Standard Activity Model (SAM)
Standard Organization Model (SOM)
Analysis Factors
Data Views
University Characteristics
Benchmarkable Status
Division/School vs. Department
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Internal Administrative Benchmarking Tabs
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Academic Employee Types
The Standard Activity Model (SAM) includes our current areas of administrative staff focus. We estimate the intensity of effort to each of these activities for staff across campus. The definitions of each core activity and sub-activity can be found here. These definitions reflect the most current version of HelioCampus' SAM. If the entry does not apply to a previous year this will be noted at the bottom of the definition and also in the Chart Notes within the benchmarking graphs.
Teaching/Research/Service
Instructing students, and designing, presenting, and implementing courses and curricula. Includes academic program development and providing training on teaching and pedagogical techniques.
Conducting, designing, or coordinating research studies, presenting research at conferences or in written publications, and directing student research. Includes writing grants to secure funding to conduct research when also directly involved in performing that research.
Serving on internal faculty-related task forces and committees, and taking on administrative appointments as leaders of programs or other units. Also includes contributions to professional organizations related to one's field of study, the community at large when related to an academic's area of professional expertise, and taking on editorial roles at professional journals.
See Faculty-Type in the left-hand menu for more specific definitions.
Marketing and Communications
The creation and management of internal and external communications. This includes online marketing and engagement (web pages and social media) for both external and internal audiences.
Public Affairs
Managing communications and relationships with external stakeholders, including the media, government entities (including governing boards), and the local community.
Other
Includes Communications sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, TV/radio broadcasting, production, and technical support; graphic design services; printing services; photography and videography; and document/publishing services.
Alumni Relations
Connecting alumni to the university through publications, programs, services, records management and advocacy.
Fundraising
Raising money for the university such as annual giving, parent giving, major gifts, corporate and foundation donations, principal gifts, and gift planning.
Prospect Management, Research and Analytics
Administering a prospect management system, identifying and evaluating prospective donors, and donor stewardship. Also includes conducting development research, creating reports, briefings, and analytics.
Other
Includes gift processing, as well as other Development sub-activities not separately identified at this time.
Capital Planning and Management
Long-range planning of the physical development of university facilities; establishing architectural criteria for the design and development of facilities; coordinating, supervising and reviewing work of design consultants/architects and construction firms engaged in major capital development projects.
Maintenance and Minor Renovations
Conducting and/or managing maintenance/repair (electrical, HVAC, or plumbing) or minor renovations (minor carpentry projects or painting).
Energy and Utilities
Managing utilities (e.g., electricity, water and sewer infrastructure). Specific activities include management of energy production and distribution, serving as key point of contact with external utility providers, developing strategic plans to reduce energy and water consumption, analyzing statistical data, and recommending policies to reduce utility costs.
Environmental Health and Safety
Managing/overseeing/enforcing programs related to biological safety, chemical safety, air and water quality, laboratory safety, radiation safety, fire prevention, workplace safety, hazardous waste collection and disposal, stormwater management, recycling program management, and occupational health.
Grounds
Maintaining and cleaning of outdoor spaces. Includes picking up loose trash from grounds; plant, cultivate, weed, water, and care for lawns and other green areas; operating lawn care equipment; native area and wetland management; maintaining lawn care equipment and performing miscellaneous sprinkler/irrigation repairs.
Custodial Services
Planning, directing and managing the cleanliness, sanitation and appearance in working and living environments of buildings.
Public Safety
Providing security for faculty, staff, students and visitors on the university campus; police and fire first responders; coordinating building accessibility and safety issues with campus departments; safety education and outreach; crime reporting. Also includes emergency management, including the oversight of central warning systems and the planning, preparation and response to major security and natural disaster emergencies.
Transportation
Transporting individuals and goods; works with local jurisdictions on regional transportation planning issues; coordinates all traffic, parking and transportation on campus properties. Ensures compliance with university parking policies and procedures. Ensures there is a readily available fleet of motor vehicles for appropriate personnel and performing regular maintenance and repairs on motor pool vehicles. Encompasses all transportation modes (vehicles, aircraft, bicycles, etc.).
Other
Includes Facilities related sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, activities such as training, real estate activities, mail services, laboratory/research facility management/operations, and inventory management (including disposition of surplus goods).
