Frequently Asked Questions

Who Enters Information and Who Views eFARS Reports?

Who will be given access to view my report?
You, your unit leader or District Director, the Dean, and the Associate Deans will have access to your report. State programs leaders will have access to the Extension faculty reports.

How can data be entered for a retiree, an adjunct faculty member or a faculty member that is not able to enter their data?
A proxy, such as your secretary , can do this. Email the eFARS Help Desk if you are interested in setting up a proxy in your unit.

Do faculty that have submitted their dossier for promotion and/or tenure need to enter their data in eFARS this year?
Untenured faculty do not have to do their P&T submittal through eFARS if they are going forward for tenure this year, but they must do their annual report in eFARS.

Adding Content to eFARS

Can you add a spelling checker?

Google toolbar has a free spelling checker that works well with eFARS. It adds itself into your web browser and allows you to check the spelling of any web page. 

What time period does the "Achievements" section cover and what is in it?
It covers just the past year. This section lets you tell your supervisor your most important accomplishments and activities of the past year, as well as any new projects or activities that were initiated during this period, even if they have yet to reach completion. The Resume is where you can document a three year time period of accomplishments.

How should I report guest lectures in other faculty members' courses?
A section for guest lectures is included under M.1.b. - Guest Lectures Taught.

I conducted five workshops on the same topic. Do I enter each one separately or add them together?
It is suggested that you list the five workshops as one and indicate in the "Other Comments" text box the details about the five locations.  

What information do I put in the "Responsibilities" section?
This is a short list of the most important aspects of your job. Long explanations are not needed here. It is just something to give readers some idea of what are your major responsibilities.

I need a way to show that a course also has a lab.

You can indicate the number of hours of lab for any credit course that is entered. It is one of the entry fields.

Dates and Time Periods for eFARS

What is the reporting period for the annual faculty report?
Your annual report should represent your work from January through December.

Will you keep eFARS open all year?

The plan is always for the new version of eFARS to be open as much of the year as possible so that you can enter information as it occurs. Depending on the extent of the revisions to the eFARS system, the opening of the new version of eFARS could be delayed by several months each year.

Can I enter publications and other contributions prior to the current year?
No, eFARS does not provide a depository for information prior to the reporting year. The one exception is what you report in your Resume. The Resume is intended to document the past three years worth of accomplishments.

It is hard to know whether you are asking for past events or only those that occurred for the first time. For example, I serve on a committee that met this year, but I have been on the committee for several years.
The Service sections include a "My Role" text box, in which you can document your tenure on a committee among other things.

Navigation in eFARS

My eFARS report is done, but I do not see a "Submit" button. What do I need to do?
Your data are saved in the system when you complete an item and click on either "Save Changes and Return" or "Save Changes".

When you expand or compress the outline, you are returned to the top of the outline. Can this be fixed?
We do not have a fix for this issue, but can offer a tip. When you are in a web page, hitting the space bar  will page down.

Is there a way to expand the "Report Outline" menu? I had overlooked quite a few of the little plusses.
There is no way to expand the outline with one click, but a copy of the expanded outline is in a MS Word file on the eFARS Home Page under "Resources".

Input and Output in eFARS

Can I upload my annual report as a Word document into the system?
No. The system needs to count the number of unique publications, presentation, patents, and other such data. It needs specific items entered into computer fields to do that. This is the only way that the system can automatically generate reports, which is a critical part of the need for the system.

Am I required to create a hard copy annual report?
No, eFARS replaces the paper report you have submitted in the past with an electronic version. However, you may wish to print off a copy or save an electronic copy for your own records.

Can the font be adjusted in the eFARS output?
No. The font cannot be adjusted in the eFARS output.

There used to be a format that was specific to Extension programming. What happended to it?

With the expansive revisions made to eFARS in 2007, it was determined that the new outline was sufficiently clear for all CALS faculty.

 

About Collaborators in eFARS

If I enter an item with another VT author, can they edit it for accuracy?
No, you will need to discuss and coordinate your edits.  Think of it this way- eFARS cannot resolve a dispute between people.  Only you can do that. 

Will eFARS alert me when someone adds me as a collaborator?

eFARS will send you an email when someone adds or deletes you as a collaborator.

I cannot edit a collaborated work that was entered by someone else.  I need to because it was entered incorrectly.
If the collaborated work needs to be edited, then you should email or call your collaborator and have the collaborated work fixed.  Allowing you to edit the work would great duplicate entries of the same thing, and then the work would be double counted. One reason why eFARS was created was to help us eliminate multiple counting.  Allowing two or more "versions" of this would cause eFARS to double, triple and quadruple count scholarly works.

