Annual Reports

The areas reporting to the Office of Research are required to submit an annual activity report. The report is a comprehensive overview of accomplishments and highlights of activities as well as fiscal results.

Overview

Annual reports are due on September 1 for the previous fiscal year (e.g., FY23 reports are due September 1, 2023).

The annual report is made up of three sections:

• Annual Report Template (provided by the Office of Research)
• Narrative
• Organizational Chart

Additional materials may be included but are not required.

Template

The template portion is required and its format should not be altered. It is used by the Office of Research to document certain information in our annual report files and to facilitate the review of historical information over time. If there are tabs that request information not relevant to your area, please leave them blank. Completed templates are used internally by our office. 

Sponsored Programs is available to assist with preparing the data for grants, grant applications, and grant expenditures. Typically the list of an area’s core and affiliated faculty is required to generate this data. Reports cannot be run until after the fiscal year-end close but it is best to contact Ryan Russell, Director, Operations, Analytics and Systems in advance to determine what information will be required. Inquiries can be sent to rosamail@bu.edu.

Narrative

Due to our areas’ varying types, missions, sizes and structures, the narrative portion of the report, separate from the template, can be formatted in whatever manner best highlights your activities and accomplishments. The narrative section should include:

• Mission
• Strategic goals
  • Accomplishments
  • Challenges
  • Supporting evidence (i.e., projects and rationale)
• Scholarly work
  • List of center publications
  • Identify publications with two or more center/affiliated faculty (e.g., with an asterisk and footnote)
• Faculty and staff engagement
  • A definition of core vs. affiliated faculty for your center
  • Core and affiliated faculty, staff, students, fellows

Some areas choose to format this portion of the report as a promotional piece that can be used externally. Please reach out to Meridith St. Jean, Director of Communications in the Office of Research, for access to a template available to centers for this purpose. This template is not required, but made available as a helpful resource.

Organizational Chart

The organizational chart should be prepared to represent the most current staffing structure of the area.

Questions

If you have questions about the annual report please contact Linda Martin in the Office of Research.