Winthrop University
Richard W. Riley
College of Education
Activity Insight Training
Manual
Activity Insight Training Manual
Activity Insight Use Policy
WHAT IS ACTIVITY INSIGHT?
Winthrop has selected the Digital Measures Activity Insight system to provide a secure, reliable database through which
to collect and store information on teaching, research/scholarship/creative activities, service activities and
accomplishments of the faculty. Data stored in Activity Insight come from Banner and individual faculty members.
WHO HAS ACCESS TO ACTIVITY INSIGHT?
Faculty members and, if applicable, staff, have access to their own accounts and are responsible for reviewing and
maintaining their information. Department chairs and their designees have access to data on faculty in their respective
departments and programs. Likewise, deans and their designees have access to data on faculty in their respective
colleges and the provost and staff members with relevant reporting or technology responsibilities have access to data on
all instructional faculty.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY INSIGHT?
Activity Insight provides a single data source that can be used to quickly aggregate information and generate reports for
professional and regional accreditations, sponsored programs, scholarly and creative activity, and other internal and
external reporting purposes. The system eliminates inconsistencies in reports and reduces requests for faculty to
provide information related to their scholarship, research, creative activities, and teaching. Activity Insight also provides
an efficient and useful tool to assist with annual reviews and allows faculty to create resumes, dossiers, and annual
reports in various formats (i.e., Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, HTML, etc.).
WHAT DATA ARE COLLECTED?
The Activity Insight system is an efficient and reliable way to generate reports on student intellectual development,
scholarship/creative activity, professional stewardship, academic responsibility and the accomplishments of our faculty.
As such, information typically included in a CV is collected, as is information about work with students that is not
routinely collected in Banner (e.g., publications with student co-authors, mentored work, service learning activities,
etc.).
WHAT ABOUT PROPRIETARY INFORMATION OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
Faculty members determine what information is important and relevant to include in Activity Insight for purposes
indicated above. If a project is sensitive or proprietary, a faculty member may opt not to include it in Activity Insight.
Similarly, a faculty member may report any work in progress with a general identifying title or not include it at all.
ANNUAL REPORTS
Activity Insight also provides you the means for efficiently completing your Annual Report which is due in February.
There is a body of information reflected in Activity Insight that has been extracted from the Banner database; specifically
on the Activity Insight menu, Personal and Contact Information, Permanent Data, some data elements on Yearly Data,
and your Scheduled Teaching assignments.
Throughout the year, you can enter your awards and honors, creative activities, publications, faculty development
activities, media contributions, etc. on the appropriate screens in Activity Insight. All of these items are entered with an
effective date which will allow them to be included on your Annual Report for the proper year. There are some screens
that contain data that you will only need to enter once, e.g., data on the Education screen if you have already completed
the terminal degree in your field.
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When it is time to submit your Annual Report, open Activity Insight, you’ll be able to scroll down on the menu, and
access screens in the “Run Custom Reports” Menu. We’ll design a report template that will mirror our current annual
report form (with some changes and additions). You’ll be able to print out the form or create a PDF file which you will
file with your department chair.
HELP!
If you need assistance, please refer to the following:
• Questions regarding logging on, data input or creating reports should be directed to the
COE Data Management Coordinator, Jen Fricke, frickej@winthrop.edu, 803/323.4709.
• Questions regarding reporting procedures, content or guidelines should be directed to the COE Dean,
Jennie Rakestraw, rakestrawj@winthrop.edu, 803/323.2151.
General Procedures
Some of your data has been entered for you, particularly in the General Information section. Please take time to verify
existing data on all screens and correct areas as needed. The symbol means this information is Read Only to faculty
members. It will be maintained by COE administration. Any errors or inconsistencies should be reported to the COE
Data Management Coordinator. You are responsible for entering and editing most of your own data from this point
forward.
