What is the Academic Personnel Census?

The Academic Personnel Census is a data set generated annually by the Office of Academic Personnel (OAP) to support a wide range of reporting requirements both within the OAP and for central business units University-wide.

Who is included?

The census includes academic personnel who meet one or both of the following criteria:

  • A primary academic appointment that is effective on October 31 of the census year
  • A position in the Academic Personnel job family group that is effective on October 31 of the census year

“Effective on October 31 of the census year” means that the start date is on or before October 31, and the end date is on or after October 31.

 How is it used?

The Academic Personnel Census is used as the data source for a number of annual reports (see below) so a complete and accurate data set is a high priority. Each year several weeks are spent cleaning data in preparation for pulling the AP Census.

Examples of reports generated and data requests filled using the Academic Personnel Census

  • OAP Fact Sheet
  • The national Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) report, which gathers information from every post-secondary institution participating in federal student financial aid programs
  • American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Faculty Salary Survey
  • Office of Planning and Budgeting (OPB) Faculty Dashboard
  • Affirmative Action Plan (governed by the OFCCP)
  • Campus requests for faculty data
  • Public requests for faculty data submitted via the Public Records Office

How is the census built?

Three sets of data are combined to build the census:

  1. A list of all active primary academic appointments on October 31
  2. A list of all positions in the Academic Personnel job family group effective on October 31
  3. A list of all primary positions in Workday effective on October 31

The data is then validated using the OAP appointment guidance tool, Sextant, with a specific focus on:

  • Valid appointment identifiers
  • Valid academic appointing units
  • Valid position/appointment mappings

If you have questions about the Academic Personnel Census and/or to request data, please contact acaddata@uw.edu.