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Knight Campus solicits bids for faculty tracking software

Last I heard UO had abandoned this initiative along with the whole “research metrics” idea that had been pushed by Chuck Lillis, Brad Shelton, and Elliot Berkman. Faculty opposition and ridicule was one reason, the rest was cost and time-suck.

But now it’s back, at least for the Knight Campus. Get your proposal in by 5PM!

RFQ for Faculty Activity Reporting System Knight Campus and Knight Campus > Knight Campus Ops PCS# 110400-00644-RFQ Oct 8, 2021 5:00pm

I wonder if Digital Measures is behind this effort too:

2/11/2019: Admins to combine Faculty Tracking Software with metrics scheme

This software was pitched to us last year as a way to keep your c.v. up to date. But when linked with Brad Shelton’s faculty metrics scheme it’s so much more. Here’s a link to the provost’s website notice:

The project, called Faculty Insights, will result in a sophisticated online system that enhances our ability to capture the wide range of research and creative activities that our faculty do. The primary purpose of the system will be to manage the faculty review process university-wide – including promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review – more efficiently and effectively. Introducing a Faculty Insights system at UO will enhance our ability to streamline faculty personnel processes and make the achievements and instructional activities of faculty in all the schools and colleges more visible, within the campus community and to the broader public. The system will also support the local metrics process and the production of annual unit-level research reports.

UO will contract with Concur to provide the software.

Just kidding, it will likely contract with Digital Measures, a software company out of Milwaukee, with a hip award winning office that doesn’t look cheap. And they aren’t cheap. Their proposal to Western Michigan a few years ago worked out to about $90K a year for a license, and that’s just the start of the costs. The University of Maryland is hiring them too, and their administration just told their Senate the new software will require a full time administrator and 5 grad students paid to input data from the previous failed faculty tracking system.

But of course there will be benefits as well as costs to implementing Brad Shelton’s metrics scheme, such as giving our administration the data they need to track faculty in real time, and allowing them to set our annual goals for promotion or whatever, as explained in Azusa Pacific University’s Activity Insight Basic User Manual, here:

With Activity Insight’s flexible software the administration’s “servant-leader” monitoring can drill down to a remarkable level, such as this Faith Integration Activities report:

13 Comments

  1. Dog 10/08/2021

    as a proud KC affiliate dog, this tracking software is great as it will keep track of the number of times I take a crap in a day, which is certainly meritorious enough for constant pay raises.

  2. For Your Consideration 10/08/2021

    The Faculty Activity Reporting and Targeting System, known as FARTS, has been in continuous use for fifty years by the department of defense. The old system (OldFARTS) relied primarily on pneumatic and hydraulic tubes. The new system (myFARTS) is built on a sturdy foundation of Fortran, and can be accessed through ARPANET. In addition to automatically applying snapshot metrics to nebulous long-term societal goods, myFARTS can produce dashboards that can be seen by Brad Shelton from miles away, with the newest Tableau-Jumbotron integration package. In our latest Beyond Reporting strategic initiative, we have included a free Targeting System with myFARTS. With this, a trained myFARTS administrator can target faculty (it is recommended to purchase our separate deadweight-detector and legal-liability-sniffer), and metrics will be created to gradually (or quickly) effectuate their departure/dismissal/demise.

    • uomatters Post author | 10/08/2021

      Congratulations! Your proposal appears to meet all the RFQ requirements except the stainless steel GPS ankle bracelet mandate for untenured faculty, Also, UO’s COBOL based accounting system is not yet fully compatible with Fortran. Please revise and resubmit.

    • thedude 10/09/2021

      Old Bean would have been the strongest supporter of MyFarts.

    • Anonymous 10/09/2021

      excellent idea and they can present myFARTS highlights during
      halftime shows …

  3. honest Uncle Bernie 10/09/2021

    A discussion of the effects of the Knight Campus on the entirety of UO is long overdue. I’m hearing from people I know in the sciences of major reservations — but people are reluctant to say anything. Either out of fear, or out of hope of getting in on the gravy train.

  4. honest Uncle Bernie 10/09/2021

    I meant to say “in and out of the sciences.” For example, that UO is recruiting donors who have favored the arts and humanities, to give money instead to the “Knight Campus.” When a unit that is used to getting donations in the millions loses that to an operation that has a billion in the bank, more or less, the loss of the megadonor has a major impact on one, without really doing so much for the other, except perhaps to make the gigadonor happy. That is just one thing I have been hearing, but it is all pretty much sotto voce. Nobody wants to challenge either guy, Schill or Phil. There are other causes for discontent, maybe others will want to weigh in.

    • Dog 10/09/2021

      all might become clearer with the evolution the next CAS dean search …

    • John H. Oregon Faculty 10/09/2021

      If you don’t like it raise your own funds and do what you like with them. Quit crying about what others do with their money. Do what you want with YOUR money.

  5. John H. 10/09/2021

    People who have something to hide are always the ones opposed. As a member of the faculty that doesn’t have anything to hide I welcome the improvements.

    • uomatters Post author | 10/09/2021

      That’s cool, what’s your real name?

  6. moss defender 10/10/2021

    Dog – Secrecy is a culture (and disease) for UO admin and the UO Foundation. That culture will always eclipse any clarity you suggest may be on the way. The diverted donor dollars will continue to be directed exclusively towards the megaproject or the stubborn, idealistic givers can just head on down the road to some measely institution that lacks a billion dollar brand and places value on wreadin and righting or ordinary students.

  7. Inquiring Minds 10/12/2021

    Cyber Ninjas should apply

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