Faculty Evaluation Criteria
FOR REAPPOINTMENT, TENURE, AND PROMOTION
(revised Aug. 2005)
| I. Introduction |
| II. Statement on Recognized Terminal Degrees |
| III. Evaluation Criteria |
|
| Appendix I: Policy Statement on Textbooks |
| Appendix II: Policy Statement on Engagement and Outreach |
The Pott College of Science and Engineering is committed to the highest standards of excellence and service to its varied clienteles. This commitment dictates that the College maintain a dedicated faculty whose professional competencies, skills, and contributions meet high expectations. To this end, faculty submit to an on-going process of performance review and evaluation. The evaluation process for faculty at the University of Southern Indiana and in the professoriate in general requires individuals to document their professional accomplishments in the areas of teaching, scholarship and professional activity, and service to the institution and community.
Evaluation of College faculty by the Dean must ultimately conform to policies and procedures specified in the the USI University Handbook, and will be carried out in keeping with the College’s Mission Statement:
Our mission is to offer students a rigorous and dynamic curriculum that 1) provides a strong foundation for careers in science and engineering, 2) develops analytical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills that will serve students throughout life, and 3) cultivates intellectual curiosity, scientific integrity and responsibility that will make graduates valuable members of society.
With a faculty dedicated to teaching, scholarship and service, we create a learning environment where students:
- Interact closely with faculty members, encouraging achievement at the highest levels
- Collaborate with faculty on research projects, inspiring scientific discovery
- Become part of an academic community that values learning and accomplishment
- Develop intellectual pride and appreciation for new ideas and opinions
Within each area evaluated, numerous types of activities may be considered as worthwhile contributions. Faculty evaluations consider both the quantity and quality of these contributions. The University Handbook sets general performance expectations that faculty must meet to achieve tenure and/or promotion in rank. This College-level document is intended to expand upon the general University expectations by compiling performance criteria to be used for faculty evaluations in the Pott College of Science and Engineering.
Since the University of Southern Indiana's primary mission is teaching, this area is of primary importance in faculty performance evaluations. However, faculty members are expected to contribute in all three major activity areas—teaching, scholarship, and service. In short, performance balance should be the goal.
The following articulation of specific criteria is intended to help direct faculty efforts in ways supportive of the College’s mission and expectations. Further, the criteria are intended to reduce ambiguity, for both faculty evaluees and members of faculty evaluation committees, about the types of professional activities which the College deems worthwhile in the three major areas of faculty endeavor. While the lists of criteria that follow attempt to address the range of activities in which faculty in the College are normally engaged, the lists should not be considered all-inclusive. At the same time, faculty members are not expected to address in their performance all the criteria listed under a specific endeavor category. Within each endeavor category, the criteria are not necessarily listed in order of importance. Further, the criteria listed do not necessarily carry equal weight for promotion and tenure purposes.
The College realizes that the value of individual faculty accomplishments can vary with the scope and impact of the activity in question. As a general rule, the wider the scope, impact, and/or recognition of an activity, the greater its value and therefore its weight in faculty performance evaluations. Consequently, national- or international-level activities and accomplishments are given more weight than local or regional ones, and contributions that have impact or recognition both external and internal to the University deserve more weight than those with internal impact/recognition only.
Because the nature of faculty contributions varies widely among and within disciplines represented in the College, a set formula for determining a faculty member's worthiness for tenure or promotion is neither possible nor desirable. Rather, as overarching premises, College faculty are expected to work productively and cooperatively with colleagues toward achievement of Department, College, and University goals, and to demonstrate a sustained record of academic competence, professional growth, and status achievement within their disciplines in order to achieve tenure or promotion. To demonstrate this record, faculty must contribute quantitatively and qualitatively to their Department, the College, the University, and their discipline as a whole through the kinds of activities outlined in the evaluation criteria.
II. Statement on Recognized Terminal Degrees
University guidelines specify that tenure and promotion are ordinarily awarded only to faculty who hold the terminal degree or its equivalent in their disciplines. For faculty in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics, and Mathematics, the doctorate is the recognized terminal degree. However, the masters degree and relevant industrial experience, or the masters degree and professional registration, where appropriate, may be recognized as the terminal degree for faculty in the Department of Engineering.
A. Teaching
Teaching is the primary mission of the University of Southern Indiana and the Pott College of Science and Engineering. Therefore, high quality teaching is expected of all faculty. It is the policy of the College that no faculty member will be recommended for tenure or promotion in rank without documented evidence of effective teaching performance. Faculty are encouraged, though not required, to document their teaching performance via a teaching portfolio prepared according to nationally-accepted norms. Examples of the criteria upon which teaching performance will be evaluated include:
- Maintenance of high academic standards for student performance.
- Involvement in faculty development activities to improve teaching (attendance at workshops, seminars, or conferences on teaching; acquiring new skills that can be brought to the classroom, etc.)
- Evidence of efforts to develop new courses or revise and improve existing courses (course revisions, development of teaching aids, updates in course currency, etc.)
- Development of teaching materials such as textbooks (see Appendix I), workbooks, laboratory manuals and/or exercises, etc.
