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Frequently Asked Questions

General questions

What are the steps to get up and running?

There are seven simple steps to setting-up ActivityInsight:

  1. Send a copy of any reports you would like to run on the teaching, research and service activities of your faculty and staff to Digital Measures.
  2. We use the reports you sent to add screens and fields to a base set of data that we know you will likely need to collect. Elements in the base ”set” of data include such items as, for presentations, the title of the presentation, where it was presented, who presented, and the date it was presented.
  3. You beta test ActivityInsight with as many people as you like, entering data into the system and seeing how things come out on reports. Changes are made to the system and you can again test the system until you deem that it is ready to be used.
  4. Load data into ActivityInsight from other databases, or connect ActivityInsight to other databases in ”real-time”.
  5. If you would like to use it, put single sign-on in place to make it more convenient to access ActivityInsight. This makes it so your faculty and staff no longer need a separate username and password to get into ActivityInsight. Making it easy to get into ActivityInsight will encourage more frequent use of the system.
  6. If you would like to have them do so, individuals can begin entering data on your faculty and staff's behalf.
  7. Your faculty and staff begin entering their data. An email can be sent by ActivityInsight to let them know how to access the system.
How many years of data must be entered into ActivityInsight?

Digital Measures recommends that every new client thoroughly consider the number of years of data they need their faculty to enter into the system at initial setup. The amount of buy-in that will be received for an initiative is very much a function of the amount of work people are required to perform to comply with the initiative. The amount of work that must be done to make ActivityInsight valuable to your campus is dependent on the number of years of historical data that you will want to have within ActivityInsight. While entire vitas can certainly be entered, the final decision on how much data you would like to include is entirely up to you.

Many of our clients ask their faculty to enter between one to ten years of data because they need reports on data from only this period of time. Perhaps an accreditation site visit taking place in three years will require reports on the last ten years of faculty and staff activities. This would give reason for importing or entering data into ActivityInsight from the previous seven years. Many of our clients also choose to begin by asking their faculty to only keep track of their activities for the current academic year and then maintain that data on a going-forward basis. Many of our clients maintain entire vitas within ActivityInsight.

Why should we not build a system such as ActivityInsight in-house?

There are several good reasons to use ActivityInsight instead of building your own system. Three of them are:

  • ActivityInsight is ready to use immediately and is rich with features. You benefit from Digital Measures' experience working with hundreds of other campuses. Instead of spending your resources building a system from scratch, you can use them to customize ActivityInsight to be exactly as you want it. You are able to focus on the implementation, use, and extraction of data from ActivityInsight rather than the construction of it.
  • Most campus IT organizations do not prefer to build software solutions in-house. Creating software solutions entails significant time, expense and resources dedicated to their design, construction and maintenance. It seems to be a far better use of resources to focus a campus' IT organization on supporting and extending functionality in solutions such as ActivityInsight.
  • ActivityInsight eliminates any downside of working with a vendor for this type of solution instead of building it in-house. The common "downsides" of working with a vendor for this type of solution are:
    • The data from the vendor's system is in a proprietary file format that can only be used with the vendor's software, locking you into use of the vendor's software
    • The data in the vendor's system cannot be used in real-time by other software that your campus uses, isolating your data and creating a "data island" where the data is locked away.
    • If the vendor stops providing the service, your data will be lost
    ActivityInsight effectively combats these concerns. All of Digital Measures' clients can obtain full downloads of all their data in comma-delimited or XML files at all times, ensuring clients always have access to all data and that the data can be used in other systems. Further, your other software systems can "talk" with ActivityInsight because of Digital Measures' use of web services.
What resources do we need to implement ActivityInsight?

We recommend that a campus administrator oversee the implementation of ActivityInsight campus-wide. This will not need to be the person's sole responsibility, and the time commitment will drop significantly after implementation. Note that your campus administrator should have some technical background, as this is a software system.

