Dear Faculty Colleagues,

The Annual Faculty Review (AFR) reflects the School and University’s commitment to faculty development through first recognizing work during the past year and then prospectively creating a plan for the coming year. Though not due until January 15, 2025, the form is now available so that faculty may begin filling in their information if they wish: https://facdev.bumc.bu.edu/.

A number of key principles underlie the AFR process:

  • Formal efforts to enhance faculty development are important for recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty. Faculty may need mentoring and specific skill development as the academic environment becomes increasingly complex and competitive; the AFR can help identify areas where support would be helpful.
  • Periodic review is a critical aspect of faculty development that provides valuable feedback to faculty and administration. Every faculty member wants to know what is expected of them, and all faculty deserve to know how they are performing relative to expectations.
  • The department chair plays a central role in both faculty review and development. An annual meeting with the chair is a central component of the review process because it provides the opportunity to discuss activities, accomplishments, expectations, and development plans.
  • SPHsupports the mandate from the President’s Office for all schools to conduct annual faculty evaluations and link those evaluations to merit raises, thus the AFR is used to inform decisions regarding annual merit.

The AFR is designed to incorporate the above principles and provide the basis for a productive annual meeting between each faculty member and their department chair. The process focuses on faculty activities as summarized on the CV and has three sections:

Part 1 – Ongoing data collection required for CEPH accreditation.

Part 2 – Looking back. A reflection on the past year as highlighted on an updated CV.

Part 3 – Looking ahead. A plan for the year ahead which will serve as the basis for the annual letter.

This year, we have added a few new prompts to prepare for the upcoming CEPH accreditation process. The service section now clearly distinguishes between service to academic public health (e.g. study section, journal editor) and public health practice (e.g. community partnerships, engagement with non-academic health organizations). The highlighted CV will be used as part of the AFR process. The clean copy of the CV will be used for award nominations, the CEPH accreditation process, reports to the Board of Trustees, and uploaded to each faculty profile in the SPH directory. In the portal, faculty may opt out of having the CV uploaded to the SPH directory.

During this period, we also ask that faculty take a moment to review their personal and administrative information in Employee Self-Service. Under the personal information tab, faculty may update details such as their home address, office address, emergency contact information, and visa, citizenship, race, ethnicity, and veteran status.

Annual Faculty Review Schedule

The Annual Faculty Review is comprised of four steps: (1) each SPH faculty member conducts a self-assessment of activities conducted between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, (2) each faculty member meets with their department chair to discuss their activities and accomplishments of the past year and their plan for the next upcoming year, (3) each faculty member receives and signs an annual letter summarizing the conversation during the annual meeting.

The timeline for this process varies for primary, secondary, and adjunct faculty:

  • Through January 15, 2025: primary faculty complete the AFR form

(Note: the final salary coverage data for 2024 will be uploaded to the system in early January)

  • February – March 2025: primary faculty have individual meetings with chair
  • June 2025: primary faculty receive annual letters
  • April – June 2025: secondary and adjunct faculty meetings with chair
  • July 1, 2025: for primary faculty, merit increases go into effect; secondary and adjunct faculty receive annual letters

We encourage faculty and department chairs to see the AFR as but one tool in a mutual and ongoing effort in faculty development at SPH.  Faculty wishing to learn more about the AFR process or appeal their review may contact Professor McClean, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Advancement, at mmcclean@bu.edu.

Warm regards,

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH
Dean, Robert A. Knox Professor

Michael Stein, M.D.
Incoming Dean ad interim, School of Public Health

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