Original Charge
Note: This Original Charge was superseded with a revised charge on January 29, 2010.
Faculty Evaluation Task Force
Few things could be more important to the life of an institution of higher education than faculty evaluation. Many things could be as important, but few could be more important. Faculty evaluation determines who our departmental colleagues will be – likely for a lifetime. Therefore, faculty evaluation should
- Be meaningful – both for those undergoing review and for those conducting the review;
- Result in information about, evidence of, and clarity regarding the value of the work in which faculty engage;
- Enable reviewers at all levels to evaluate – meaningfully – the work of said faculty;
- Provide opportunities for formative as well as summative evaluation, especially for tenure-track faculty; and
- Yield decisions all participants to the review can understand, even in cases of disagreement.
Charge to the Task Force:
- Develop a consensus of purpose:
- Clarify reason(s) for reviewing the current faculty evaluation processes and content as articulated in the Handbook for Professional Personnel;
- Determine purpose(s) for “new and improved” faculty evaluation system, including process and content;
- Review current faculty evaluation system – processes and content – and articulate its strengths and weaknesses;
- Evaluate organizational context, e.g.,
- College mission, philosophy, and practice;
- Nature of faculty work;
- Additional components, e.g., legal requirements; infrastructure capabilities; connections to compensation, tenure, and promotion;
- Research and identify options for change – remembering to “adapt not adopt”!
- Review relevant literature;
- Consider a survey;
- Review faculty evaluation systems at comparable campuses;
- Agree on categories and weighting, e.g., teaching, research and creative activities, service;
- Agree on sources of data for each category, e.g., student evaluations, syllabi review, etc.;
- Agree on general standards of effective performance in each category and develop College, School, and/or Departmental standards;
- Agree on data compilation and management
- Mode of data compilation – e.g., portfolio, digital, etc.
- How frequently is data collected and reviewed;
- Who controls raw data;
- Who has access to data;
- Who analyzes and summarizes what kinds of data;
- How is data – analyses and summaries – fed back to relevant parties to the evaluation?
- Develop protocols for each data source for each category of evaluation:
- Develop protocols for assessing faculty in each category of evaluation;
- Conduct mini-beta tests of desired approach;
- Legal review;
- Infrastructural review.
- Garner Approvals from All Levels
- Faculty;
- Faculty Senate;
- Administration; and
- Board of Trustees.
- Conduct Pilot Test:
- Determine group for pilot testing;
- Conduct test;
- “Fix” glitches;
- Initiate full implementation;
- Communicate, communicate, communicate!
- Throughout the process communicate what is happening;
- Solicit ideas and feedback;
- Engage affected communities.