Accounts Payable
Processing of invoices for payment; processing of personal reimbursements for payment, including travel; ensuring that university, governmental and legal requirements are met regarding the allowability of payments against fund source types.
Budget and Financial Planning
Preparation and coordination of the annual budget and/or long-term financial plans, including participation in the development of budget guidelines and schedules, identifying budget issues and opportunities, recommending solutions, and coordinating resolutions with departments.
Financial Reporting
Preparation of the university’s annual and interim financial statements; interfacing with external auditors; preparing high-level financial statements and reports for university senior leadership and governing bodies.
General Accounting
Reviewing and analyzing financial transactions recorded in the university’s financial systems; recording of month-end and year-end journal entries; recording of special entries related to construction accounting, trust fund accounting and other specialized areas; processing and recording accounts receivable and billing activities; maintaining the chart of accounts.
Payroll Processing
Processing of on- and off-cycle payrolls; coordinating the correction of payroll errors; approving the posting of payroll transactions and fund source corrections to the general ledger; reporting and processing of payroll withholdings to government agencies; assisting departmental administrators and central human resource staff with the review and analysis of complex payroll and time reporting issues.
Procurement
Management/analysis of spend data to facilitate optimal pricing, oversight of bidding process for the acquisition of goods and services via requests for proposals/information/quotes (RFPs, RFIs, RFQs); handling the paperwork involved with purchasing, managing procurement contracts; ensuring completion of the initial paperwork involved with asset tracking/tagging.
Student Accounts
Submission of invoices to and collection of payments from students, parents and third-parties for tuition and fees.
Other
Includes Finance related sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, activities such as training, treasury, investment, tax management, risk management, internal audit, and P-card management.
Executive Leadership
Providing leadership and direction with respect to strategic planning, resource allocation, and program planning/management. Exercising decision making authority that affects multiple aspects of administration and operations.
Departmental Support
Provision of support in one or more of the following functional areas:
Customer service functions – Front desk receptionist and phone duties, direct customers to appropriate resources, communicate policies and procedures.
Clerical functions – Assistance with forms and related procedures, recordkeeping, filing, data entry/compilation, preparation and dissemination of correspondence and other documents, arranging meetings, clerical support for events/conferences, drafting/disseminating meeting minutes, calendar/appointment management, mail distribution, office supply management, pre-travel coordination/reservations, and post-travel clerical/admin support.
Classroom/Research/Outreach support functions – Coordinating and fulfilling tasks on behalf of instructors, researchers, or outreach coordinators in support of their teaching/research/outreach objectives, such as coordinating classroom/lab/facility space usage, visitor support, and coordinating educational, research, and/or outreach related experiences/events.
Institutional Research
Collecting, maintaining, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting institutional data to support institutional planning, policy formation, and decision-making
Legal Services
Providing and coordinating legal services and general counsel for the university, including legal representation for university leadership, administrators, and faculty.
Benefits
Managing and maintaining employee benefits such as medical, dental, and vision benefits along with retirement savings accounts. Also providing accurate information and education on benefits and programs; responding to staff and vendor inquiries; updating policies and procedures; responding to and resolving employee inquiries and claims issues.
Classification and Compensation
Job classification and compensation policy development and compliance. This includes designing, conducting and participating in salary surveys; performing various analyses for purposes of market pricing, salary program development, variable pay, and pay structures.
Employee and Labor Relations
Ensuring compliance with federal and state labor laws and regulations to ensure consistent application of university policy and the collective bargaining agreements; overseeing employee relations programs.
Hiring (Employment)
Recruitment and selection of university personnel including coordinating employment advertising, developing and completing required employment forms and related documentation, conducting interviews, administering background checks and employment verifications, and facilitating employee separation/termination. This sub-activity can also be referred to as “Employment”.
Training (Talent Management)
Planning & conducting staff orientation; training design and delivery; leadership training and supervisory development; organizational development consulting. This sub-activity can also be referred to as “Talent Management”.
Other
Includes Human Resources related sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, activities such as time and leave reporting, and management of the employee performance appraisal process.
Application Development
Analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, modifying, and maintaining computer programs for administrative, business or research applications. Examples of app dev activities: developing software, building databases, interfacing with users to define system requirements or modifications, debugging, and documenting computer application programs to meet the needs of the user’s system.
Education Technologies
Providing systems and services that support campus teaching and learning, including e-learning. This includes support of computer labs and other multimedia centers, classroom support and virtual meetings and learning.