Scholarly works entered by other VT faculty members do not show when I print my report. What am I doing wrong?
You must click the"Add" button to add them to your report. They will not show unless you decide to add them. Only you can add items to your report.

The PI is not always the person who enters collaborative work, so what does "ownership" mean in eFARS?
The first person to enter a collaborative work controls the editing of the citation. Other collaborators must contact the "owner", if changes are necessary.

Does being the "owner" of a collaborative work carry any special weight?
No. it is the first person to enter the data, that is all.

I am unable to add one of my ex-graduate students. How do I enter this person?
You should add this person by clicking on "Add New Other".

I added several VT authors before I realized there was an "Add VT Author" button. Is there a way to remove authors from "my authors" list?
Yes. In the "My Collaborator" section all collaborators are listed and there is an "Edit" button and a "Delete" button.

I am an untenured faculty member and will likely have to put all of my vita in eFARS at some point. Will my collaborators remain in the system?
Yes.

I checked 'lead author' on publications. One of the co-authors told me that this means that one of the authors is under his or her supervision. Is that correct?
No.  Lead author means 1st author in this case.  Supervision is not a consideration for being the lead author.

Extension Program Planning

What is the purpose of Extension Program Plans?

VCE educational program plans serve as a communication and planning tool for developing, delivering, and reporting VCE programs. They are used to communicate information about VCE client-focused programs within the system and to external audiences such as the state and federal government officials.

How are Extension Program Plans developed?

VCE Planned Program Teams (PPT) develop Extension programs and review programs on an annual basis to meet needs identified through stakeholder input. Problems and issues identified through situation analysis are communicated through the system and educational program proposals are developed by interdisciplinary PPT¡¦s composed of specialists and agents. The program proposals developed by PPT¡¦s are reviewed by VCE programming leadership. Program proposals that most appropriately reflect and address local problems and issues are selected for implementation.

What is the Extension Program Buy-in process?

Extension educational programs are developed to address local needs. Once approved, the educational programs are made available to VCE staff so they may review and respond. Personnel respond ("buy in") to the appropriate educational programs by indicating the outcomes they expect to achieve for the next program year. At the end of the year, an annual report is prepared for each Planned Program. In addition, staff are able to amend or update their buy-in annually, or as often as needed in order to be responsive to changing needs.

What are Planned Programs?

Planned Programs are broad areas of program emphasis.  In Virginia we have ten Planned Programs. They are:

¡E Agricultural and Food Biosecurity
¡E Agricultural Systems
¡E Animals and Animal Products
¡E Biotechnology and Genomics
¡E Economics and Commerce
¡E Families, Youth, and Communities
¡E Food, Nutrition, and Health
¡E Natural Resources and Environment
¡E Pest Management
¡E Plants and Plant Products

The Virginia Emergency Preparedness program is not a Planned Program but one in which faculty can buy into and report against.

What are Planned Program Outcomes?

Outcomes are the direct results, benefits, or changes for individuals, groups, communities, organizations or systems, that result from our educational programming efforts.

I have a 75% Extension appointment with all of my Extension work divided between two Planned Program Outcomes. How do I calculate my Buy-in?

Of the time you spend doing your Extension work, allocate a percentage to each of the Outcomes so that the total equals 100%. The result might be Outcome A = 40%, Outcome B = 60%. For summary reports we will link your percent appointment from the personnel system to the program percentages reported.

I am conducting programs that are not part of a listed Outcome. How do I buy in for this programming?

If you do not see an Outcome listed that corresponds with your program plans, buy in under the "General Outcome" category for the Planned Program that most closely matches that program effort.

When it is time to report next December, will we be limited to the programs we bought into for reporting?

No. What you buy-in to will not restrict what you report against at year end.

What is a Personal Action Plan?

Personal Action Plans identify the specific strategies that Agents will implement to carry out Extension Educational Programs during the current year. The PAP is primarily a tool to assist agents in purposeful planning but they are also approved by District Directors, and become part of the annual faculty review process.

I already put "Objectives, Next Evaluation Year" in my eFARS report. How are the objectives required in the PAP any different?

Objectives entered into eFARS are not copied into your PAP. However, if you wish to use these Objectives (or an edited form) in your PAP, you may. Just go to the Objectives section (E.2) and copy and paste into your PAP. You may also add additional Objectives to your PAP.