Projects, Dashboards, and Reports

State Mandated Collection System

Menu

Home

Faculty Instructions

Area Administrator Instructions

Definitions

FAQs

Enter Hours Here: SMCS Portal
Contact the Help Desk: SMCSHelp@psu.edu

FAQs

Closed
1. What is the State Mandated Collection System (SMCS)?

The State Mandated Collection System is a web-based system for collecting average faculty workload hours per week, specifically hours spent in undergraduate and graduate classroom contact, classroom preparation, research, and public service. The SMCS forms include categories of information required by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This data is collected on a semester basis in order to meet reporting requirements.

2. Why do we collect faculty hours?

The collection of faculty hours is a requirement of the legislation. The faculty activity data is reported in both a detail and summary format to the Joint State Government Commission of the State General Assembly.

3. Who receives an SMCS form?

All full-time faculty and academic administrators will have access to a web form. The population is based on the monthly positions as of June, September, and January. Part-time faculty, faculty on sabbatical, graduate assistants, postdocs, fellows and scholars are not required to complete the web form because the legislation does not require these individuals to submit average weekly hours.

4. What is the flow of the SMCS data collection?

The steps for data collection are listed below:

  1. Each semester, the SMCS website will be made available by OPAIR.
  2. The SMCS Area Administrator will notify each individual when the website is available for data input.
  3. Each individual completes the form.
  4. After the forms have been completed, SMCS Area Administrator runs the edit report and corrects any errors.
  5. SMCS Area Administrator mails a signed signature report to OPAIR for final semester verification.
5. What if a person is on Sabbatical or another type of leave of absence?

If a person is on Sabbatical or another type of leave, we do not report hours or FTE for that person (even if they are on a paid leave). A person on Sabbatical or another type of leave will not be in the SMCS collection process until they are removed from an On Leave status.

6. What do I do with the SMCS form if the person dies, retires, or terminates their position during the semester?

Please check “No” in item 1 for the question “Did you perform any of the activities below?”.

7. What if I am a faculty and have more questions that can't be found on this page?

Contact your SMCS Area Administrator.

8. What if I am the SMCS Area Administrator and need more information to answer a faculty member's question?

Contact the OPAIR point of contact at SMCSHelp@psu.edu.

9. Can I report "preparation" hours on my form for the upcoming semester?

Yes, report the hours under the category “Instructional Support” .

10. Can I report Class Prep hours without having Class Contact hours?

If the class prep hours are for the current semester, there must be class contact hours reported. If the class prep hours are for another semester, they should be reported as “Instructional Support”.

11. If I make an error on my form can I correct my mistake?

Yes. Simply reopen the web page, make any desired correction and submit the form.

12. Does a faculty member who teaches non-credit courses have to fill out the web form?

No. The legislation only requires credit courses to be reported.

13. If an instructor is not being paid is the web form required?

No. Only full-time faculty members are required to fill out a form.

14. What do I do if my total hours are over 80?

A supporting reason must be entered in the comment box at the bottom of the form. The maximum hours allowed is 99.

15. If a person is training at a business through the IPA Agreement(Intergovernmental Personnel Act), how should their hours be reported?

Their hours should be reported under “Research”.

16. What should be done if a faculty member is not on the list provided on the website?

The SMCS Area Administrator should contact the OPAIR point of contact at SMCSHelp@psu.edu.

17. Who should join our LISTSERV?

Anyone can join, but this LISTSERV is primarily used to send process reminders and notices to the contacts in the College/Schools. Click here to join our list SMCS Contact Information LISTSERV.