What is Faculty Activity Report (FAR)?
Faculty Activity Reports are a key component in the performance evaluation process. They offer a comprehensive overview of a faculty member’s accomplishments in teaching, research, and service from January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year. This information helps evaluators make informed decisions regarding promotions, tenure, and merit-based rewards. It allows for a fair and systematic assessment based on documented evidence rather than anecdotal or incomplete information.
Compiling an activity report annually also encourages faculty members to reflect on their professional growth and identify areas for improvement. This self-assessment can highlight strengths, reveal areas needing enhancement, and guide future professional development goals. Additionally, it can help faculty members set clear objectives for the upcoming year, promoting continuous improvement and career advancement.
What's automated vs. what's manual
| Item | A/M | Source | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Research | Automatic | Cayuse | Custom interface |
| Teaching | Automatic | Banner | Custom dataload |
| Publications (1) | Partially Automatic (2) | Internet | Interfolio Data Service (IDS) |
| Major Accomplishments | Manual | Manual | Faculty must manually enter them |
(1) FAR also supports any BibTex files for easy importing.
(2) It requires a simple validation
What is the timeline?
The annual campaign typically commences in early December and concludes at the end of January. Faculty members are given just under two months to finalize their annual activity reports. However, it is strongly recommended that faculty members enter their activities throughout the year to reduce the amount of time needed during the annual campaign period.
How do I submit it?
Rice University uses Interfolio for our annual Faculty Activity Reports. It allows us to maintain a central, searchable hub of reliable faculty activity data and supporting materials. It also pulls in publications from a massive data pool and enable faculty to easily validate it via Interfolio Data Service (IDS).
Please click here to see the guide on how to do the annual activity report.
Questions? Please fill out our Help Desk form so that our team can assist you.