- Quality and effectiveness of classroom teaching as demonstrated by student evaluations.
- Quality and effectiveness of classroom teaching as demonstrated by peer evaluations.
- Incorporation of modern technology into classroom teaching and student learning situations.
- Authorship of proposals to obtain grants for teaching-related activities.
- Successful direction of students in independent research projects or activities.
- Evidence of cognitive or affective gain by students in classes taught by the faculty member (e.g., student success in subsequent, related courses; performance on standardized or normed tests).
- Evidence of effective academic advisement
- Professional involvement with students in out-of-class settings (clubs, organizations, etc.)
- Receipt of awards and honors for teaching
- Service as a master teacher or teaching mentor to colleagues (conducting teaching workshops, presenting teaching-related seminars, mentoring new faculty, etc.)
B. Scholarship and Professional Activity
Faculty in the Pott College of Science and Engineering are expected to be active scholars in their professional disciplines. While scholarly activities may come in a variety of forms, receipt of tenure and/or promotion in academic rank is generally predicated upon publication of original research in recognized, peer-reviewed outlets. There are instances, with appropriate justification, where technical reports or other forms of documentation describing consulting or similar professional activity will be recognized. Only in rare circumstances, with ample and appropriate justification, will research publications in non-refereed outlets be recognized as acceptable professional contributions for tenure and promotion purposes. Examples of the criteria upon which performance in scholarship and professional activity will be evaluated include the following:
- Publication of original research results in professional journals
- Collaborative research with colleagues and/or students that results in peer reviewed publication and/or presentation
- Authorship (or editorship, if applicable) of published scholarly books (including scholarly textbooks--see Appendix I), book chapters, patents, computer software, technical reports or technical manuals
- Presentation of research results at professional meetings or conferences
- Authorship of proposals to obtain grants for research-related activities.
- Presentation of seminars or workshops related to research
- Reviews of journal articles, books, manuscripts, or grant proposals for external agencies.
- Consulting or similar professional work with businesses, industries, or governmental agencies that leads to identification and/or solution of real world problems. Written documentation (external whenever possible) of the nature, scope, and professional significance of the work must be provided.
- Involvement in faculty development activities to improve research skills or competencies (attendance at workshops, seminars, or conferences on research; acquiring knowledge of new research techniques, etc.)
- Active involvement in professional organizations and societies related to the faculty member's area of expertise.
- Evidence of successful progress in long-range research projects and programs.
- Maintenance of successful research collaborations with colleagues internal or external to the University.
- Receipt of awards and honors for scholarship or professional activity.
C. Service
Faculty in the Pott College of Science and Engineering are expected to be actively involved in service to the University and community. Service activities necessarily vary widely in scope and kind, and are therefore difficult to categorize specifically. However, the College recognizes that worthwhile service contributions are those in which the faculty member contributes his or her knowledge, interests, and skills in work that betters the institution or the community at large. In general, the value of any service activity for promotion and tenure purposes depends upon the activity's scope and significance, and the faculty member's level of involvement. Chairing, holding office, or otherwise directing or leading a committee, task force, organization, or activity group is more valuable than participation or membership alone. Examples of the criteria upon which performance in service will be evaluated include the following:
- Involvement with University, College, or Departmental committees or task forces.
- Participation as a mentor in the College Mentoring Program
- Involvement with community organizations, boards, or activity groups.
- Contributions to University or community betterment made by the faculty member as an individual, not as part of a group.
- Assumption of leadership roles in service activities
- Receipt of awards and honors for service activities.
- Service in administrative positions at the program, Department, College, or University levels. Realizing that acceptance of a significant administrative assignment may diminish an individual’s ability to make contributions in other areas, especially scholarship, the weight given administrative service in the overall evaluation should be proportional to the amount of load credit assigned for administrative work
Appendix I
Policy Statement on Textbooks
Because the nature and scope of textbooks can vary, the Pott College of Science and Engineering recognizes that the authorship of textbooks might be considered, for performance evaluation purposes, as a contribution in either teaching or scholarship. The College's policy is that a textbook may be categorized under either teaching or scholarship, but not both. Textbooks to be categorized under teaching usually will be those that advance the pedagogy and instructional practices in a given subject area. Textbooks to be classified under scholarship usually will be those that significantly advance knowledge or create new knowledge in a subject matter area. It is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to indicate whether his or her authored textbook should be categorized under teaching or scholarship, and to justify that categorization.
Appendix II
Policy Statement on Engagement and Outreach
Faculty involvement in engagement and outreach activities is consistent with the University and College missions, and is therefore encouraged. Accordingly, the College views engagement and outreach activities as worthwhile contributions for reappointment, tenure, and promotion purposes, and intends to reward its faculty for quality outreach work. Engagement and outreach work can involve teaching, scholarship, and/or service depending upon the nature of the activity and the faculty member’s involvement therein. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to indicate whether his or her engagement and outreach activities should be categorized as teaching, scholarship, and/or service, and to justify that categorization. Faculty should bear in mind that in order for engagement and outreach activities to count as scholarship, the outcomes must be clearly documented in writing (publication, technical report, consulting report, etc.), peer-reviewed, and disseminated to others.
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