Terms of Use — Appointed Faculty Dashboard

Citing, Downloading, Reporting, and Sharing Data

Citing Data

When reporting or sharing data from the dashboards it should always be properly cited.

Be sure to include the following when reporting or sharing the data:

  1. Dashboard name: “Detailed Appointed Faculty Data” or “Appointed Faculty Counts – All Divisions” dashboard
  2. Data source: HRIS DB2 Data Warehouse
  3. Extraction Date: Found in the top right of your screen on the date that you have pulled the data (note this date is not the same date that you accessed the data because it is not a live connection).

Downloading Data

Dashboard data can be downloaded in a crosstab format, meaning that you are able to download the data in the format it appears on your screen. It is best practice to add the extraction date (in top-right hand corner of the dashboard) to your file as soon as you download it. Remember the data is not live and it is important to note what date your data reflects. See the dashboard Information Sheets for download instructions.

Reporting Data

As with all academic HR and personnel data, any data with personal identifiers (i.e. names or personnel numbers) should be treated as highly confidential and should only be shared on a need-to-know basis. These data should never appear publicly in any format.

Faculty counts, such as the number of faculty within an academic unit, are less sensitive and can be shared more widely. This information can be communicated in presentations and reports, as appropriate, and should always  include proper citation. Any counts of faculty less than three (3) reported from the dashboard should be suppressed.

When should I suppress faculty counts?

In general, unless data are from a publicly available source,  the best practice is to suppress counts less than 3. Note that data on faculty sex (male, female, another) or status in Canada (permanent, temporary) may be particularly sensitive information.

For example, if you were to report on the sex of faculty within your Faculty, you would not want to report counts that identify the sex of faculty members where there are less than 3 faculty members within any given group. In this case we recommend adding an asterisk (*) in place of a count and noting that “data are suppressed for counts less than 3”. (See also: Faculty & Librarian Complement Breakdown by Sex 2020-21 report for publicly available data)

An example of when reporting on a count of less than 3 is okay, would be if you were reporting on the number of faculty within each stream or rank in each department. Since faculty ranks and streams are publicly available on departmental websites, and in general this is not sensitive data, in this case you do not need to suppress counts less than 3.

Sharing Data

Data from the dashboards can be shared internally, on a need-to-know basis. Generally, faculty counts, without personal identifiers can be shared more widely, so long as data are suppressed for counts lower than three (3). Proper citation should always be used when sharing data.

Who can I share with?

Examples of who you might share data with within your Faculty include:

  • Academic Unit Chairs/Directors: You may share department-specific data with Chairs or academic unit Directors, for their respective academic units, as needed. DO NOT share personal identifiers with a Chair/Director for faculty who are appointed outside of their unit.
  • Academic HR Analysts: If your Faculty has analysts or data team staff members within the Academic HR portfolio who need access to HRIS data to do their jobs, you may share downloads from the dashboard with these staff.

If you are unsure about sharing data with a particular role, please contact Jane Harrison (Jane.Harrison@utoronto.ca) for guidance.

What type of data sharing is restricted?

  • Do not share personal identifiers outside of a need-to-know basis
  • Do not share personal details for faculty members of one department with a different department’s Chair or Director
  • Do not share counts less than 3 in any reports, unless the data shared are publicly available. Counts less than 3 can be shared internally on a need-to-know basis
  • Do not share or report on data without proper citation, including the data extraction date listed on the dashboard (this is not live data and will not match the date you are accessing the data)

Proper Use of Dashboard

A few use-case examples:

  • Use it as a quick reference to answer ad hoc questions. For example:
    • “How many teaching stream professors are in XYZ department?”
    • “How many faculty within ABC department hold budgetary cross-appointments?”
  • Use it to help inform starting salary offers for new hires. For example:
    • “Years Since Highest Degree” and “Age” help to establish what stage a candidate is at in their career and are good benchmarks to reference when deciding starting salaries.
    • The “Sex” filter is helpful to note any potential differences in pay along sex/gender lines.
      • Example: If offering a male candidate a higher starting salary than an already employed female faculty member at the same or higher rank, explain and document the rationale for the difference in pay.
  • Use it as a reference for departmental FTEs when complement planning, space planning, course planning, etc.