With the exception of a few restricted fields on the Administrative Data - Permanent Data/Yearly Data screens, faculty
have full control over the information entered. Further, if a faculty member suspects that any of their data has been
inappropriately altered, the college has the ability to trace back to determine what was changed and by whom. If the
department chair or dean believes there is an error in how the information was entered; the faculty member will be
notified. If someone in a supervisory position disagrees with the classification of work by the faculty member, the
supervisor will discuss the issue with the faculty member; however, it is the faculty member’s decision as to whether to
change the entry. It is also the supervisor’s responsibility to note disagreements (if they remain after discussion) in
regular reviews that are part of the faculty member’s record.
Faculty annual reports will be generated from AI at the department level on February 15 each academic year. As with
the current process, chairs and faculty members may discuss and make changes to the report in AI and run a new report
if issues are found. Faculty are encouraged to generate a copy of the annual report to review before February 15 and
then fix any issues in AI so that changes will appear on all subsequent reports. A PDF of the official version of the faculty
member’s annual report generated from AI will be reviewed by the chair and shared with the faculty member along with
a copy of the chair’s response. The faculty member’s annual report, vitae, and chair’s response will be forwarded to the
COE dean’s office for review and inclusion in the faculty member’s personnel file by May 15. Faculty will continue to
submit an updated copy of their vitae annually.
List of forms to be completed from AI and anticipated dates for report generation:
a. Faculty Annual Reports—Faculty must have all faculty annual report information entered into AI by
February 15. On or about February 15, department chairs will generate a PDF version of the faculty
member’s annual report and vita for review. Changes in AI can be made, if deemed necessary by the
department chair and faculty member and a new report generated (PDF). A PDF version of the final
report will be sent electronically to the COE Dean’s Office along with the chair’s response and a PDF
version of the faculty vita by May 15.
b. Faculty Class and Office Schedules—Faculty must post their office schedules by the end of the first week
of classes each semester. Chairs must ensure that faculty teaching assignments are accurate in Banner
(and if a non-teaching assignment, have that entered into AI) by the first week of classes. Faculty class
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schedules are automatically uploaded to AI from Banner; and a report will be generated in the COE
Dean’s Office by the second week of classes.
c. Vitae: Faculty may maintain his/her own vita in a style that they prefer. Official vitae for accreditation
purpose will be generated using AI from the Dean’s office as needed. Faculty can run and review this
standard vita at any point through AI.
Accessing your information on AI
Access for AI is provided with a single logon through Wingspan. Once a faculty member has logged into Wingspan they
can find the direct link to AI on the “Home” tab.
Once in the AI system you can access the University menu by clicking on “Manage Your Activities”.
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Each department chair will also have access to information for those individuals who are assigned to the department.
This allows a department chair to pull information for reports at the departmental level. Department chairs will monitor
the AI records of those whose records they have access to and report any issues to the dean’s office (dean or COE data
management coordinator). Information in AI will not be altered without first speaking with the respective faculty
member.
Mange Your Activities
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When you first visit this screen, we recommend you spend a few minutes looking through the various screens. To access
a screen, click its name. The resulting screen displays records that are stored for that screen. There are six possible
actions you can take from the resulting screen, although not all of these actions will always be available:
• To add a new record, select
• To import items in bulk, select
(available only for the Intellectual Contributions screen).
• To delete a record, select the appropriate check box, and then select
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•
•
•
To edit a record, select
To view a record, select
Note: For records that you can view but not edit or delete (Read Only), information has been added to
the system for you and have been set by your Digital Measures Administrator as uneditable. If such
records need revision, contact the COE data management coordinator.
To copy a record, select
Saving Records
When working in the system, it is important that you preserve modifications by selecting one of the Save buttons at the
top or bottom of the screen.
•
Saves current entry and returns to previous screen.
•
Saves current entry, displays blank screen to begin another.
•
Cancels current entry without saving data and returns to previous screen
Customizations
The screens available from the Manage Your Activities tab and all of the fields listed have been customized for our
campus. Some revisions can still be made if needed. To propose a change that you would like to see made, contact the
COE data management coordinator.
Use of the Paste Board
Some faculty may still be more comfortable outside of the AI document. If this is the case, you can create all needed
information outside of AI and then transfer that information into AI. At the bottom right of the AI screen is the “Paste
Board” tab which works as a clip board. Using this feature allows you to select and move chunks of information to
appropriate fields in AI.
