Ohio State is in the process of revising websites and program materials to accurately reflect compliance with the law. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status or other activities prohibited by Ohio Senate Bill 1 may still appear in some places. However, all programs and activities are being administered in compliance with federal and state law.

Annual Performance Reviews

The Office of Academic Affairs maintains the policy on annual faculty reviews.

Timeline & Guidelines

OAA has required written annual evaluations of all compensated faculty since 1993. This includes all tenure-track faculty (including those at the rank of professor), all clinical, teaching, practice and research faculty, and all compensated associated faculty, including lecturers. The following guidelines provide information about the annual review process for all compensated faculty.

  • February 2, 2026: Suggested deadline for faculty to submit annual review materials to chairs and directors
  • March 2, 2026: Suggested deadline to solicit annual review letters for faculty supported through Discovery Themes (DT) funding from DT focus area leaders
  • April 3, 2026: Deadline for fourth-year review dossiers for assistant professors and clinical/teaching/practice and research faculty reappointments to be submitted to the college
  • April 27, 2026: Suggested target date for completing annual review meetings
  • May 15, 2026: Suggested target date for annual reviews submission
  • May 29, 2026: Deadline to report any non-renewals of assistant professors to the Office of Academic Affairs (non-renewals require a Fourth Year Review process)
  • July 10, 2026: Deadline for copies of annual reviews for all assistant, associate, and full professors to be submitted to the college (except fourth-year reviews)

At a minimum, all faculty members must report on activities conducted in the period between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 (see important dates section for recommended dates), and provide an updated CV.

Assistant professors are expected to maintain a cumulative core dossier and to submit that dossier as part of the annual review. The core dossier template that can be used for the annual review is provided in the Annual Activity Report Template section below. ALL annual reviews of assistant professors include the full set of information that is reported in the core dossier.

Associate and full professors are required to submit information about teaching and advising; curriculum and course development; publications and scholarly presentations; funding/grants; outreach and service; and honors and awards. In general, this information mirrors the categories that are on the core dossier outline for promotion and tenure reviews. A template using this outline is available below. Units may adapt this template in line with departmental Appointments, Promotion and Tenure (APT) policies and practices as long as the basic information is included. Associate professors who are planning for promotion may also submit a cumulative core dossier, to assist in evaluation of progress toward promotion; specific details about screening processes in individual departments and schools are spelled out in their respective APT documents.

  • To review and follow the procedures for annual review outlined in the unit’s APT document.
  • To issue a call to the compensated faculty to submit annual review materials in time to meet the deadlines above. See targeted deadline in important dates section.
  • To provide a written evaluation and a scheduled opportunity for a face-to-face meeting to all probationary faculty members and a written evaluation and an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting to all other compensated faculty members.
  • In cases where the faculty has joint appointments, to consult with the head of the other unit in line with existing MOUs and unit APT documents.
  • Include in all annual review letters a reminder to the faculty member that they have the opportunity to comment in writing on the review.
  • To maintain the review letter and any comments in the faculty member’s departmental personnel file.
  • To upload an annual review letter for each compensated faculty member by the college deadline to the Microsoft Team for their unit’s division (Social and Behavioral Sciences, Natural and Mathematical Sciences, or Arts and Humanities).

*Annual review letters should not merely be descriptive summaries of an individual’s activities in a given year; they should evaluate the individual’s performance in relation to the unit’s mission, assigned workload, previously articulated goals for that individual, and specific expectations for the coming year. The annual review letter should also describe, when appropriate, actions the unit or its head will undertake to support the faculty member in achieving goals.  The college expects that the full range of activities individual faculty are asked to undertake will be formally recognized and, when done well, rewarded.

For 2024-2025, units may use either the new ASC Core Dossier Outline (recommended) or the older Core Dossier (Vita) Template for annual activity reporting. As noted below, this will be the last year either template will be in use. The selected template can be edited or modified by chairs and directors to include other information as long as it covers the general categories included in the file. Activities should be listed for the period Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of the current year. 

Optional Questions

  1. Anything else the chair/director should know?
  2. Questions specific to the discipline?

Starting in 2026-2027, annual activity reporting will transition to the Interfolio FAR system and faculty will be required to enter activities for calendar year 2025 via FAR. Faculty have access to the system starting summer 2024 and are encouraged to start entering activities as soon as possible in preparation for this change. Further guidance will be forthcoming. Please contact ascfacultyaffairs@osu.edu with any questions or visit OAA's Interfolio FAR website for more information. 

Discovery Themes Faculty Review Process

Annual review letters and promotion/reappointment evaluations by Discovery Theme directors are no longer required for faculty hired under Discovery Theme initiatives. TIU heads may request such evaluations for inclusion in the dossier, but Discovery Theme directors are not obligated to provide them.