2026 Annual Faculty Review (AFR) Support
The fall 2026 Annual Faculty Review (AFR) process will build on the successful launch of the Faculty and Librarian Success Portal (FLSP) and incorporate the new Faculty and Librarian Workflow System (FLWS). As before, faculty will curate professional activities in FLSP and, new this year, submit the AFR through FLWS for review. To aid in this transition, Academic HR and the Office of the Provost will be providing training and support.
- Begin to enter your data yourself in the Faculty and Librarian Success Portal (FLSP). To help you through this new process, you can find a General Navigation Guide on the Training Video and Guides page under the section Fall 2026: Start Here.
- Join the AFR Submission Town Hall on Thursday, September 24 at 10:00 am. No advance registration is required.
- Zoom link: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/97349566781
- Webinar ID: 973 4956 6781
- Sign up for a "Telling Your Story" session with the Office of Faculty Development with sessions designed for both TT and NTT faculty.
- Join a weekly office hours and training session held Wednesdays between 3:00 and 4:00 pm, September 16 - October 14, 2026. No reservation is needed to join the Teams events.
- Questions or need additional support? Email @email.
- What is the Faculty Success Project?
- Project Status
- Project Team, Organization, and Contacts
- Telling Your Story in the New AFR
What is the Faculty Success Project?
The Faculty Success Project is a multi-year cross-campus modernization initiative. The project team were charged with launching a robust system which would allow UMass Amherst faculty and librarians to accurately track their research, teaching, and service efforts to allow for distribution across multiple digital channels and create efficiency for processes such as the Annual Faculty Review (AFR) and Annual Librarian Review (ALR).
Guiding Principles
The Faculty Success Team established the following guiding principles for this project:
- A single point of entry represents an ideal state for the faculty user interface
- Facilitation of faculty research, networking, CV development, scholarly and artistic activity, as well as annual faculty review
- Faculty to retain control over their public profiles
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting
- Wherever possible, reduce the administrative burden (of both staff and faculty) via processes and systems interface
- Customization to be kept at a minimum to reduce impact on future IT support
- The implementation process and communication is broad, open, and inclusive
- Solutions should be agile and responsive to future business needs and requirement
Project Status
We’re Live!
The Faculty and Librarian Success Portal launched in 2025, marking a major milestone in our commitment to improving usability and functionality for faculty. This go-live reflects the successful implementation of the Advisory Committee’s feedback, which shaped key areas such as navigation and end-user experience.
You can read the full go-live announcement here.
For those who want to revisit the journey, we invite you to review a full timeline of the project, access an information session PowerPoint or watch a public zoom presentation (Passcode: Q6fEsPj=) from April 14, 2025 which includes details on the AFR report configuration leading up to launch.
Project Team and Organization
See the full project team and organization.
Telling Your Story in the New AFR
The Annual Faculty Report (AFR) and Annual Librarian Report (ALR) is an opportunity for faculty and librarians to showcase their teaching, advising, research and creative activity, outreach, and service as appropriate to their appointment. It is a way to reflect on your work’s impact and meaning and to share that story with departmental and other colleagues during annual review, contract renewal, and promotion.