Faculty Annual Reporting Guidance
As a member of the faculty, you are required to prepare an annual report. This report serves as input to the annual evaluation that will be prepared by your supervisor. Faculty evaluations are intended to be both formative (contributing to your ongoing professional development) and summative (contributing to decisions about matters such as contract renewal, promotion and merit-based salary adjustments). Your evaluator will integrate input from your annual report with their own professional observations of your work throughout the evaluation period.
Faculty reports include five content sections. Complete all sections relevant to your appointment, workload, and prior evaluation expectations. If unsure which sections apply, consult your supervisor. Each included section should provide a brief narrative summarizing your accomplishments for the current calendar year and outlining plans for the next. Aim for clarity and conciseness—approximately half a page per section unless otherwise directed. The next section provides guidance on the types of accomplishments and plans to include. Briefly describe how you have met the on-campus presence expectations of your college/school in the most relevant section or sections.
Teaching
If applicable, review the pertinent standards in your unit merit policy before preparing your narrative.
Provide a reflection on your instructional and, if applicable, advising activities for the evaluation period. Focus on for-credit courses unless directed otherwise, and highlight efforts to create an engaging learning environment, implement innovative pedagogy or assessments, and reflect on their effectiveness. Consider reflecting on the following two questions.
- What aspects of my teaching in the evaluation period were particularly effective and should be retained in future teaching activities?
- What aspects of my teaching in the evaluation periods were less effective than I would like and how will I make them more effective in future teaching activities?
Include significant contributions such as course design or redesign, initiatives supporting student success, program development/revision, assessment activities, student engagement beyond the classroom, and any internal grants or professional development undertaken to enhance teaching quality. Summarize and reflect on student evaluation reports and peer evaluation reports (if available) for all courses.
Additionally, reflect on your student guidance/mentoring activities such as helping students identify and prepare for internships or writing recommendation letters in support of graduate/professional school applications (exclude mentoring in research/scholarship/creative activities which can be included in the research/scholarship/creative activities section).
Outline your teaching plans for the next evaluation period.
Research/Scholarship/Creative Activities
If applicable, review the pertinent standards in your unit merit policy before preparing your narrative.
Provide a reflection on your scholarly and creative work for the evaluation period, emphasizing quality, significance and impact of your work. Because expectations vary by discipline, consult your department chair and your college and department/program promotion and tenure guidelines for examples of appropriate outputs and measures of impact. Include any grants applied for or received to support your scholarship. Distinguish external funding from internal support restricted to University of Michigan (or University of Michigan-Flint) faculty or staff. You may also discuss any professional development activities you participated in to improve your research/scholarship/creative skills or skills in applying for external support.
Discuss student mentoring activities in the area of research/scholarship/creative activities. In particular, discuss how you provided professional development opportunities for mentees, such as guidance on conference presentations, creative works, or career planning.
Outline your research/scholarship/creative activity plans for the next evaluation period and how those plans will contribute to your overall program of scholarship.
Service/Outreach
If applicable, review the pertinent standards in your unit merit policy before preparing your narrative.
Provide a reflection on your service contributions at the departmental, college, university, and professional levels. If your activities in this evaluation period included community-engaged research/scholarship/creative activity, report on that in the research/scholarship/creative activity section rather than in this section. Other types of community-engaged work can be included here. Reflect on both assigned roles (e.g., committee membership) and voluntary service activities related to your professional role (e.g., advising a student organization related to your professional area). Ensure that you reflect on the quality of your service contributions and not simply on the quantity of your service activities. Note any internal grants related to service initiatives. Report activities such as student recruitment, fundraising for academic programs, and outreach efforts that extend beyond the university community. Outreach should focus on audiences outside your research or creative discipline (e.g., a rotary club presentation), while discipline-specific engagements (e.g., professional conference presentations) belong in the research/scholarship/creativity activity section. Only service/outreach activities related to your professional position should be included.
Clinical
Faculty with assigned clinical practice responsibilities will be evaluated on the quality, relevance, and impact of that practice, including its contribution to teaching, student learning, professional competence, scholarship, service, and community engagement. Clinical practice should enhance instructional currency, provide authentic learning examples, support professional role modeling, strengthen clinical and community partnerships, and inform evidence-based curriculum and practice innovation. Faculty are expected to reflect annually on how their practice advances their educational role and contributes to the mission of the academic unit and interdisciplinary practice.
Practice as a Librarian, Archivist, or Curator
(Library/Archives Faculty Only)
Provide a reflection on your activities as a librarian, archivist, or curator for the evaluation period, emphasizing excellence in practice, application of professional expertise, continuing education in your area of practice, and impact.