The University of New Mexico

General Psychology—Course Planning Tool

The Course Planning Tool is a formatted spreadsheet that facilitates a three-step process for institutions to establish and compare the instructional costs before redesign (the traditional course) and the instructional costs after the redesign (the redesigned course).

Step #1 shows the calculation of all personnel costs associated with preparing and delivering the course expressed as an hourly rate. The annual salary for faculty listed is the average of all faculty teaching the course and includes a 25% benefits rate. Step #2 uses this initial calculation to determine the cost of preparing and delivering the traditional course. Step #3 calculates these costs for the redesigned course. More specific Course Planning Tool instructions are available.

Below are a summary of the cost savings anticipated at University of New Mexico and the completed course planning tool.

Cost Savings

The redesign will produce substantial cost savings. The cost per student is reduced from $72 to $38, a 47% decrease. The number of sections offered annually is reduced from 9 to 7, releasing two faculty from teaching sections of this course. Class meetings will be decreased from 3 to 2 per week. Reductions in instructor time devoted to lecture presentation and delivery represent the source of greatest savings from the redesign. Expensive faculty time is reduced from 1,056 hours to 220 hours per year; TA/GA time from 2,880 hours to 1,960 hours per year; and professional/staff time from 90 hours to 8 hours per year. (It is worth noting that while TAs and GAs are paid at the same hourly rate, they are viewed as having different responsibilities, as seen in the course planning tool below, and thus are represented as different types of personnel for the University of New Mexico.) Overall, annual course delivery costs decrease from $161,184 to $85,012 an annual cost savings of $76,142 to the department.

The savings will remain in the Department of Psychology. Because fewer full-time faculty are needed to teach Introductory Psychology, these faculty will now be able to teach other courses.

[For more detailed information regarding their initial academic redesign, consult the project plan description.]

Step #1: Determine Instructional Costs per Hour

Instructional Costs per Hour—General Psychology

Step #2: Determine Instructional Costs of Traditional Course

Instructional Costs of Traditional Course—General Psychology

Step 3: Determine Instructional Costs of the Redesigned Course

Instructional Costs of Redesigned Course—General Psychology