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Read Only
The symbol means this information is Read Only to faculty members. It will be maintained by COE administration.
Any errors or inconsistencies should be reported to the COE data management coordinator.
Data Entry Tips
• Beginning and end dates must be entered; however, if certification is ongoing, leave end date blank.
• Enter actual dates of presentations, etc.
• Not every field in AI needs to be, or should be, filled in. Leave blank the fields that do not apply.
• Enter accomplishments or activity only one time, deciding which category it best fits.
• Accomplishments or activities that may have multiple authors or presenters should be entered by first author or
presenter with care to list all additional authors or presenters. This ensures that the accomplishment or activity
is recorded for all other authors or presenters without duplicated effort.
General Tips
• Review all data that has already been entered into AI and make changes as needed for accuracy.
• Enter data regularly throughout the year so your information is available for use in department, college, and
university reporting.
• Follow review cycle to ensure your annual report will be complete by February 15.
• Information should only be entered once.
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Description of Main Menu Items and Individual Page Descriptions
Personal and Contact Information
Collection of contact information, office location, and biography information
• Should be updated by faculty to reflect current information.
• Personal phone number and home address will only be used by department and college administrators for
official business.
• Biographic and contact information in AI will eventually be used to populate the faculty directory on the
university website. Please review this information at least every August.
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Administrative Data – Permanent Data
• Data on this screen is entered for faculty and should be reviewed initially and then at the time of any change in
status (promotion, pre-tenure or tenure review, etc.).
• Tenure and promotion data will be updated by September 1st each year to reflect reviews from the previous
cycle.
• If a faculty member believes there are errors on this screen, the dean or the data management coordinator
should be notified.
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Administrative Data – Yearly Data
st
• Data on this screen is entered for faculty and should be reviewed initially and then by September 1 each year.
• Sabbaticals will be documented in this section.
• Note that checking for departments and programs is especially important so that the department chair has
access to faculty work for annual reports.
• Sabbaticals are recorded here by the dean’s office.
o Faculty may also report a sabbatical in the Awards and Honors section.
o If the sabbatical involves course release, then faculty should also report it the Faculty Schedule, NonTeaching section for the appropriate semester(s).
• If a faculty member believes there are errors on this screen, the dean or the data management coordinator
should be notified.
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Academic, Government, Military and Professional Positions
Faculty should make individual decisions about the non-Winthrop experience listed here.
• In general, work directly related to one’s position at Winthrop is important to list so that it is included on the
vita printed for accreditation purposes.
• Some non-Winthrop work may have been entered from the vita; faculty can delete or add to this list.
• Citations for faculty ranks at Winthrop will be built from the Permanent Data screen and should not be listed
here. See last bullet for possible exception.
• Citations for administrative roles at Winthrop will be built from the Administrative Assignments screen and
should not be listed here.
• Other work-related roles faculty might have held at Winthrop not related to faculty or administrative titles
should be entered. The most common will be if a faculty member changed from an adjunct faculty to a full-time
position (especially when there was a break in time). This would also include situations where an individual
served first in a staff role and then transitioned to faculty. In such cases the faculty member should work with
the chair at the time of the change to determine how to best capture his/her individual situation.
NOTE: When selecting Experience Type, faculty higher education employment is “Academic,” work (not
professional) in the professional field and outside academics is “Professional.” Graduate assistantships are
“Graduate Student Employment.” Work for a school district as a teacher, administrator, counselor, school
psychologist, etc., is “P-12.” Government and military employment should be self-explanatory.
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Administrative Assignments
• This screen is used for assignments that are typically 50% or more of a faculty member’s role at Winthrop.
• Faculty with release time to serve as program coordinators, etc., should report information in the Faculty
Schedule, Non-Teaching section.
• Some data on this screen is entered for the faculty administrator and should be reviewed initially and then at
the time of any change in status.
