2008–09 Faculty Activity Report: Word | RTF (Rich Text Format)

About the Annual Faculty Activity Report
All full-time faculty and those part-time faculty who are on multiyear contracts are asked to complete the Annual Faculty Activity Report and send it to their dean or director by the end of the spring semester. (It is optional for other part-time faculty and for faculty members who are on leave for the full academic year.) The submission of Annual Faculty Activity Reports is common among the College’s peers and serves multiple purposes.

The report is an opportunity for faculty members to make a best-case presentation of their accomplishments. As such, the report is helpful in a number of contexts, notably in more fully informing decisions regarding the discretionary salary increase (DSI) in years when DSI funds are available. (Of course, faculty members are always welcome to provide supplementary data and comments supporting a DSI application.)

Other purposes served by the Annual Faculty Activity Report are:

• More fully informing the faculty awards, such as faculty support awards, Kempner and Leff Distinguished Faculty Fellows, Research Foundation Fellows, Chancellor Awards, and Distinguished Professorships;
• Balancing service and workload assignments among the faculty;
• Providing additional documentation for sabbatical and Title F leaves;
• Helping the College to capture and publicize the array of faculty achievements; and
• Arguing for additional faculty lines from SUNY.

This report is used to assist, not replace, the various committees, chairs, and deans and the provost in decision-making related to awards, leaves, scheduling, workloads, etc. In addition, this complete annual record of activities will be useful as faculty members compile their portfolios for tenure, promotions, and various recognitions and will provide a useful supplement to each year’s updated vita, which does not capture in detail the work of any particular year.

The purpose of the report, developed by the deans and the provost, is to suggest the large range of activities that a faculty member might include. The order of the questions does not reflect their importance. Although the empty spaces may seem to invite a response in every category, it is anticipated that a faculty member will not need to use all of them.

The report form asks for both quantitative data and qualitative description.

• Data is requested because questions often arise about the accuracy of officially reported numbers (for example, the official count of senior projects is often not the same as the count reported by faculty). Although it is expected that most of these numbers will match, it is also expected that individual accounts of quantitative data will help clarify (a) what does not always appear in official accounts and (b) how to improve the official reporting mechanisms.
   
  
• It is also hoped that the invitation to provide qualitative, descriptive accounts of faculty activity will both help contextualize the raw numbers and better highlight the real accomplishments of faculty.
   
  
• In addition, there is a section in the form for board-of-study coordinators/chairs to document their responsibilities and accomplishments for the year.