We also recommend having each school or college appoint an administrator. This role is commonly filled by someone with knowledge of the reporting requirements of the school/college such as an associate/assistant dean. This is typically just one of the responsibilities of the person and is not a full or perhaps even part time role. If desired, your campus administrator can also fulfill this role for your school or college; this decision is up to you.

What is the advantage of using ActivityInsight?

Once your faculty and staff's activity information has been entered just once into ActivityInsight, it never again needs to be re-entered. After the information is in the system, you can then use ActivityInsight to generate reports for all of your stakeholders. Faculty and staff never again need to be asked on a one-off basis for this information for every individual report that you need to prepare, such as for accreditation, promotion, tenure, performance appraisals, and media surveys. Further, all academic units on your campus get the exact reports they need for their purposes because ActivityInsight supports customizations on a unit-by-unit basis. ActivityInsight lends itself well to the "decentralized" nature of most campuses.

How do we get faculty to keep their data current?

There are several things you can do to increase user buy-in:

  • Load as much data as possible from other systems.
  • Make it just one click in a highly visible place to access ActiviActivityt. By making it simple for your faculty to access the system, there is greater likelihood that they will.
  • Do not make them enter their entire CV in first year. Instead, build the database over time. For example, in the first year ask them to enter the current year's information. In the second year, ask for the previous three years. In the third year, ask for the previous five years.
  • If you cannot wait to build the database over time, then hire data entry workers to do the work for your faculty. Granted, your faculty will still need to enter the information that these other people do not know, such as whether publications are peer-reviewed, however they can enter a great deal of information.
  • Ensure faculty see the benefit relative to their time. Point out the fact that they must already prepare annual activity reports, and documents if they want promotion, tenure, merit pay increases, awards/honors, and more. And point out the fact that administrative reports must be prepared for accreditation, your state/system, institutional research (such as the Delaware Study), media sources (such as U.S. News), and more. The key idea is to enter the information once and use it many times.
Is the initial setup period the only opportunity we have to customize ActivityInsight?

No. You may revise the data you collect within ActivityInsight and the reports that you can build with it at any time.

How secure is ActivityInsight?

Digital Measures has taken many steps to create a safe environment for your information while still making it easy for you to securely access it. All data are collected over a SSL-encrypted connection, the industry-standard method of transferring sensitive information. All of Digital Measures' servers are managed by Sun Microsystems and are running in a Sun Microsystems-owned datacenter. All data is securely backed up every night to five geographically-dispersed locations owned by Sun Microsystems and Iron Mountain. In addition, Digital Measures is registered with and certified by the United States Department of Commerce as compliant with the Safe Harbor Principles in effect between the European Union and the U.S.

Who owns my data and what can Digital Measures do with it?

All data provided by and collected for your campus by Digital Measures are solely owned by your campus. As per the terms in Digital Measures' standard service agreement, your data cannot be disclosed, reused, sold, or disseminated in any way by Digital Measures. Further, per our standard service agreement, we legally agree to take steps to protect your confidential data just as we would any confidential data belonging to us.

Is ActivityInsight Section 508-compliant?

Yes. Individuals with disabilities will have no problem using ActivityInsight.

Regarding reporting

We have custom reports that need to be pulled from ActivityInsight. Can this be done?

Yes. Here are the ways this can be done:

  • Send Digital Measures a detailed sample report as a Microsoft™ Word or Excel file, and we'll build the report into the system for you. Custom reports contain the same exact text, formatting and layout as the reports you send.
  • Use ActivityInsight's Ad Hoc Reporting tool. This tool makes it easy to get data out of the system on an as-needed basis.
Can we prepare CVs with ActivityInsight?

Yes. Digital Measures can custom-build the CV formats you would like to have in ActivityInsight. You can also use one of our "out-of-the-box" vitas.

Who can see data in ActivityInsight and reports generated from it?

