekdays and workdays can be further detailed in terms of working time, the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor.
The Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering, and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) is a public research university in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. The Government of Balochistan chartered the university on 18 July 2002. The university officially commenced its academic activities in October, 14th 2002 with three undergraduate programs in computer science, computer engineering and business administration with an initial enrollment of 90 students. The university is structured around four campuses that focus on engineering, information technology business, arts, and life sciences consisting of 30 academic programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. As of spring 2017, the university has grown to a student strength of 9,197, and a faculty of 600.
The Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission, often referred to as the ABLE Commission, is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. The ABLE Commission is charged with protecting the public welfare and interest through the enforcement of state laws pertaining to alcoholic beverages, charity games, and youth access to tobacco.
Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at any academic rank. This usage differs from the predominant usage of the word professor in other countries, where the unqualified word "professor" only refers to "full professors", nor is it generally used in the United States for secondary education teachers. Other tenure-track faculty positions include assistant professor and associate professor (mid-level). Other teaching-focused positions that use the term "professor" include Clinical Professor, Professor of Practice, and Teaching Professor. Most faculty with titles of "Lecturer" and "Instructor" in the U.S. are not eligible for tenure, though they are still often referred to as "professors" in a general sense and as a courtesy form of address. Non-tenure-track positions may be full or part time, although the qualifier "adjunct" always denotes part-time.
Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a measure of how well a manufacturing operation is utilized compared to its full potential, during the periods when it is scheduled to run. It identifies the percentage of manufacturing time that is truly productive. An OEE of 100% means that only good parts are produced, at the maximum speed, and without interruption.
Academic ranks in Russia are the conferred titles, indicating relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel in Russian academia and scientific institutions. The rank “certifies” the demonstrated ability of an individual to function in the specific academic position(s).
Definition: A full-time equivalent (FTE) measure attempts to standardize a student's actual course load against the normal course load. Calculating the full-time/part-time status requires information on the time periods for actual and normal course loads.