The annual report is an opportunity for the ERIC to reflect on its activities and accomplishments over the past year and to identify avenues for improvement. It should provide a summary of what has been done, an evaluation of how well it has performed, where it has achieved its goals, what remains to be done, and a description of lessons learned.

The annual report should include the following:

• Name of group
• Primary contact person’s name and email address
• Purpose/focus of the group.
  • How well has the group fulfilled its purpose/focus this past year?
  • How has it engaged an emerging or critical topic, or advanced a scholarly field or new research direction?
  • How well has it provided support for INFO scholars in coordinating and communicating their research on this topic? How could this be improved?
  • How well has it nurtured a sense of community, and how could this be improved?
• How has this supported the College’s mission?
• Who has been involved (and their affiliations)?
  • How have they fulfilled their roles (e.g., director, steering group member, working group chair or member, attendee, social media manager)? How could this be improved?
• How often have governance meetings been held, who attended, and what did they accomplish?
  • How does this relate to what was planned?
  • How could they be improved?
• How often have internal group meetings been held, who attended, and what did they accomplish?
  • How does this relate to what was planned?
  • How could they be improved?
• What collaborative activities, projects, and public events were undertaken?
  • What was the frequency, purpose, engagement/participation, format, and modality?
  • What progress was made, and what outcomes or products have been created?
  • How does this relate to what was planned?
  • How could they be improved?
• What resources were used for coordination and communication activities? This should include:
  • For each itemized expense broken down by quarter: amount spent vs. amount budgeted, funding source. How well did this match what was proposed, and if there were differences, why?
  • Administrative assistance used and tasks performed.
• What new resources have been secured over the past year? What potential future funding sources have been identified?

Request for Renewal/Further Funding Criteria:

An annual report can be accompanied by a request for renewal. Renewals will be evaluated based on the ERIC-E’s accomplishments over the past year and plans for the coming year.

Accomplishments include:

• Effective structure and operations
  • Leadership roles and positions are appropriate, include clear responsibilities, and are being performed effectively.
  • Membership is sufficiently large and diverse, with robust participation.
  • Funding has been appropriately allocated and managed to support the coordination and collaboration activities.
  • Progress has been continually assessed and has informed improvements.
  • Regular internal group meetings have been productive
    • Frequency (at least once a semester)
    • Purposes (planning to highlight accomplishments and identify next steps, steering committee meetings for progress reports, and planning)
    • Sufficient attendance, leadership (who led the meeting), and participation (who participated and in what capacity)
    • Positive outcomes or accomplishments (plans and schedules developed/updated, accomplishments identified, adjustments made etc.)
  • Successful regular group meetings and collaborative activities
    • Frequency (at least monthly during Fall and Spring semester)
    • Purposes (journal clubs or reading groups, paper development workshops, writing accountability groups, practice talks, work-in-progress presentations/discussions, etc.)
    • Sufficient attendance, leadership (who led the meeting) ,and participation (who participated and in what capacity)
    • Positive outcomes or accomplishments (papers developed, talks given, research opportunities identified, new collaborations formed, projects/proposals initiated, etc.)
  • Progress on 3+ Collaborative projects/proposal of new projects
    • Type of project (synthesizing scholarly literature, identifying research opportunities, building a research agenda, developing collaborative funding proposals, co-authoring research papers, etc.)
    • Activities undertaken, who led the effort, who participated, in what capacity (ERIC-E members and non-members), progress made
  • Successful completion of 4+ public events
    • Dates/cadence (2 per semester?)
    • Purpose/audience for each (formal research talks, topical workshops/seminars, planning/research agenda-setting workshops, etc.)
    • Sufficient attendance (ERIC-E members and non-members), leadership (who led the meeting), and participation (who participated and in what capacity)
  • Up-to-date web and communication presence
    • Review of content and activity
  • Proposals for funding to support research or to support the ERIC-E submitted/awarded; publications submitted/accepted, etc.

Plans for the coming year should follow the same format as the Request to Establish a Track II ERIC-E. The proposal should clearly demonstrate how a continuation of that past activity would address new questions or substantially contribute to progress on meeting the previous goals. Where improvements are proposed, the renewal proposal should explain why they are needed and why they would be successful.

Review Process:

• Requests reviewed by a committee that includes
  • Associate Dean for Research (Chair)
  • Director of Research Development
  • Associate Dean for Faculty
  • Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives
  • CAC Member selected by CAC Chair
• Committee
  • Makes recommendations to the Dean regarding new and continued funding
  • Provides feedback for ERICs on their progress and proposed activities