At a glance
Customer
Indiana University
Location
Indiana, United States
Use case
Faculty activity reporting
Scale
Nearly 8,000 faculty; 90,000+ students
Product
<1 year
From selection to faculty launch
180+
Hours of in-person training in first three months
~8
Years of historical data imported
~650
Faculty in the annual review pilot
Challenge
Why IU needed a new faculty reporting system
Indiana University’s faculty activity reporting had been through two systems in 20 years, and by 2023 faculty and administrators were voicing dissatisfaction.
IU is a multi-campus R1 public university system serving nearly 8,000 faculty and more than 90,000 students. It moved from a homegrown faculty activity reporting (FAR) system in 2005 to Digital Measures, later Watermark, in 2016. By 2023, faculty called it clunky, with too many fields, duplicative work and manual publication entry.
A task force was launched in 2023 to investigate the reported issues, and the university wanted a solution that cut duplicative work and delivered value back to faculty and administrators.
The idea that we could take one system that provides information on faculty and then create profiles that could be used across many different systems in the university, and then have its own standalone search – that was really exciting to us to reduce redundancy that we have across the information environment.
Solution
How IU rolled out Symplectic Elements in under a year
Following a competitive RFP, IU selected Symplectic Elements in early 2024 and built a faculty-centered rollout that went live in November 2024.
IU wanted an evidence-based decision process to win buy-in. Following the RFP, it chose Symplectic Elements for its intuitive interface, ORCID integration, a single source of faculty data and workflows for annual review, promotion and tenure.
- Assemble a cross-functional team
A deliberately wide team, with faculty from multiple campuses, reviewed the old setup and consulted peers. - Test the options with live demos
Product roadmaps and live demos showed that many features faculty wanted already existed, which became a turning point. - Redesign the configuration from scratch
IU imported nearly 8 years of historical data and rebuilt the configuration rather than replicating past pain points. - Involve faculty from day one
A faculty pilot group tested components weekly, and their feedback directly shaped the configuration. - Train users and pilot annual review
IU delivered 180+ hours of in-person training in three months and piloted annual review with nearly 650 faculty.
Who was involved: Enterprise Systems, Academic Systems and Faculty Affairs leaders, a business analyst and faculty from multiple campuses.
Results
What IU achieved in its first Elements rollout
Faculty found Symplectic Elements easier to use, and administrators can now track reviews and report from one system of record.
- 3 pilot themes, from training to timing, each led IU to change its rollout before launch across all faculty.
- 1 system of record for productivity, publications, service and teaching data, a first for IU.
- 1st standardized, university-wide annual review process, enabled by pilot lessons applied before full rollout.
- Most pilot respondents could represent their work as desired and saw real value in using Symplectic Elements.
What it means: IU now has a single, evolving platform for faculty data instead of duplicated records across systems, and a faculty-centered rollout that built trust and ownership. Symplectic notes that this sense of ownership greatly improves adoption and long-term success.
Measurement note: Based on IU interviews and pilot surveys; the pilot covered nearly 650 faculty in 2024.
We involved faculty from day one. We didn’t wait until the end to show them the system. We engaged them early and often, and we actually made changes based on their feedback. That built trust and a true sense of partnership.
Outlook
What comes next for IU and Symplectic Elements
IU views Elements as an evolving platform, with plans to add post-tenure review, accreditation tracking and expanded reporting after the university-wide annual review launch.
FAQs
How IU approached its Elements rollout
How did IU use pilot feedback before the full rollout?
IU acted on three pilot themes. It identified local Elements Champions with unit-specific instructions, expanded in-system help and short videos, and started annual review preparation earlier with timelines matched to unit review cycles.
Which processes does Symplectic Elements support at IU?
It supports annual review, promotion and tenure, and, new to IU, post-tenure review. It also feeds public web profiles and uses automated scholarly matching, including bi-directional ORCID integration.
Bring faculty-centered design to your university
See how Symplectic Elements can give your institution one source of record for faculty activity.