• The faculty administratorcan update the Responsibilities/Brief Description textbox with a description of duties
as appropriate.
• If a job description exists, a current copy of that document should be uploaded.
• Issues should be reported to the dean or the data management coordinator for review and correction.
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Awards and Honors
• Faculty should enter all awards moving forward and any from the past they would like to include on vitae.
• Sabbatical records are included in the Yearly Data section, but faculty can also report sabbaticals and
professorships here.
• If an award involved a course release, that should be reported by Term/Year in Faculty Schedule, Non-Teaching.
• Any Winthrop, college, or other professional award should be reported here.
• Existing information should be reviewed and updated as appropriate.
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Education
• Minimally include:
o Terminal degree
o Degrees related to Winthrop position
o New degrees or other credentials awarded
o Year completed for each
• Existing information should be reviewed and updated as appropriate.
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Licensures and Certifications
• Minimally include those licensures or certifications related to the position at Winthrop.
• Beginning and end dates must be entered; however, if certification is ongoing, leave end date blank.
• Existing information should be reviewed and updated as appropriate.
Media Contributions
• This screen should be used to list media contributions that are not considered scholarly activity (e.g., interviews
or articles in print, broadcast, or internet media).
• Existing information should be reviewed and updated as appropriate.
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Faculty Schedule, Non-teaching
• This screen will be used to submit “Class and Office Schedules” previously created by faculty each semester and
submitted to their department chairs.
• Office hours and regularly scheduled committee information should be updated by the first Friday of every
semester.
• Faculty who do not have a full 12 credit hour load in a semester must report course release for administrative
duties, service roles, and/or scholarship using the Release/Reassigned Time section of this screen. This includes
reporting the course release with an outline of plans and expectations at the beginning of the term, and then
going back and reporting on accomplishments/progress at the end of each term. This must be done for each
course release received each semester. If the release is for scholarship, type “Scholarship” in Activity Name and
upload the scholarship plan. At the end of the year for annual reports, faculty members should return to this
page to report on accomplishments.
• Other course releases are provided for Program Coordinator and Winthrop Faculty in Residence. Similarly, plans
must be uploaded and then reported on for annual reporting purposes.
NOTE: Faculty report on release time received for the Term and Year identified at the top of this screen. Plans and
reports for previous years can be accessed by selecting the Term/Year.
NOTE: If a faculty member is paid a stipend in lieu of a course release, that activity should be reported under
Professional Stewardship.
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Teaching/Student Intellectual Development
Scheduled Teaching
• Much of the data on this screen is uploaded from Banner. The information is available approximately 3-4 weeks
after the beginning of each semester. Errors or omissions in the data should be reported to the data
management coordinator. Items that are not marked as “read only” should be completed by the faculty.
• If a faculty member taught or co-taught a course and the course is not listed on this screen for the semester,
contact the COE data management coordinator. Also, check all courses for accuracy (e.g., time, location) and
notify the department chairs so corrections can be made in Banner.
• If a faculty member co-taught a course, indicate by selecting Yes in the section above Reflections on Teaching
and indicate an estimate of the percentage of the course you taught.
• If a field experience or internship is part of a scheduled course, this screen is where faculty member would
reflect on that part of the teaching assignment. Complete the Field Based Learning box if a field-based
component is part of the course.
• The Reflections on Teaching, Assessment, and Field-Based Learning/Community Engagement Projects fields
must be completed by faculty for inclusion in the annual report. These are critical sections of COE faculty annual
reports.
• Assessment file upload is mandatory for COE faculty
• Responses to ULC are only for undergraduate course if any of the four ULC’s are addressed in the course.
• Syllabi – Your syllabi files will be uploaded as .pdf files to Activity Insight by COE staff. Archived copies will then
be available for the administration to download through Activity Insight (to archive the files with the University
for accreditation purposes). The syllabus must be sent to the department chair within a by the end of the first
week of classes the beginning of each semester. Please name your file as follows: course designator, course
number_section number_year, semester_last Name, first Initial (i.e., CSDV603_001_14S_SmithB)
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Directed Student Learning
• This screen should be used by faculty to enter activities such as student/faculty research, mentoring of students,
and work on thesis/research project committees.