The short answer to this question is "You." Our clients each set their own user permissions for the faculty, staff and administrators on their campus. Security can be assigned in nearly any way you desire. The typical security configuration most campuses use is similar to this:

  • Faculty and staff are only able to run reports on their own data
  • Several designated individuals are able to run reports for the individuals in each department. You may also desire that these same people, or alternate people, be able to modify data in the system for this department
  • Several designated individuals are able to run reports for the individuals in each college or school. You may also desire that these same people, or alternate people, be able to modify data in the system for this college or school
  • Several designated individuals are able to run reports for everyone on campus. You may also desire that these same people, or alternate people, be able to modify data in the system for everyone on campus
Can we prepare different custom reports per academic unit?

Yes. Custom reports can be built into the system for each of your academic units. This allows each of your colleges or schools to produce custom annual activity reports and CVs, for example.

Can we submit new reports to be built into the system even after the set-up period?

Yes. You may add, revise and remove reports at any time.

Working with data

How do we bring data into ActivityIInsight from other systems?

Simply submit an import file in comma-delimited (.csv) format or a file that meets these two conditions:

  • Every column in the file needs to "map" to exactly one field in the system
  • Every row in the file needs to have a unique identifier that matches an account in the system (new accounts can always be created)

This will enable you to use data from your campus student information system such as Banner, Datatel, PeopleSoft, or SIS+.

How do we access data in ActivityInsight with other systems?

Digital Measures supports an open standard referred to as "web services." The purpose of web services is to allow systems to "talk" with one another. For example, this allows you to connect ActivityInsight to your campus website to maintain profiles of your faculty and staff that are always up-to-date. If a faculty member adds an item to ActivityInsight such as a research grant, the item immediately shows up on the person's profile on your website in real-time.

How can we get data out of ActivityInsight?

There are four ways to get data out of ActivityInsight:

  • Custom reports


    Digital Measures makes it easy for you to build complex, custom reports for your accrediting bodies, campus and other stakeholders. Because Digital Measures digitizes the actual reports you need to prepare and uses the same specific data elements, calculations and formatting of the reports that you provide to us, building these reports is no longer a chore. When you click to run a report with ActivityInsight, the report is then built in real-time using all data entered as of that instant.

  • Ad hoc reports


    ActivityInsight's ad hoc reporting tool allows you to easily select the exact data elements you would like from those collected in the system. You can select the date range and whether you want to include data from all of your faculty and staff or only data from particular colleges, schools, departments or units.

  • Back-up all of your data


    Even though Digital Measures partners with Sun Microsystems and Iron Mountain to make five back ups of all client data every night, we still think it is a good idea for each of our clients to periodically download and store a full copy of their data. ActivityInsight makes it easy to automatically download a full copy of all your data on a periodic basis. The data back ups are in comma-separated value (.csv) file format which you can then save to other databases and software applications.

  • Web services


    Digital Measures supports an open standard referred to as "web services." The purpose of web services is to allow systems to "talk" with one another. For example, this allows you to connect ActivityInsight to your campus website to maintain profiles of your faculty and staff that are always up-to-date. If a faculty member adds an item to ActivityInsight such as a research grant, the item immediately shows up on the person's profile on your website in real-time.
Can we use data from ActivityInsight in CourseResponse?

Yes. An example of this is if you use both ActivityInsight and CourseResponse, our online course evaluation solution. Using both solutions together would integrate your course evaluation results with your faculty and staff's annual activity reports.

Can we load data into ActivityInsight even after the initial setup period?

Yes. You may load data as often and whenever you would like.

How long does the data we put in ActivityInsight remain in the system?

All information entered into ActivityInsight is always available. Even though your faculty and staff change over time, keeping information for those individuals who are no longer with your campus is still important for preparing accurate historical reports on your campus' productivity.

ActivityInsight

1,500 colleges and schools across the globe use this software to manage critical information pertaining to faculty productivity, assessment, and accreditation. It's the most reliable, versatile and secure web-based solution available for bringing out your university's full potential.

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