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Initiate Faculty Input Workflow

Faculty Activity Reporting (FAR, Faculty180) contains a formal Activity Input Workflow process that allows faculty members to input and manage their information and activities in the Activity Input Form. This saves faculty members time and can enhance data completeness and accuracy. Faculty members can log into FAR and manage (add, edit, or delete) their data in the Activity Input Form at any time.

 

The formal input workflow process is typically initiated when an institution's official enrollment numbers have been finalized. At that time, administrators upload the courses taught to FAR, verify the employment status (full-time, part-time, and more) of each faculty member, and then communicate with faculty members (through FAR) that the faculty input process has started. Faculty members will then have access to their courses taught data where they can upload course-related supporting documents, such as syllabi, student evaluations, peer evaluations, and other documents that support their teaching.

 

New: Select Vita Builder Template from the Template List

Administrators creating an initiated activity input workflow to collect data from faculty can select a new Vita Builder template from the template list and save the workflow allowing faculty to preview their data inputs. 

 

Create Workflow and Initiate the Activity Input Process

1. Navigate to Initiate Faculty Input Workflow under Administration

Navigation: Administration > Administration > Initiate Faculty Input Workflow

  1. Navigate to Administration under the Administration section of the navigation menu.
    Administration section with Administration highlighted
  2. Click Initiate Faculty Input Workflow under the Activity Input section.
    Activity Input section with Initiate Faculty Input Workflow
 
 

2. Filter the view to refresh the report

  1. To filter the view and limit the workflows shown, specify the following in the filter at the top of the page:
    • Use the Start and End Date to limit the results to workflows with the Faculty Input Opens and Faculty Input is Due dates within the date range specified.

      Note that setting a due date does not lock the Activity Input Form. The faculty member can continue to make changes to their Activities page, resulting in changes to the Activity Input Form. Therefore, those involved in the approval process may see different activities depending on when they are viewing the form.

       

      Activity Input Forms are only locked after they are fully approved and moved to Prior Activity Input Forms under Reports on the navigation bar. Faculty members can view their locked Prior Activity Input Forms under Forms & Reports on the navigation bar

       
    • Use the Workflow Form dropdown to limit the results to workflows using that specific form.
  2. Click Refresh Report.
     
 
 

3. Add or Edit Faculty Input Workflow

  1. Click the Edit (pencil) icon to modify or click Add to create a new faculty input workflow. The Initiate Faculty Input Workflow page will display.
  2. Fill out the information in the Input Workflow Details and Faculty Input Settings sections.
    • The Dashboard Message under the Input Workflow Details section will automatically match the Title. However, if you'd like faculty to see a different title on their homepage, you can edit the Dashboard Message here to reflect that.
    • The Available Forms dropdown under the Faculty Input Settings section displays all the available Activity Input Forms created
    • The Vita Templates For Preview dropdown will display all available Vita templates. If the Institutional Vita Template function is enabled, those will appear under New Templates, whereas all Legacy Vitas will appear under Old Templates.
  3. Determine the Workflow Steps in the third section. By default, all initiated inputs start with the Faculty Step where faculty input their activities.
  4. Select the Participating Faculty and then click Save when finished.
 
 

About Sections

The name of the process should be descriptive - using action terms will give the faculty member an idea of what they are to expect to do. For example, "Click here to enter/review activities for Annual Review."

 

Input Workflow Details section

  • Title: the name of the approval process.
  • Dashboard Message: this will appear on the faculty member's dashboard.
  • Faculty Input Opens/Faculty Input Is Due: Specify a due date in this field. After the due date, faculty members will no longer have access to the form. 
    • Click the Ongoing check box if there is no due date and the approval process is ongoing.
 
 

Faculty Input Settings section

  • Available Form: select the desired form all forms that have been created in FAR are available
  • Start Semester/End Semester: select the desired academic term(s) to be included in the activity input approval process. 
  • Vita Template For Preview: select the vita template to be utilized in the faculty input workflow. 
    • Note: Administrators creating an Initiated Activity Input Workflow can now select from templates made using the new Vita Builder from the dropdown list of templates and save the workflow. 
    • Vita Builder's Preview feature will automatically include the terms you select and open the appropriately selected vita. 
  • Select to Save: When the user selects save, the new Vita Builder template saves from the dropdown list. This is true for newly created templates and when editing a template.
 
 

Workflow Steps section

The Activity Input approval Workflow allows for multiple levels of approval. 

  • The default first step in the approval workflow is the faculty member self-submission of the Activity Input Form, where the faculty member submits the Activity Input Form for approval. 
    • If an institution chooses not to utilize the workflow steps functionality, the default step for faculty members to submit their activity input form still applies.
  • Click the Add Step button to add levels of approval steps to the workflow for administrators.

    Please note that the form will only be available to faculty at Step One. All subsequent steps are available to administrators only.

     
  • The Submit Button Label and Reject Button Label text can be changed for each institution's preference, and instructions can also be added to the workflow (the instructions displayed at the top of the activity input form).
    • Selecting the Reject button sends the workflow back a step and notifies the applicable individual(s) at the step that the workflow was been sent back to.

      Rejecting the step does not change the due date. If the input period has already closed the due date must either be edited to allow for more time or a new input period needs to be created.

       
  • Click the Delete icon in the Actions column to delete a step.
 
 

Participating Faculty section

  • Click Select Faculty, to select the faculty members to be included in the faculty input workflow.
    • Notification messages for faculty members that are participating in the faculty input workflow will display on their dashboard in the To Do section.
  • If a new faculty member needs to be added to the workflow after the workflow has been created, they must be added manually, there is no dynamic process for adding new faculty members to the workflow.
 
 

FAQs

What Happens if a Faculty Member Misses a Deadline?

It is recommended to create a new Initiated Activity Input that includes all the faculty members who missed the deadline. Be sure to give the Initiated Activity Input the same name as before with “Late Submission” added so faculty members can see the difference.

Do not extend the deadline because doing so will extend the deadline for everyone within the Initiated Activity Input, not just a specified group.

 
 
 

Is there a report that shows who has completed/not completed the Activity Input form?

The full list of faculty members required to complete the form and their completion status can be found on the Approve Faculty Input page.

 
 

New: Best Practice Webinar Recording

Check out our August 2024 Best Practice Webinar on Initiating Activity Input Periods and Reviewing Submitted Forms for Approval. In this webinar we explored when and why to use initiated activity input periods, how to review and approve submitted forms, and what the input period looks like from the faculty perspective.

 
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