Some suggestions for candidates:
1. DO make use of existing resources. Be sure to consider which models best match your unit requirements and use all or portions of those that fit well with your goals. Here are a few to explore:
a. IUB Institutional Fact Sheet (click link for downloadable pdf) this describes the changes that occurred at IUB and in the surrounding community in response to the pandemic. Faculty may include this in annual review materials to demonstrate impact and identify restrictions that are relevant to their own work.
b. UMASS ADVANCE guidance for impact statements (HERE)
c. Some schools have developed checklists to summarize impacts. If your unit does not require/provide this, it may be helpful to incorporate portions of existing models into your own statements. (Checklist for IUPUI: HERE; and the checklist for the College of Arts and Sciences HERE.)
2. DO include events/invitations that were planned but cancelled or delayed on your CV and elsewhere. Mark these clearly and consistently (e.g., “delayed until April 2021”, “cancelled due to COVID”, etc.).
3. DO frame modifications, transitions, and adaptation to pandemic-related challenges as achievement (e.g., shifted final 6 weeks of instruction to virtual, developed new virtual assessments, added approximately 5 additional mentoring hours per week to accommodate struggling students, developed new skills to deliver video lectures, etc.)
4. DO include shifts in research/creative activity (e.g., shifted focus to editorial work until travel is permitted, took time to gain proficiency with digital archive, converted to virtual exhibit, etc.), even in cases where deliverables may be forthcoming.
5. DO include mentoring and service activities that might otherwise not be visible (e.g., added approximately 3 “office” hours per week for graduate student support, facilitated requests for emergency funding for 3 students, participated in round table on social justice, etc.) in addition to formal service assignments.
6. Some units will provide guidance about whether individuals may include personal information in their impact statements. In cases where this is encouraged, DO feel free to include as much or as little detail about your personal responsibilities as you wish. You may choose to indicate the ages of children, the nature of disruptions, cohabitation with an elder who requires care, or you may wish to make global statements, such as “The closures of public schools have reduced my work time by 75%”. Please be certain that you understand the expectations of your unit and comply with local guidance about inclusion/exclusion of this information.
