ARS Activity Definitions

Direct Instruction (teaching activities) includes all effort spent in direct contact with students in the classroom and in all effort associated with teaching preparation for all courses – whether courses are offered on campus, off campus or on-line. For most faculty members with teaching assignments, Direct Instruction will comprise a significant portion of their overall effort. Direct Instruction should be reported as a state-funded activity unless specifically designated otherwise.

Direct contact with students includes: lectures, laboratories, independent study, conferences or seminars, and supervision of teaching and applied studies with the exception of thesis instruction.
The effort that is associated with teaching preparation includes: preparation of lectures or other classroom material; acquiring and preparing instructional media; meeting with students on course topics; and grading papers.
Note: Undergraduate Independent Study (399) activity should be reported as Direct Instruction.
Direct Instruction should not be funded by grants unless said grant(s) allows for it.

Indirect Instruction is the instructional-related activities that are not associated with the direct teaching of a course – i.e. the person does not have direct contact with students in a classroom environment. There is usually only very limited effort that is reported for Indirect Instruction. The most common activity in this category relates to appointments for teaching assistants who provide assistance in the department but who do not have a course assignment.

Indirect Instruction can include: supervision of multi-section courses; paper grading for an instructor’s course; preparation and maintenance for laboratory sections; and study help and tutoring associated with courses, preparing or revising manuals, creating instructional software and/or media.
Faculty who are provided release time to undertake major initiatives in the department might include some time in indirect instruction. This effort might include activity related to major revisions to the curriculum, or to the review of the academic programs in the department, or preparing for accreditation reviews by external groups.
Other Indirect Instruction activities can include: preparing outlines, content, and bibliographies for future courses; devising and developing new instructional techniques;
Note: Some units also have academic staff who might report indirect instruction activity for the coordination and supervision of TAs and other staff assisting in the classroom; the placement and monitoring of students in internships and practical study: and the coordination of study abroad programs.

Thesis Instruction includes all direct-contact instructional activity associated with students enrolled in Master’s Thesis & PhD Dissertation Research courses (typically 598/599). Effort should be reported in Thesis Instruction for faculty who are overseeing Master’s Thesis & Doctoral Dissertation work and are listed as the instructor of a course (typically 598/599).

Thesis Supervision includes instructional activity associated with students enrolled in Master’s Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation Research and is required for each paid faculty or staff member when there is no corresponding course assigned to that faculty or staff member.
Note: This activity may be reported on any fund source; however, federal funds may be used for Thesis Supervision only if the effort expended on these activities is directly related to the sponsored research project.

Departmental Research includes all research and scholarly activity that is undertaken by the faculty member to support scholarly initiatives and professional development. Departmental Research is non-funded research that is conducted with the support of the department and that helps to meet the overall academic priorities of the unit. Departmental Research allows the faculty to pursue the development of scholarly activity within their disciplines.
Departmental Research is: usually supported by State funds, educational allowances, or gifts that are not assigned for organizational research. It is undertaken in general support of the instructional function of the institution and it is not an activity that is separately budgeted or accounted for with a separate account. It is not research that is conducted under funds from a research account and it is not performed for specific sponsored research agreements or contracts.
Note: Departmental Research contributes to the professional development of a faculty member and it may lead to publication. Scholarly development also includes any personal investigation into the professional literature; any writing of manuscripts or articles for publication; attendance and presentation of papers at professional meetings; and other efforts related to the development and maintenance of the scholarly competence of a faculty or professional staff member.

Organized Research includes all research and development activities that are budgeted and administered separately from instructional departmental activity and that are conducted for specific research projects.
Typical sources of support for Organized Research are: research grants/contracts funded by the U.S. Government, State of Illinois, and other external sponsors; research funds that are appropriated to the University of Illinois by the federal or state government; or ICR funds and other institutional funds specifically designed for organized research.
Organized Research can also be conducted with gifts assigned for organized research and with campus Research Board funds allocated for specific research projects. At times, organized research activities can be carried out on an individual or project basis if financed from centrally administered, competitive institutional grants to individual faculty members.
For all faculty and staff appointments that are paid from a separately budgeted source of funds where the express purpose of the fund is to support funded research, the entire distribution of the effort for that appointment should be Organized Research (100%).
Note: Faculty members who are paid by state funds (or institutional funds) and who provide direct effort in support of a specific research project should report that effort as organized research and then should also report cost sharing activity in the Grants and Contracts Effort Reporting System.

