Annual School Review.

School survey coordinators serve as key points of contact for the SPH community, facilitate updates to survey instruments, present survey results to the SPH community, and implement changes based on survey feedback.

School survey coordinators:

• Alumni: Jacoba van Heugten, Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations, jjvh@bu.edu
• Current Students: Mary Murphy-Phillips, Assistant Dean of Students, mcmurph@bu.edu
• Employers: Julia Lanham, Assistant Dean of Career Services, jlanham@bu.edu
• Faculty: Alana Brennan, Chair of the Faculty Senate, abrennan@bu.edu
• Staff: Nick Gooler, Chair of the Staff Senate, gooler@bu.edu

Please contact Vanessa Edouard, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Faculty Advancement, at vbe@bu.edu with any questions about the BUSPH School Survey.

School Survey FAQ

How will the results of the School Survey be used?

The results of the School Survey are used to shape the priorities of the survey coordinators and the Governing Council. Each spring, the survey results are presented at School Assembly.

How will the survey be administered?

• The survey will be administered by NORC at the University of Chicago, a non-profit corporation that specializes in survey research.
• On the designated opening date, all alumni, current students, employers and practicum supervisors, faculty, and staff will receive an email from BUSPHschoolsurvey@norc.org asking them to complete the survey.
• Each respondent will receive a unique coded URL in their invitation email. This coded link contain a unique identifier that will (1) allow the programmers to send reminders to those who have not completed the survey, and (2) allow respondents to log back into the survey if they do not complete it in one sitting.
• Reminders will be sent to respondents who have not completed the survey while the survey is open.
• The survey will close at 11:59 pm on designated close date.

What if I can’t finish the survey in one sitting?

Because participants will have a unique coded URL in their invitation email, they will be able to log back in and finish the survey at a later time. The identifying information will be deleted when the survey closes.

How will my confidentiality be preserved?

NORC will not share raw survey data with any other BU department. Participant identifiers will be held by NORC during data collection and will be removed from the data set after the survey window closes.

Only aggregated results of the survey will be reported to the SPH community, including SPH administrators and survey coordinators. Values for cells with fewer than five respondents will be suppressed.

How will the results be analyzed?

Results have been analyzed by NORC. SPH administrators and survey coordinators will not have access to the raw data.

Is participation in the School Survey required?

Participation is voluntary but strongly encouraged. The survey provides an excellent opportunity to ensure all voices in our community are heard.

The AFR reflects the School and University’s commitment to faculty development through first retrospectively identifying work to date and then prospectively creating a plan for the coming year. 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. A formal 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.
• SPH supports the mandate from President Brown 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 his or her department chair. The process focuses on faculty activities as summarized on the CV and has three sections.

• Part 1: Data 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.

Though we must continue to gather data in support of our CEPH accreditation efforts, this approach aims to minimize the reporting burden and includes an annual review of the CV to inform discussions about longer-term goals such as promotion. The collection of data for CEPH accreditation is not a formal component of the AFR; however, these data are collected here for convenience so that data collection from faculty only happens once per year. The annual meeting with the Department Chair will focus on a discussion of Part 2 (Looking back) and Part 3 (Looking ahead).

Schedule for Completing the Form

The Annual Faculty Review is comprised of four steps: (1) each SPH faculty member conducts a self-assessment of activities conducted between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, (2) each faculty member meets with their department chair to discuss the accomplishments and activities of the past year and plan for the next upcoming year, (3) department chairs send annual letters summarizing the conversation with the faculty member, and (4) the chair and the faculty member both sign the annual letter to complete the AFR process.

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

• December 19, 2021 – January 18, 2022: primary faculty complete the AFR form
• February – mid-March, 2022: primary faculty have individual meetings with chair
• April – June, 2022: secondary and adjunct faculty meetings with chair
• June 2022: primary faculty receive annual letters
• July 1, 2022: for primary faculty, new contracts issued as needed and salary increases go into effect; secondary and adjunct faculty receive annual letters

Faculty and department chairs are encouraged 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.

The University’s performance evaluation and merit review process for staff will commence annually in September. It is important to give direct reports informal feedback throughout the year and formal performance evaluations are a critical part of documenting that feedback process.  Performance evaluations serve as an important employee development tool and an essential component of successful management. Supervisors are required to provide a written performance evaluation for each direct report, highlighting key accomplishments and contributions, opportunities for development and improvement, and goal setting for the upcoming year.

For support and guidance on how to conduct a performance discussion, complete the forms, or for any assistance with employee performance issues, please reach out to Ira Lazic, Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, at iralazic@bu.edu.

The Annual Leadership Review is a review of members of the Governing and Administrative Councils.

Members of the Governing Council:

• Sandro Galea, Dean
• Craig Andrade, Associate Dean of Public Health Practice
• Yvette Cozier, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
• Ira Lazic, Associate Dean for Administration
• Mike McClean, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Advancement
• Lisa Sullivan, Associate Dean for Education
• Josée Dupuis, Chair of Biostatistics
• Jon Levy, Chair of Environmental Health
• Martha Werler, Chair of Epidemiology
• Pat Hibberd, Chair of Global Health
• Michael Stein, Chair of Health Law, Policy, and Management
• George Annas, Director of the Center for Health Law, Ethics, and Human Rights
• Kimberly Dukes, Executive Director of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center
• Catherine Ettman, Chief of Staff
• Jacoba van Heugten, Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations

Feedback about the Governing Council may be submitted at https://bostonu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cIsweiFNEf3YETA

Members of the Administrative Council:

• Ira Lazic, Associate Dean for Administration and Finance
• Craig Andrade, Associate Dean of Public Health Practice
• Veronica Byam, Director of Finance
• Joanne Cipriani, Director of Business Operations, Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center
• Tom Dauria, Assistant Dean of Budget Planning and Finance
• Patrick DeCoste, Administrative Director, Global Health
• John Douglas, Administrative Director, Environmental Health
• Vanessa Edouard, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Faculty Advancement
• Catherine Ettman, Chief of Staff
• Bradford Francis, Administrative Director, Biostatistics
• Melanie Gilreath Chaisson, Business Operations and Workforce Planning Manager
• Susan Gomes, Administrative Director, Epidemiology
• Patty Gonzalez, Administrative Director, Community Health Sciences
• Meredith Hanna, Executive Director of Administration, Health Law, Policy, and Management
• Vivian Holmes, Assistant Dean of Research Administration
• Michael Koehler, Director of Facilities and Building Operations
• Julia Lanham, Assistant Dean of Career Services
• Ann Marie Larese, Assistant Dean of Admissions
• Nikki Longe, Registrar
• Mary Murphy-Phillips, Assistant Dean of Students
• Leslie Tellalian, Assistant Dean of Lifelong Learning
• Jacoba van Heugten, Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations
• Amanda Velez, Executive Director of Educational Initiatives

Feedback about the Administrative Council may be submitted at https://bostonu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hQS52mDQELpHjE.

As an alternative to providing feedback via the above forms, you are welcome to send additional feedback directly to Dean Galea (sgalea@bu.edu) or Dean Lazic (iralazic@bu.edu). Their email is personal and confidential.

Thank you in advance for your input. The deadline for submitting your feedback is January 7, 2022.