Overview
Binghamton University's faculty biography pages are professional pages that present faculty members' education and research interests to prospective students, the campus community, peer institutions and the public.
What is typically included on faculty bio pages
- Education (degree attained, year and institution name and location; follow your school's method for listing these either chronologically or with most recent first)
- Brief biography, written in third person
- Teaching interests/focus
- Research interests/focus
- List of research centers or labs the faculty member directs/leads
- Contact information
- High-resolution professional headshot
- Link(s) to a repository for additional information and/or to a CV (such as Google Scholar, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, PubMed, etc.)
Why are faculty bios written in third person?
There are two primary reasons the University presents faculty biographies in third person.
The first is to facilitate the use of biographical information for multiple purposes, such as membership listings, conference listings, publication submissions, etc., where first-person presentation would be inappropriate. By providing a biography in third person, colleagues/collaborators can easily copy/paste information as presented.
The second reason is for uniformity across Binghamton University websites.
What is best to leave off
As professional pages on the official Binghamton University website, it's recommended that faculty bio pages don't include:
- Information about the faculty member's family, pets, hobbies, etc.
- Links to nonprofessional social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
- Lists of courses being taught/regularly taught (the page will be accurate longer if these aren't included)
- Office hours; instead list office hours on Blackboard (myCourses), which is accessible only to students, for whom this information is intended, rather than the public
Bio pages are typically created for
Biography pages are available for tenure-track faculty members; non-tenure track faculty are typically included in listings of faculty, but are typically not provided with biography pages. However, exceptions can be made; talk to your school's communications manager, listed below, if you'd like an exception.
Where bio page information comes from
These pages are automatically created from information in various databases (including the Telecommunications Directory) and data submitted to the University Provost's office. Additional information can be provided to the communications manager assigned to the school where the faculty member's department resides (see list below); the communications manager can help determine if the information is acceptable for publishing.
Faculty bio page sections
| Name, position title(s), email, phone number and office location |
All information is generated from the official listing in the Binghamton University Directory, managed by University Telecommunications. Faculty and staff are contacted annually via their binghamton.edu email address to make updates to their directory listing. NOTE: If you have multiple titles or offices, contact your school's communications manager to discuss. |
| Photo/headshot | All profile photos should be high-resolution (300 dpi jpeg). Communications and Marketing offers appointments for headshots during New Faculty Orientation in August. Photography Services offers tips on taking your own headshot. |
| Brief biography | Submit a brief bio (written in third person) to your school's communications manager. This will be edited to ensure it conforms to University style. |
| Education/degrees, teaching interest/focus, research interests/focus | This information is generated from data submitted to the University Provost's office; be sure to check it for accuracy and report errors to your school's communications manager. |
| Profiles on professional search engines or repository sites | The page can have external sites (i.e., Google Scholar, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, PubMed)
linked to it; it is recommended to use these external sites to present data on publications. |
| Awards, honors, publications, presentations, etc. | A curriculum vitae (CV) or résumé can be posted to the bio page by the school's communications manager. If requesting a CV be posted, provide an updated CV annually to the communications manage to ensure information is up-to-date. |
How to update your faculty page
Faculty members or designated web persons can update faculty pages by submitting a Creative Services Project Request, which will be routed to the school's communications manager. The request should detail which section should be updated, and include content, links and/or appropriate attachments.
