Faculty Portfolio System Policy

Effective Date: Fall 2025

Last Revised Date: N/A

Responsible Office: Syracuse University Office of Academic Affairs

Contact Information: Syracuse University Office of Academic Affairs (vita@syr.edu)

  1. Introduction

This policy governs use of the Faculty Portfolio System (FPS) at Syracuse University. The FPS is the official repository for reporting faculty research, teaching, and service activities at the University. It is also the system of record of faculty work and accomplishments and is used in decisions concerning, but not limited to, annual faculty merit reviews; tenure, promotion, and contract renewal reviews; dossier creations for faculty review; institutional and discipline-specific accreditation reports; and school/college faculty web directories. The core values governing the use of the FPS include the following:

    • Support informed decision-making: The FPS supports informed decision-making related to faculty evaluation by providing comprehensive and accurate data concerning faculty workload and performance.
    • Enhance transparency: The FPS fosters transparency in the evaluation process by providing a standard way of reporting faculty activities, achievements, and contributions that is responsive to the specific norms in various fields and disciplines. The FPS, through the fields on its reports, also clearly communicates to faculty how they will be evaluated.
    • Ensure equitable evaluation: The FPS promotes equitable evaluation of faculty by standardizing the presentation of faculty data concerning research/creative work, teaching and advising, and service. All faculty members submit their materials through the FPS, and the FPS allows decision-makers to ask key questions about faculty workload equity, faculty performance, and other aspects of faculty experiences.

The FPS is automatically populated by official University record-keeping systems at Syracuse University, including those that capture teaching and externally sponsored research records.[1] These data-feed integrations from other systems to the FPS are managed by system administrators within Academic Affairs (hereafter, Academic Affairs system administrators). The FPS does not store information or documents related to personnel, health/medical, and/or conduct matters, unless added by individual faculty members to their profiles.

  1. Policy Purpose

 The purpose of this policy is to

    • (1) Define appropriate access to and usage of the FPS, consistent with University core values and policies,
    • (2) Mandate FPS use in key workflows associated with faculty review and evaluation, and
    • (3) Protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data in the FPS.

Compliance with this policy ensures the secure, efficient, and ethical use of the FPS system.

  1. Policy Scope

This policy applies to all users of the FPS, including but not limited to, Syracuse University faculty, staff, and administrators, and governs all FPS functionalities in use by Syracuse University.

  1. FPS Access

4.1. Authorized Users

Faculty

Full-time faculty in renewable appointments with one of the following titles/ranks are provided access to the FPS:

    • Assistant /Associate /Full Professor
    • Assistant /Associate /Teaching Professor
    • Assistant /Associate /Research Professor
    • Professor of Practice

Faculty members with FPS access have read/write permission, meaning they can view all portions of their individual portfolios and edit the portions of their individual portfolios that are not automatically populated by other official University record-keeping systems. Part-time instructors and adjuncts may be included in the FPS for activity reporting and review processes, at the discretion of each school/college.  Faculty granted Emeritus/a status after January 2025 retain access to the FPS, upon their retirement.

FPS accounts of faculty who resign will be deactivated for login, upon resignation. Data for such accounts will be retained for archiving purposes and to support longitudinal studies, consistent with the University’s record retention schedules. FPS accounts of faculty who are terminated will be deactivated for login, upon termination. Data from terminated faculty will be retained in the FPS for archiving purposes and to support longitudinal studies, consistent with the University’s record retention schedules.

Syracuse University Administrators and Staff

School/college deans, associate deans, department chairs/school directors, staff designated by deans, Academic Affairs leadership, and Academic Affairs system administrators responsible for the day-to-day management of the FPS are also FPS users and, thus, have assigned permissions for system activities and reporting that may enable them to view and/or edit specific content, as well as generate reports.

At the school/college level, FPS access for anyone other than full-time faculty on renewable contracts is determined by individual school/college leadership and varies based on school/college structure. Once determined, such user access is provided by Academic Affairs system administrators. No authorized FPS users shall view or use content unless they have a legitimate business purpose for viewing or using that content. For a detailed list of authorized FPS users and their levels of access, see Appendix A.

4.2. FPS User Login

Because FPS users access the system with their University netID and password, in accordance with the University’s Information Technology Resources Acceptable Use Policy, sharing of login credentials is strictly prohibited. Users must maintain the confidentiality of passwords and promptly report any security incidents, such as suspected unauthorized access, to the ITS Information Security Officer.

  1. Usage Guidelines

 5.1. Appropriate Use

The FPS is to be used only for official University-related purposes, as indicated in the Information Technology Resources Acceptable Use Policy. This FPS policy empowers the Associate Provost of Faculty Affairs, in consultation with deans and their leadership team, to ensure equitable promotion and tenure procedures and workflows across schools/colleges, as captured in the FPS workflows.

Faculty have (1) full access to their individual FPS portfolios, (2) the responsibility and authority to update or change the portions of their portfolio that they control (i.e., read/write permission), and (3) the right to query their own data automatically populated in the FPS. No one other than the faculty member can change the portions of their portfolio over which they have control, without formal review by and approval from Academic Affairs. In instances where FPS fields are populated by other University systems (e.g., class information, sponsored research data, HR data), faculty should submit questions or corrections to the relevant office that provides the data in question. Academic Affairs is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the data that are integrated into the FPS.

Department chairs, school directors, and deans have access only to the portfolios of faculty within their respective academic units, and that access is available only so long as they hold their respective administrative positions. While department chairs, school directors, and deans can access these portfolios, they may not change, edit, or otherwise alter the portfolios of faculty within their units. Deans are responsible for ensuring that all leadership changes within their schools/colleges are appropriately updated in the FPS within 2 business days of such transitions.

