SUBJECT: PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES FOR MERIT EVALUATION OF FACULTY

APPLICABILITY: FACULTY

The goal of these principles and procedures is to ensure equity and uniformity in merit evaluations of faculty. These principles and procedures are consistent with the Policy Statement on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure, University Policy and Academic Promotions Procedures for Renewal of Probationary Appointments and the Granting of Tenure, Promotion and Tenure Recommendations, Guidelines for Faculty Participation in Instructional Units and policy Statements on Departmental Personnel Administrations. The statement is intended to expand the portions of those documents that deal with merit evaluation and salary increases and to be part of a comprehensive process that results in a fair and equitable evaluation of faculty, while rewarding quality performance.

The University offers equal employment opportunities and does not discriminate against any employee for merit evaluation and salary increases because of sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, disability, disabled veteran status, or Vietnam Era veteran status in keeping with the University's Affirmative Action Policy of nondiscrimination, Federal and State employment laws and regulations, and the regulations of the University.

Principles

1.  The university recognizes the need for a performance evaluation system that identifies, assesses and improves the performance of its faculty. The evaluation process must incorporate guidelines that promote the university’s goals of excellence in teaching, scholarly, creative and professional activities, and service, while recognizing the unique nature and diversity of its academic units. To achieve these goals, guidelines must be established, and evaluations must be conducted in a manner that serves the special missions, objectives and needs of both the university and its academic units.

2.  The varied nature of the academic disciplines, coupled with specialization within disciplines, dictates that the faculty participates in the preparation of such guidelines.

3.  It is further recognized that evaluation of faculty is properly a peer process that should be cooperative, collegial and continuing.

4.  Faculty performance evaluation procedures should:

1. involve faculty members in the design and evaluation of the objectives and goals of their academic programs and in the identification of the performance expectations central to the personal and professional growth of each faculty member;
2. assess, through peer review, performance and accomplishments in the areas of teaching, scholarly, creative, and professional activities; and service;
3. provide a written record of faculty performance to support personnel decisions regarding promotion, tenure, retention, merit salary increases, development leaves and re-employment;
4. provide an opportunity for each faculty member to be counseled regularly regarding his or her performance in the areas of teaching; scholarly, creative and professional activities; and services;
5. recognize the contributions of faculty members to the goals of the university by articulating the types of contributions that the faculty can make toward the achievement of those goals.

Procedures

1. The performance, progress and potential of each faculty member will be formally reviewed on a scheduled basis at least once every 12 months.

1. For continuing faculty members, merit salary increases shall be based on the record of a faculty member’s activity in the current calendar year in which the academic year began, plus the preceding two years. Use of this time period will lessen both the impacts of temporary aberrations in a faculty member’s usual productivity and differences in funds available for faculty salaries. The three-year evaluation period shall be phased in where applicable.
2. During the first year of service, a faculty should normally receive a minimum merit raise at least equal to the average merit raise in the department or division, excluding raises awarded for special purposes. In its criteria for evaluating faculty, the department or division shall provide procedures and criteria for evaluating newly hired faculty members after the first year of service.

2. Each school, college, department and division, with faculty participation, shall develop written evaluation criteria and procedures for evaluating faculty members for merit salary increases. The procedures should include a description of the documents that must be submitted in order for a faculty member to be evaluated for a merit increase. Criteria for merit salary increases must include teaching effectiveness; scholarly, creative and professional growth; and service activities. The criteria shall articulate the types of activities that may be included in each area and must be consistent with the criteria stated in the Policy Statement on Academic Workloads and Principles and Procedures for Promotions and Tenure Recommendations. Criteria and evaluations within each academic unit shall be flexible enough to meet the objectives of each unit while conforming to university-wide guidelines.

1. An effective teacher establishes an environment conducive to learning and uses appropriate instructional and interpersonal skills to educate students and to motivate them to continue learning. Evaluation of teaching effectiveness should be as comprehensive as possible. The process must include a systematic assessment of student opinion and input from peers and the department chair and may include assessment by other knowledgeable persons. Evaluators should consider the faculty member’s activity in advising students, in supervising graduate students, and in other instructionally related activities. Faculty members themselves also must have the opportunity to contribute information that they consider relevant to evaluating their effectiveness as university instructors. Examples, not inclusive, of additional information that a faculty member may wish to have considered are: peer observations; pedagogical articles and presentations; factors that may bear on student opinion such as level of course, size of enrollment, and whether the course is required; a statement of teaching philosophy; self-evaluation statement; syllabi, examinations, projects, and grading practices; thesis and dissertation supervision; and alumni evaluations.
2. Criteria for evaluating scholarly, creative and professional growth will include evaluation of research, publications, exhibitions and performances, as well as participation in the professional activities of the discipline.
3. Service activities include service to the department or division, the school or college, and the university, as well as professionally related public service activities.

3.  The evaluation process shall include both peer review and assessment by the department or division chair and/or other appropriate administrator. The process should include review by the academic dean and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The calendar for the evaluation and merit review process shall be set and deadlines followed to ensure adequate time for review and discussion, by the faculty member, the department/division chair, the dean, and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; and for appeal by the faculty member.

4.  A written evaluation of each faculty member’s performance and expectations for the future must be provided to him or her by the department or division chair or academic dean acting in a similar capacity prior to forwarding it to the next administrative level.

5.  Each academic unit shall establish a procedure by which a faculty member who disagrees with his or her evaluation may request that such evaluation be reviewed within the academic unit. If the faculty member is dissatisfied with the results of such review, he or she may request that the case be reviewed at the next administrative level or the faculty member may use the process outlined in the Charter of the University Review Committee.

7.  The Faculty Senate will be asked to review the policies contained herein periodically and make recommendations to the President for such changes as are deemed necessary.