The Faculty Lifecycle Initiative (FLI) was established in 2012 as a series of projects that will provide accurate, accessible, and integrated information about the university’s faculty, from recruitment to retirement.
Information
The initiative will standardize the information architecture of the faculty lifecycle by establishing a reporting system which tracks and accumulates institutionally relevant milestones in the faculty lifecycle from initial appointment through reviews, leaves, promotions and tenure, and retirement, and that also records faculty academic activity – teaching, advising, research and scholarly activity, committee assignments, awards, and service to the profession.
Business
The initiative will examine current business processes related to the faculty lifecycle to identify opportunities to improve the flow of information, confirm the adherence to policies and procedures adopted for members of the faculty, and ensure a common understanding of the university’s strategic objectives for this group.
Technology
The initiative will identify the appropriate technology architecture that joins information from databases and systems around campus (e.g., HCM, ERA, SIS, Financials, school shadow systems, and third party systems such as PubMED) into a faculty-centric architecture that provides the capability of accessing data to meet the planning and reporting needs of the university.
The Path Forward
A Faculty Lifecycle Initiative Committee was formed to review and develop a faculty lifecycle process and system that would better address the university’s current needs and future goals, and determined to pursue the following:
- Establish a faculty database which captures information relevant for required reporting activities, as well as those broader areas of research, scholarly achievements, and creative endeavors.
- Identify a technology solution which bridges the gap between university data systems and provides a platform for generating more actionable metrics about faculty that aid in strategic planning.
Proposed FLI Committee Tasks
- Create business requirements for a faculty information system through analysis of current business activities and processes as follows:
- Review current silo processes to identify data being collected and issues related to merging the information into one system
- Identify key business stakeholders
- Establish success factors for a future/target state
- Explore trends in education, research and the faculty lifecycle, and identify “best practices”
- Validate the Faculty Services Lifecycle core diagram for inclusiveness
- Make recommendations to the executive sponsors for the Faculty Lifecycle initiative based on the established business requirements, to include system features and benefits