Timeline Overview
This article provides an overview of the timeline feature in LM and provides example timelines. You can click the links below to skip to an article section.
The timeline appears when an appointment record associated to a faculty profile is created.
When an appointment is created, LM uses the following fields to determine how a timeline populates within a faculty profile:
- Unit Name
- Series Name (Tenure, Adjunct, etc.)
- Rank Name (Assistant, Associate, Lecturer, etc.)
- Journey Name (optional - Assistant > Associate > Full)
- Start Date
As the records are created, LM checks to see if a journey is associated to the appointment (via Journey Name field). If a journey is associated to the record, the timeline will display the current and future events for the current and future ranks in the journey. If the appointment record does not have an applied journey, the timeline will show all current and future events for the current rank.
The Start Date field is used in combination with rank and journey settings to apply event start dates.
When an appointment is created, LM subtracts the Start Date value from the current date; the difference is used to create a time in rank value that is then used to determine which events to display.
The first event within a journey is then used to decide the dates for the remaining events. Note that events scheduled to occur during Year 0 will always occur within the first twelve months of an appointment. Year 0 events will start on the first chance possible based on the events month.
For example, if an appointment is created in September 2019 to a rank that has a Year 0 event scheduled to occur in May, this event would take place in May 2020: any events scheduled for Year 1 would take place in 2021.
Alternatively, if this appointment was created in April 2019, the event would take place in May 2019 and any Year 1 events would occur in 2020.
If the faculty appointment is associated to a journey and there are no current or future events remaining, the record will fail. However, if the appointment is not associated to a journey, a timeline with no events will appear in the faculty profile.
It's recommended that we place such events far into the future of the faculty member's journey (30-50 years). If the faculty member is promoted, then it would be managed as an exception and the timeline would be updated accordingly.
The following examples assume the current date is December 1, 2019 and uses the journey below:
Tenure Track Journey
| Ranks | Events |
|---|---|
| Assistant Professor |
|
| Associate Professor |
|
| Professor |
|
Initial Appointment: Rank with a Journey
| Rank Name | Professional Journey Title | Start Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Professor | Standing Faculty Journey | 2020-12-01 |
The timeline will appear as follows:
- Assistant Professor
- Event 1: May 1, 2020
- Event 2: April 1, 2021
- Event 3: May 1, 2023
- Event 4: May 1, 2025
- Associate Professor
- Event 5: May 1, 2026
- Event 6: May 1, 2028
- Event 7: May 1, 2030
- Professor
- Event 8: May 1, 2033
- Event 9: May 1, 2036
- Event 10: May 1, 2039
Mid-Appointment: Rank with a Journey
| Rank Name | Professional Journey Title | Start Date |
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor | Standing Faculty Journey | 2017-12-01 |
In this case, LM identifies that the first event for the Associate Professor rank has already passed by subtracting the Start Date (2017-12-01) from the current date (2019-12-01). Since two years have already passed, the timeline will appear as follows:
- Associate Professor
- Event 6: May 1, 2020
- Event 7: May 1, 2022
- Professor
- Event 8: May 1, 2025
- Event 9: May 1, 2028
- Event 10: May 1, 2031
Initial Appointment: Rank without a Journey
| Rank Name | Professional Journey Title | Start Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Professor | 2019-12-01 |
The timeline will appear as follows:
- Assistant Professor
- Event 1: May 1, 2020
- Event 2: April 1, 2021
- Event 3: May 1, 2023
- Event 4: May 1, 2025
