Existing records carried forward
Faculty should not have to rebuild years of work. Existing FAR and HuskyDM information provides the starting point.
An i3 initiative
NEAR
UConn's next faculty activity reporting system.
NEAR will replace Interfolio FAR with a system built around UConn’s existing data, connected systems, and the way faculty and departments actually do this work.
Replacing FAR. Built on UConn’s data. Shaped through discovery.
NEAR stands for New and Excellent Activity Reporting. Why not?!
01
Why NEAR
UConn needs one reliable place for faculty activity information. Interfolio FAR asks a lot of faculty, and it still doesn’t fit many of the reporting and administrative needs across the University.
NEAR is being built to work better inside UConn’s own systems and cost less to maintain over time.
Interfolio FAR currently costs UConn about $185,000 a year. That cost is expected to approach $200,000 a year by 2028.
That’s part of the picture, not the main reason we’re doing this.
02
Building on what UConn already has
NEAR isn’t starting from zero. The work behind Lincus, UConn’s faculty expertise directory, already built real infrastructure for faculty information. NEAR builds on that infrastructure: prior FAR and HuskyDM records, Scopus, ORCID, grants and awards, teaching information, and what faculty enter directly.
If UConn already knows something, we should not ask faculty to enter it again.
Lincus and NEAR are related, but they’re not the same thing. Faculty will control what from their NEAR record, if anything, shows up on their public Lincus profile.
03
Key directions for NEAR
Early conversations and prototyping have already made several priorities clear. These are the capabilities and workflows we are actively shaping as the project moves forward.
AI CV Parser
The AI CV Parser lets faculty upload a CV and review suggested activities instead of entering each item manually.
Scopus and ORCID matching
NEAR identifies publications and other records that already exist in external sources and brings them forward for review.
Teaching schedule
Teaching assignments already known to UConn appear automatically instead of being entered by hand each semester.
Editable PTR form
NEAR assembles an editable PTR form from information already in the system instead of making faculty rebuild it separately.
Easy accept or reject
When NEAR finds or suggests information, the review step lets faculty quickly accept it, reject it, or make a correction.
Lincus profile control
Faculty control what information from their activity record appears on their public Lincus profile.
Custom reporting by department, school, or college
Departments, schools, and colleges can build reports around the information they actually need.
Custom data collection by department, school, or college
Units can collect additional information for local needs without forcing every faculty member at UConn into the same fields and workflows.
A closer look
Early prototype areas
These are the directions furthest along in prototyping. The images below are placeholders for the screens under development.
AI CV parser
Upload a CV and review the activities NEAR pulls out of it before anything is added to your record.
Placeholder: NEAR CV parsing prototype screenshot
Accept or reject suggestions
A simple review step for anything NEAR suggests, so nothing reaches your record without your say.
Placeholder: NEAR accept/reject review screenshot
Editable PTR form
A draft PTR form built from your activity record, ready to review and edit.
Placeholder: NEAR editable PTR form screenshot
Public Lincus profile controls
Choose what from your NEAR record, if anything, appears on your public Lincus profile.
Placeholder: Lincus profile controls screenshot
04
Here's our plan.
We are working with the people who do this work: faculty who fill this out every year, and the staff and administrators who rely on what comes out of it.
- Faculty
- Deans and dean’s office staff
- Department heads
- Institutional Research
- SEC and governance groups
- Provost’s Office
- Others who maintain, review, or report this information
Examples of what we’re asking
- What are faculty currently asked to maintain?
- What information is being entered more than once?
- What does a department or dean’s office actually need from the system?
- What work still happens in spreadsheets, CVs, email, or other tools?
- What are the difficult parts of FAR today?
- Which information already exists somewhere else?
05
What’s underway now
A snapshot of the work currently moving forward across discovery, data, and prototyping.
LISTENING
Interviews and discovery
i3 is reaching out to schedule interviews with deans, department heads, faculty, and other partners to understand workflows, reporting needs, and pain points.
MIGRATING
Existing FAR records
i3 is sourcing existing Interfolio FAR records now and will continue that work through October. The goal is to carry forward useful faculty activity history rather than starting from a blank system.
CONNECTING
Central university data sources
NEAR can now source teaching data, advising assignments, and grant data from existing university systems. The goal is to reduce unnecessary duplicate entry for faculty.
- teaching data
- advising assignments
- grant data
TESTING
AI CV parsing
Faculty can upload a CV and review suggested activity records instead of entering everything manually.
VALIDATING
External source validation
NEAR validates records from external sources, including Scopus and ORCID, before presenting them for faculty review.
AI CV parsing
Allows faculty to upload a CV and review suggested records before accepting them into their NEAR profile.
06
Help shape NEAR
If you maintain, review, or rely on faculty activity information, we want to hear from you. Tell us what works today, what does not, and where the current process creates extra work.
We are especially interested in real examples of workflows, forms, reports, spreadsheets, CVs, and other workarounds that NEAR should understand.