What is Academic Activities Reporting (AAR)?

Academic Activities Reporting is the process used to identify faculty who are teaching students and to record the contact hours associated with the instruction for the purposes of meeting State of Florida reporting requirements (the 12-Hour Law). Specifically, AAR consists of two primary functions:

1. Identifying the instructor(s) of a course, and
2. Allocating contact hours relative to the amount of time the instructor(s) spent in contact with students.

The Academic Activities Reporting (AAR) system replaces the Instructor Workload File (IWF).

Do all academic units have to complete Academic Activities Reporting?

Yes. Academic Activities Reporting is required to be completed campus-wide by all academic units offering courses.

What is the 12 Hour Law?

The 12 Hour Law (1012.945 Fla.Stat.) is a Florida law that requires that “each full-time equivalent teaching faculty member at a university who is paid wholly from state funds shall teach a minimum of 12 classroom contact hours per week.” Details of how the 12 Hour Law is applied are described in the 12 Hour Law Memorandum: Standard Practice, Chancellor”s Memorandum, CM-87-17.2

What are contact hours?

Contact hours are a way of describing the work of faculty. For work involving the instruction of students, contact hours are generally based either on the number of students enrolled in a section (the “head count”) or by the number of times a section meets (the “base count”). Under the 12 hour law, a faculty who spent 100% of his or her time on instruction would receive 12 contact hours. Each contact hour translates into 8.33% of overall effort (1/12 = .0833) Faculty members typically have some instructional responsibilities, but also other tasks such as research. The percent of time spent on non-instructional tasks is equivalenced into contact hours based on this formula. For example, a faculty member who spent 25% time on research would receive 3 contact hours. (25%/8.33% = 3 contact hour equivalencies).”

What is the maximum number of contact hours that can be given to an instructor?

The maximum number of contact hours that can be given to an instructor is 12. Based on the 12 Hour Law, giving an instructor 12 contact hours would equate to 100% of their time spent on instruction on the effort report.

What is the difference between head count and base count sections?

Base count sections are sections for which the contact hours for the course are a result of the number of periods the section meets.

• Generally, base count sections have a fixed meeting time and place.
• Contact hours for base count sections are not affected by enrollment.

Head count sections are sections for which the contact hours for the course are a result of the number of students enrolled.

• Head count sections are not required to have a fixed meeting time and place, and consequently
• the number of periods the section meets (if any) does not affect the number of contact hours given to the section.

How can I tell if a section is base count or head count?

In the AAR, if a section is a base count section, there will be a number under the “Base Hours” heading in the Class Section information. Likewise, if a section is a head count section, there will be hours listed under the “Head Cnt Hours” heading. Note: It is possible for a section to be both base count and head count. If this is the case, then there will be hours listed under both “Base Hours” and “Head Cnt Hours.”

How do I know if a self-fund (off-book) course needs to be reported on the effort report?

At times faculty may teach off-book courses as part of their normal load, for institutional base salary. If faculty are paid out of fund 143 (as a salaried expense, rather than lump sum payment), then the course needs to be reported in Effort. In this case, or if you have any questions about reporting off-book courses, please contact the IPR AAR Administrators at UF-AAR-ADMIN@aa.ufl.edu.

How is AAR different than IWF?

The AAR system replaced the Instructor Workload File (IWF). The purpose and functionality of the two systems (adding instructors and contact hours to courses) does not change.

What are some of the new features of the AAR system?

In addition to performing the original functions as the IWF, AAR has features and added functionality designed to simplify the addition of instructors and contact hours to courses. New features include:

• Automatic import of section data from the Section File/Course Scheduling System into the AAR system, reducing the need for duplicative data entry
• Automatic import of committee assignments from the Graduate Information Management System (GIMS)
• Warnings and Errors to alert users to potential problems
• Ability to make corrections after the term
• Simpler myUFL user interface

Where does AAR get its data?

AAR is fed from a number of other systems on campus:

• Section Data – Section data such as meeting times, credit hours, enrollment, and instructor are populated into AAR from the Section File/Course Scheduling System. Inputs to the section file are made by departments during the Course Scheduling and room assignment processes performed by your department
• Committee Assignments – The Graduate Information Management System (GIMS) populates committee assignment information into the AAR. To add or delete instructors from a graduate committee your department’s graduate administrator will need to make the change in GIMS.
• Instructors – Instructors for sections other than those that are from GIMS can be entered and removed manually from within AAR

Are there deadlines to complete AAR?

Yes, there are two deadlines for Academic Activities Reporting.

• The first is the base count deadline which occurs approximately six weeks after the end of drop/add.
• The second is the head count deadline which occurs at the end of the term.

What happens if I miss a deadline?

The base count deadline is meant to help AAR coordinators monitor their progress during the term. After the deadline, an email will be sent to all coordinators with a list of all base count sections that remain incomplete after the deadline. If all sections are not complete when the AAR system is closed Failure to meet the head count deadline, however, may result in your department being fined for having an incomplete section.

How do I find out if any sections are incomplete or have errors?

Incomplete sections can be found a number of different ways:

• Search results – When performing a search for sections, the status (Complete or Incomplete) is shown in the search results. Alternatively, the status can be entered into the search criteria so as to return only those sections that need to be worked on.
• Email notification – Twice during the term (after the base count deadline and before the head count deadline) an email will be sent to all coordinators informing them of sections that remain incomplete.

Why can’t I add or delete an instructor from a 6971, 7979, or 7980 section?

Sections 6971, 7979, and 7980 are graduate thesis or dissertation sections which are maintained through the Graduate Information Management System (GIMS). GIMS is the system of record for all graduate school sections, and as such, changes to these sections must be made through the GIMS system. If you are not the graduate administrator for your college or department, you will need to see that person to make a change to a committee assignment.

How do I know which Employee Record to select in AAR?

Selecting the empl record of an instructor is a new feature of the AAR system that may be confusing at first. However, by selecting empl records as part of AAR, a significant amount of rework can be avoided in later stages. The empl record selected should be the one that matches the department that owns the section being taught.

Where do I go for help?

The AAR is owned and maintained by Institutional Planning and Research (IPR). Background information and other resources are located on the IPR Web site. You may also contact the IPR AAR Administrators at UF-AAR-ADMIN@aa.ufl.edu or call IPR at (352) 392-0456.

Where I can find AAR Coordinators from other colleges and departments?

The latest list is available here.