• This screen can also be used to report study abroad activities if not reported in the Scheduled Teaching section.
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Curriculum Development
• This screen should be used by faculty to enter curriculum development activities including new or revised
courses, programs, certificate programs, minors, or concentrations within a program.
• Curriculum development for outside agencies would be reported in Professional Stewardship under
Professional/Discipline Related.
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Scholarship/Creative Activities
Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Research
• Report all grant-writing activity here, including internal grants, state or federal grants, private/foundation
grants, or community grants whether funded or not.
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Intellectual Contributions
• Fill in the information applicable for the type of publication. Not all fields need to be completed.
• This screen is for entry of published books, journal articles, conference proceedings, etc. by the first author only.
• Any item or activity is to be entered only once into AI.
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Intellectual Property
To ensure entries show up on reports, each newly created record must have at least one date associated with it. The
entire date doesn’t have to be filled out. Faculty will need to enter the year at a minimum, and that date can be a future
date, if appropriate. Also, for screens like Intellectual Property that have multiple associated dates, faculty will have to
fill out a minimum of one of those dates in order to save the record.
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Presentations
•
•
This screen is for entry of various types of professional presentations made by faculty by the first presenter. Any
item or activity is to be entered only once into AI.
Presentations may be uploaded, but it is not required.
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Artistic and Professional Performances and Exhibits
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Professional Stewardship and Academic Responsibility
Department
• Accreditation reports for a program should be reported here.
• Faculty advisor to a departmental student organization should be reported here.
• Peer observation of a department colleague’s teaching should be reported here. Identify role with the
Position/Role dropdown box.
• Items entered here will be included in the annual report. Any item or activity is to be entered only once into AI.
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College
•
•
•
•
•
Accreditation reports for a college (e.g., CAEP) should be reported here.
Faculty advisor to a college student organization should be reported here.
If a study abroad or other global learning activity is not a course and reported in Directed Student Learning or
Scheduled Teaching, it can be reported here under Other.
Peer observation of another department colleague’s teaching within the college should be reported here.
Identify role with the Position/Role dropdown box.
Items entered here will be included in the annual report. Any item or activity is to be entered only once into AI.
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University
• Accreditation reports for the university (e.g., SACS) should be reported here.
• Faculty advisor to a university student organization should be reported here.
• Peer observation of a colleague’s teaching in another college should be reported here. Identify role with the
Position/Role dropdown box.
• Items entered here will be included in the annual report. Any item or activity is to be entered only once into AI.
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Professional/Discipline Related
• Accreditation program review team activities should be reported here along with any other professional work
done.
• Committee membership positions should be entered in the Organization/Committee/Club and Position/Role
fields.
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Community
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Academic Advising
• Faculty should complete this screen once for each semester. Enter the number of students for the semester in
which you are advising – not the semester for which they are registering. The number should include all active
undergraduate and/or graduate advisees.
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Faculty Development Activities Attended
• Items entered here will be included in the annual report.
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Goals and Summary
Annual Overview / Highlights
• Faculty will use this screen to describe the accomplishments of the previous years’ goals, goals for the coming
year, and long term goals for the next five years.
• COE faculty requesting or receiving a course release for scholarship must complete the Release/Reassigned
Time section under Faculty Schedule/Non-Teaching and upload the approved Scholarship Plan.
• At the bottom of the screen, faculty are asked to answer three questions.
• Information entered here will be included in the annual report.
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Goals
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Student Success Stories
This screen provides an opportunity for faculty to provide information about an individual student, group of students, or
student organization. This information will be used to highlight student successes in a program or within the college or
university.
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Running Your Annual Report
Select “Run Custom Reports.”
Select “Annual Report (COE).”
Select the date range to use.
Select the file format.
Select the page size.
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Click on “Build Report.” Your report will open in the format you chose. If there is an error in the data, be sure to correct
it in Activity Insight and run another report.
Note: Changes to Microsoft Word reports do not change data in the system.
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