The Unit Stability Update is submitted each year by the Unit Head in conjunction with the Dean.  It consists of two questions and provides an opportunity for Units to reflect on any trends occurring in the Unit (a fill-in-the-box online form).  The administration will provide each unit with a suite of Monitored Metrics.  These metrics are updated annually and are available to all faculty in the Unit at any time.  Having accurate and meaningful metrics facilitates an effective decision making process aimed to best utilize the resources available to support the goals of the Unit.

The Unit Stability Update serves multiple goals: 

1. To ensure that faculty are aware of how the metrics in the Unit are changing over time (such as scheduling and cost).  For example, even in a unit with no changes in faculty or SCH, the costs will gradually rise as faculty pay increases.  In Units with turnover of faculty and changes in scheduling, the impacts may be much more complicated and may result in unanticipated consequences.  
2. To provide each Unit the opportunity to annually engage with their Dean on how trends in the data may impact their Unit long term, and – where appropriate – for the Unit to identify steps being taken to increase the long-term stability of the Unit.  The hope is that by engaging annually all parties are aware of any emerging trends and can work constructively to address them before they become problematic.  Likewise good trends may be enhanced and celebrated.   
3. To ensure transparency between the Unit and the Dean.  Because the Unit Stability Update and the College Feedback are archived, they may be referenced by anyone in the Unit and they can be reference when there are changes in leadership.   
4. To critically evaluate the metrics to assure they are accurate and meaningful.  Calculations and methodologies may change and it is important that the Unit Head not assume they are correct.  Furthermore, the Unit Stability Update consists of an upload of all the metrics which serves as an archive for future reference.  

The Unit Stability Update should be completed by the Unit Head in consultation with the Unit and your Dean during the winter semester (although it can be submitted over the summer with permission from the Dean).  A pdf version of the Monitored Metrics must be submitted as part of the Unit Stability Update.  If a Unit has a Monitored Metric outside a defined range (the FSBC performs an Annual Examination of Unit Stability Metrics), the chair of FSBC will notify the Provost and Dean.  The Unit Stability Update provides a platform for a Unit to explain a flagged trend or unusual metric (and provides an opportunity to assure the metrics are accurate and meaningful).  In addition to those metrics about which FSBC requests an explanation, the Unit should comment on any metric that appears to be trending in a direction that may be considered unsustainable or otherwise noteworthy.  In other words please do not limit your comments to flagged metrics and Units are expected to provide some commentary even if no metrics were flagged.

The FSBC review of the Unit Stability Update and College Feedback is intended to assure a thoughtful examination of the metrics.  The committee may provide commentary and suggestions but in most cases will be limited to a response from a drop down menu. 

The FSBC review of the Unit Stability Update menu responses are:

• We thank the Unit for providing the Unit Stability Update and hope that the archived metrics and narrative will be a useful reference.
• Unit reflection was considered limited and FSBC considers it a missed opportunity to provide an archived narrative related to the flagged Unit Stability Metrics.
• No Unit Stability Update was submitted at the time of the FSBC review.

The FSBC review of the Feedback from the College menu responses are:

• We thank the College for providing the Unit feedback we hope that the archived narrative will be a useful reference.
• College feedback provided was considered limited and a missed opportunity to provide an archived narrative of the Unit from the College perspective.
• No feedback was provided from the College at the time of the FSBC review.
• There appears to be a discrepancy between the Unit Stability Update and the Feedback from the College; we encourage further discussion between the Unit and the College about this update.

The Unit Stability Update and its associated feedback will be used in resource allocation, program reviews and other planning efforts. 

Other Relevant Information

Information on the University Budget is available HERE.

Information on other steps the FSBC is taking to enhance Unit Stability is available HERE. 

The trends for the University and each College in the Distribution of Faculty & Credit Hour Production is available HERE.