Infrastructure and Operations
Managing, operating, and maintaining enterprise-level hardware, software, systems, and network infrastructure that provide underlying support for institutional activities. Examples of infrastructure activities: server and database administration, operating system installation and maintenance, storage and system backup and recovery, maintaining networks (fiber and wireless), server virtualization, and computer hardware maintenance.
Security/Privacy
Protecting systems from intentional or inadvertent access, modification, destruction, or disclosure. This includes IT audits, information risk management, compliance with access control (i.e passwords, accounts, and authentication) policies, and specific activities concentrated on protecting the privacy of personal information, such as medical records, financial data, business information and other protected data.
User Support
Interacting with students, faculty, staff and visitors to address information technology problems, questions, and issues with hardware and software, whether through a help desk, call management system, websites, or providing user training/assistance.
Other
Includes Information Technology related sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include general training of IT personnel and software license management.
Pre-Award
Providing administrative support for the negotiation phase of an externally sponsored project, e.g., preparing and submitting grant proposals, and/or determining the Facilities and Administration (F&A) rate, also known as the indirect cost or overhead rate.
Post-Award
Managing financial matters related to an externally sponsored project after an award has been received, such as recording awards in tracking systems, monitoring the finances, ensuring compliance with federal circulars, cost sharing, effort reporting, invoicing and financial reporting.
Research Compliance
Ensuring compliance in the areas of animal care and use (i.e., Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) and human subjects (i.e., Institutional Review Board), as well as the conduct of clinical trials, and conflicts of interest arising from the research enterprise.
Other
Includes Research & Grants Administration sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, management of technology licensing/transfer/commercialization programs and processes.
Academic Advising
Creation of educational plans that are compatible with the personal interests, values, abilities and life goals of students.
Admissions
Student recruiting, e.g., building relations with high schools, community colleges, and other universities; communication and outreach programs with constituents concerning education opportunities at the university; receiving and evaluating admission credentials of applicants to determine eligibility; communicating with students regarding their admissions status.
Career Services
Providing services and resources to help students clarify and attain their career goals; internship and employment search assistance; workshops on job -seeking skills; hosting job fairs; resume services; on-campus interviewing; graduate school preparation assistance; and online internship and job listings and occupational and employer information.
Dining Services
Procurement, preparation and serving of food and beverage.
Diversity
Providing services to traditionally underrepresented segments of the population, e.g. African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, students with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community. Assisting with diversity policy and plan development and monitoring compliance.
Financial Aid
Assisting students and their families with financial resources in the form of needs-based scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study to assist students with paying for their educational expenses; offering guidance and financial counseling to navigate the financial aid processes.
International Programs
Creating and managing international education opportunities, such as study abroad programs or international internship programs. Providing services for international students and scholars, e.g., visa processing and orientation.
Recreational Services
Providing, administering, managing, or assisting in student recreation services or programs, such as intramural sports, club sports, and fitness classes.
Registration
Conducting/managing student registration; maintaining the academic records of all students; issuing official transcripts; awarding degrees; scheduling classes; managing and publishing course catalogs; issuing examination schedules; compliance with probation and re-admission requirements; recording and reporting grades; and determining residency status.
Residential Services
Providing, administering, and managing student housing and / or residential life programs.
Student Engagement
Providing, administering, managing, or assisting with programs, services, activities and events intended to enrich students’ overall experience, such as community service programs, student outreach programs, Greek life, student clubs, and student government. Also includes planning and executing events that are key milestones in a typical student’s college experience, such as student and parent orientation events/programs, as well as commencement ceremonies. In contrast to Recreation Services, this sub-activity does not include services/programs that provide opportunities for physical exercise and/or participation in intramural/club sports.
Tutoring / Learning Support Services
Providing, administering, managing, or assisting with programs and support services that enhance the academic/learning skills of students, such as tutoring services, learning centers, writing skills centers, and programs specializing in support of student athletes.
Other
Includes Student Service sub-activities not separately identified at this time. Examples include, but are not limited to, activities such as student conduct, honors programs and non-academic student seminar programs, e.g., seminars about coping with exam stress, managing personal finances/debt, healthy eating choices, and other general “life skills” topics.
Athletic coaching / training
Health services
Library services
Museum services
Performing arts services
