Each undergraduate course is worth one tenth of all credits for the undergraduate programme (i.e. It's also linked to another key metric-research funding that is often required to attract researchers.Ī professor teaches two undergraduate courses, supervises two undergraduate projects and supervises four researchers by thesis only (i.e. 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. The measure is often annualized to cover the average annual full-time equivalent students and is designated by the acronym AAFTE.Īcademics can increase contribution by adopting a number of strategies: In Australia, the equivalent to FTE for students is EFTSL ( Equivalent Full-Time Student Load).įull-time equivalent students is one of the key metrics for measuring enrollment in colleges and universities.

The term WYE (work year equivalent) is often used instead of FTE when describing the contractor work. 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.Īlthough 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'. Then, as the reporting deadline approached, employees could be let go to reduce the total number to the authorized ceiling on the reporting date. 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.

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. Two employees working in total 400 hours during that same quarterly period represent 0.97 FTE. For example, if the normal schedule for a quarter is defined as 411.25 hours ( / 4), then someone working 100 hours during that quarter represents 100/411.25 = 0.24 FTE. 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.

Volume worktime