Public Service Activities are very limited in scope in effort reporting. The activities that are reported in this category must be officially assigned by a department head or higher administrator. Public Service Activities are NOT separately compensated consulting or volunteer work that is done by a faculty member. Most faculty and staff will not report any public service effort.
Public Service Activities refer to programs or services at the University that are established to make available to the public the resources of the institution for the purpose of responding to a community need or solving a community problem. This can include public service programs or it can include the in-kind departmental contributions to the cost of an externally funded community service project and to the time spent by a person with an administrative appointment in the administration of public service (as in a museum or outreach program). Most public service activities are associated with specific funds and accounts that have designated program codes that are defined for public service.
Note: The University of Illinois at Chicago designates patient care that is provided by health science faculty and staff to be Patient Service activities. Definitions for Patient Services are listed under Clinical Activities. This effort is also viewed by the state as a public service but it is separately captured on the ARS screen under the Clinical Activities group.

General Administration is time spent by staff members who have an officially designated administrative function. Administration can include administering instruction, departmental research or public service activities. Academic professionals and administrators who are involved in the general operations of the unit usually report effort in the general administration category. This will include time and effort for heads and chairs; business managers; human resource staff; and other administrative staff.

Student Support Services are activities specifically designed to support recruitment and retention of students. Staff who report activity in this category should have specifically assigned duties related to the support of students or student activities.
Student Support Services include: student academic advising and counseling; student organizations; orientation; and student support within the department or unit.

Paid Leave includes administrative and sabbatical leaves for which the individual is paid by the University. It does not include disability leave or leave without pay. If the faculty member is on sabbatical full-time for the academic year, then 100% of the effort should be designated as Paid Leave. If the person is on leave for only a portion of the academic year, then the percentage effort assigned to the leave category should be adjusted.
Examples: For a nine-month faculty member who has a two-semester sabbatical with half or more pay, report 100% in Paid Leave. For a nine-month faculty with only one semester sabbatical leave with full pay, report 50% as Paid Leave. If the faculty member has only half pay for one semester, then the department should report 33% effort to Paid Leave. When the individual returns full-time for the second semester, the effort for the full pay in the second semester should be distributed across the remaining 67% of effort.

The Clinical Support are listed on the ARS form for the health science programs at the University of Illinois. Clinical Activities are designed to collect effort by health science faculty who teach in a clinical setting; who provide instructional support to residents or interns in graduate medical education programs; who give some patient services in the course of clinical teaching; or who provide specific support service to a University of Illinois-affiliated hospital. Several reports to external agencies require the distribution of effort by faculty in clinical instruction that is associated with medical, dental or health care programs. Efforts in these Clinical Activities include the clinical portion of training for health science students (usually in a hospital or clinic setting); the training of students in the dental clinics; and the training of residents and interns in graduate medical education. The following categories are included under Clinical Activities: Clinical Instruction, Clinical Supervision, Resident Instruction, Resident Supervision, Patient Services, Hospital Administration.

Clinical Instruction encompasses all of the direct instruction activities that are associated with teaching that is provided in a hospital or clinical setting. Clinical practice, internships and field work are all included in this category. Faculty who teach regular courses in a class or laboratory setting and who also oversee clinical practice courses can split their teaching efforts between Direct Instruction and Clinical Instruction on the ARS form. Faculty who only teach in a clinical setting can report all of the instructional effort under Clinical Instruction. Clinical Instruction is usually reported as a state fund activity but can also include effort that is associated with appointments on institutional funds or service plan funds. Faculty will have a section assigned to them.
The effort that is associated with Clinical Instruction includes: all activities associated with preparing the course; providing the instruction; meeting with students on course topics; providing evaluations; and grading course performance.

Resident instruction is limited to the effort that is associated with the training of medical and dental residents or interns who are part of the graduate medical education programs. A course section is required.
Note: Faculty who provide instruction and supervision to those in GME programs should report some effort in this category.

Same as Resident Instruction but the faculty will not have a Banner course/section assigned.

Patient Services is defined as a separate category to complement the activities that are reported in clinical or resident instruction. It is recognized that sometimes a portion of time in that effort might also incorporate the care of patients. In past years, faculty in Medicine and Dentistry have reported 5% to 15% effort in Patient Services overall.
Note: The primary purpose of the activity is the education of the student, to the extent that some patient-care benefit is included.

Hospital Administration is defined as direct effort that is provided to a hospital, clinic or medical center and is part of the overall responsibilities of the staff member.
Note: The staff person should have an appointment in the hospital or have an officially designated function that incorporates service to the hospital (i.e., section chief) in order to report effort in this category.