TRAC: Academic Activity Survey (AAS)
Background
The Academic Activity Survey is conducted to gather data on the different activities undertaken by the University’s academics. Each week, around 35 randomly selected academics are asked to fill in a timesheet, which details how many hours have been utilised towards teaching, research and other activities. Each academic will only be asked to fill in the survey once per academic year (October to September).
The resulting data is used to apportion the University’s costs between these activities, in order to complete various returns required by (HEFCE) as part of the Transparent Approach to Costing, TRAC(T), process. One output from this process is the calculation of the University’s FEC research rates.
The AAS covers only Academic staff whose posts are not directly funded externally. It would be impossible to cost the activities of the University accurately without first understanding the allocation of academic time.
The works undertaken by academics are key drivers of the activities of the University, and are a key element of the costs (12% of total costs).
Academics are asked to complete a timesheet for one week of the academic year (Monday – Sunday). We sample every week of the year, regardless of public and other holidays, due to Oxford academics having largely self-determined working practices. There is no expectation that every week/person sampled will result in a return of hours; absence due to holiday, for example, would be an equally valid response.
There are no links to any other individual records on other University databases.
Summary of the scheme to date
The Oxford survey is one of the best in the sector and in fact has been cited as an example of best practice. Two other Universities have either already “cloned” the system or are looking into doing so, and other institions have taken advice to inform their own methods. The response rate averages over 80% and shows no bias in terms of seniority of academic or area of specialty. It is important to maintain a high response rate in order to satisfy external bodies, such as the Research Councils (RCUK) who carried out an audit of the Oxford methodology and data in June 2008.
The data obtained from the survey provides the data to produce costing drivers, which attribute total non-activity specific costs of the University to five major Activities and around 30 detailed sub-activities.
The original objective of the survey was to produce statistically robust academic activity-based cost drivers whilst ensuring anonymity for the individual academic. This objective has been (and continues to be) achieved.
Expansion of the use of the data obtained will always have regard for the original objectives of the scheme and these two primary objectives will always have precedence over other uses of the information.
An individual’s return is never shared with anyone else unless we have express permission to do so.
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