University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

1. University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey (AAS)

2. Background to the TRAC • TRansparent Approach to Costing began in 1998. • A condition of release of £1.5bn additional funding, and of our ability to charge “top-up” fees. • The first compulsory TRAC reporting was in January 2000. • TRAC is the basis for Full Economic Costing of Research (FEC) • TRAC is descriptive not prescriptive • Required by HEFCE but also useful more generally University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

3. Use of Public Resources University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

4. Research Expenditure £530m University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

5. Teaching Expenditure £197m University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

6. University Surplus and Deficits University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

7. What has AAS to do with all this? • AAS covers Academic staff only • Academic activity broadly represents University activity • £97m of costs (“Core” staff salaries) are directly attributed to activity according to AAS. • £244m of costs influenced by the AAS (e.g. Departmental support costs). University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

8. The Process • 140 academics are asked to complete a weekly timesheet per month • Sampling based on PINs ensure there is no bias • Oxford academics have largely self-determined working practices. So we collect data 52 weeks per year. • Not because there is a requirement to work 52 weeks! • A rolling Database is maintained. • No links to any other individual Records University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

9. Facts and Stats Since July 2005: • 5,752 requests have been made resulting in 4,842 responses.. • The overall response rate is 84%. • 3% of academics have explicitly refused • Trinity Term produces the lowest response rate University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

10. Analysis of Termly Response Rates University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

11. Red Tape and Reminders • Data Protection Act • Letters sent 2 weeks prior to collection week. • An email is sent just before the collection week to confirm start date. • 2 weeks after the collection week, a reminder email is sent. • 3 further reminders sent if no response is received. University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

12. Anonymity • The small Costing team never share AAS returns with anyone • Feedback to departments or divisions show aggregated results only. • Individual departmental data for small departments are not made available. • Annual download provides analysis and informs cost driver creation. • TRAC Families – we compare cognate subjects to provide subject families and for internal validation University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

13. Reminder Responses University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

14. Why your co-operation is so important • Keeping the database up-to-date to reflect current activities. • Maintaining confidence and trust about Oxford’s approach. • Recognising the growing importance of TRAC analysis in influencing Government policy. University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

15. Did you know? • AAS submissions show that Oxford academics work, on average, a total of 54 hours per working week. • Of these hours 27% is Teaching, 52% Research and 8% Other activities. The remaining 13% is Support time. • Each hour of lecture time requires 4.3 hours of support time. • For every hour of externally sponsored research, academics undertake 1.3 hours of un-sponsored research and 45 minutes of research support. • Oxford academics work very hard! University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

16. How can we improve? • How can we improve our response rate of 84% ? • Fewer rounds of reminders = reduced response rate? • Help us to persuade the 3% who refuse to take part ? • Could the form or the website be improved? (http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/trac/aas.shtml) • Please let us have your ideas… University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey

17. Contact details • The AAS email address is monitored daily: Email:AAS@admin.ox.ac.uk Team members: • Alyson Bateman – Costing & Pricing Accountant/TRAC Manager Email: alyson.bateman@admin.ox.ac.uk Telephone: (01865-6)16038 • Sue Pedersen – AAS scheme administrator Email: susan.pedersen@admin.ox.ac.uk Telephone: (01865–6)16008 • James Boon – Financial Modeller Email: james.boon@admin.ox.ac.uk Telephone: (01865-6)16044 University of Oxford Academic Activity Survey