Individual faculty may generate reports on their own activities. Department chairs and school directors may generate reports only for faculty in their academic units. Deans may generate reports only for faculty in their school/college. FPS system administrators, at the request of Academic Affairs leadership, may generate reports on individual faculty, on faculty in a given department/school, on faculty in a given school/college, and on faculty across the University.

5.2. Data Entry and Maintenance

Faculty are responsible for ensuring that the information concerning their portfolio is accurate and up to date. An initial portfolio will be created for new faculty in their first credited year of service at Syracuse University. Once the portfolio is created, faculty must maintain their own portfolios, including revising as needed and updating each year through the annual CV update process.

5.3. System Requirements for Faculty Review Processes

The FPS is the official and only University system used by department chairs, school directors, and deans to evaluate faculty performance for merit raises, review, and other considerations, including:

    • CV Updates: Faculty members must accurately and fully complete a CV Update each year in the FPS.
    • Third-year/mid-term reviews for tenure-track faculty: Tenure-track faculty members must create, submit, and review materials related to third-year/mid-term reviews through the FPS.
    • Tenure and promotion reviews for tenure-track and tenured faculty: All tenure-track and tenured faculty members seeking tenure and/or promotion must create, submit, and review their dossier materials, excepting external letters and committee, department chair/school director, and dean reports, through the FPS.
    • Formal reviews for non-tenure-track faculty: Following school/college policies, all non-tenure-track faculty in renewable appointments must create, submit, and review their dossier materials, excepting external letters and committee, department chair/school director, and dean reports, through the FPS.
    • Research and professional development leaves: Faculty members must provide updated information upon return from research or professional development leaves through the FPS, including updating relevant research and professional activities and outcomes, as determined by school/college policies.

Faculty who do not use the FPS to submit these materials will not be considered for merit raises, review, contract renewal, promotion, or tenure.

FPS workflows for faculty review processes in each school/college adhere to the Faculty Manual and the relevant school/college policies and bylaws. Review committees within schools, colleges, and departments are required to use the FPS, in accordance with their school/college and/or department’s review procedures and policies. Members of review committees within schools, colleges, and/or departments will have access to such workflows only so long as they are official members of such committees and will have access to only the documents related to the tenure, promotion, and/or review cases they are tasked with assessing.

5.4. Confidentiality

As outlined in the Security of and Secure Remote Access to Information Technology Systems and Resources policy, FPS users must maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information, including but not limited to personal data and University data. Sharing, disclosing, or accessing such information without proper authorization, including after such time as a faculty member’s participation on a review committee has ended, is prohibited.

5.5. System Integrity

Users must not engage in activities that could compromise the integrity of the FPS, including but not limited to unauthorized modifications, attempts to bypass security measures, or interference with system performance.

  1. Data Privacy

The University is committed to protecting the privacy of all data within the FPS. Users must comply with applicable data protection regulations and University policies regarding data privacy.

  1. Reporting and Compliance

 7.1. Incident Reporting

Users must report any suspected breaches of this policy, including security incidents or misuse of the system, to Academic Affairs immediately. Users must also report any security incidents, such as suspected unauthorized access, to the ITS Information Security Officer.

  1. Related Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Information Technology Resources Acceptable Use Policy.

  1. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed by Academic Affairs every two years or as needed for relevance, accuracy, and effectiveness.

Appendix A: Authorized FPS users and their access

  1. Department Chairs and School Directors – Read and report-pulling access to the portfolios of faculty within their academic unit.
  2. Associate Deans – Read and report-pulling access to the portfolios of faculty within their school/college. Permission authorization from dean.
  3. Dean – Read and report-pulling access to the portfolios of faculty within their school/college.
  4. Assistant Provost, Faculty Affairs – Read/write and report-pulling access to the portfolios of all faculty at Syracuse University.
  5. Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs – Read and report-pulling access to the portfolios of all faculty at Syracuse University.
  6. Provost – Read and report-pulling access to the portfolios of all faculty at Syracuse University.
  7. Department Chair Administrative Staff – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their department. Permission authorization from dean.
  8. Dean’s Office Administrative Staff – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their school/college. Permission authorization from dean.
  9. Faculty Affairs Specialists in Academic Affairs – Read/write access to the portfolios of all faculty at Syracuse University.
  10. Provost’s Office Staff – Report-pulling access to the portfolios of all faculty at Syracuse University.
  11. School/College Marketing Staff – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their school/college. This access does not include course feedback reports or workflow access.
  12. Web Developer in the schools/colleges – Web services access for web profile development.
  13. Office of Research Staff – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their school/college assignments. This access does not include course feedback reports or workflow access. Permission authorization from Provost.
  14. Corporate and Foundation Relations Staff – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their school/college assignments. This access does not include course feedback reports or workflow access. Permission authorization from Provost.
  15. Accreditation Liaison – Report-pulling access for the portfolios of faculty within their school/college/department. Permission authorization from dean. This access does not include course feedback reports or workflow access.
  16. Academic Affairs System administrator – read/write access to entire FPS.
  17. Proxy User – Read/write access to an individual’s portfolio with permission authorization from the individual. This arrangement supports accommodation needs and will be provided by Academic Affairs System administrator, upon request from the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.
  18. Members of school, college, or department review committees – Temporary access only to those documents and portfolios related to the review, tenure, and/or promotion cases they are tasked with assessing.

Approved by Provost: July 8, 2025

[1] The Office of Research maintains accurate records for sponsored research, and the Office of the Registrar maintains accurate records for scheduled teaching.