Policy Author:
Faculty Senate
Responsible Office – Department:
Faculty Senate
Effective Date of Policy:
Fall 2021
Purpose:
Establish the procedures and timeline for tenure-track and tenured faculty evaluations.
Scope:
Faculty, Faculty, Department Chairs, Deans and VPAA
Policy Narrative:
Taken from Faculty Handbook:
https://my.daemen.edu/faculty-staff/faculty-handbook/full-time/handbook.pdf
VII. EVALUATION OF FACULTY
A. Tenure-Track Faculty
Faculty members who hold tenure-track appointments shall have an annual review conducted by the Department Chair. This review shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of their progress toward meeting specific criteria for tenure. In the case of a Department Chair, the appropriate Academic Dean will conduct this review according to the same procedure (see also Article X.B. Criteria and
Evidence for Tenure & X.G. Criteria for Faculty Rank).
- Tenure-track faculty in their second or subsequent year of service should follow the process below:
- A written self-assessment should be completed by the tenure-track faculty member and submitted to the Department Chair by November 1. The Chair shall also review student evaluations, peer teaching reviews of the faculty member, and other valid sources of academic evaluation.
- After considering these sources of evaluation, the Department Chair will write a review addressing the faculty member’s progress toward tenure in three areas: (1) Teaching Excellence and Effectiveness; (2) Scholarship and Professional Development; and (3) Service and Contributions to the University. All tenured department faculty, including Department Personnel Advisory Committee (DPAC) members, will be required to endorse the Chair’s review before it is sent to the Academic Dean or to submit a separate letter directly to the Dean by November 20. Separate letters will be noted as forthcoming on the endorsement sheet. Adverse letters separately submitted from the Chair’s evaluation will be summarized and presented to the tenure-track faculty member by the Academic Dean in order to maintain confidentiality of the author. The faculty member will have an opportunity to respond in writing. Original letters will not be returned to faculty member but will be retained by the Office of the VPAA/Provost.
- Once the Department Chair has written the review and solicited endorsements from tenured faculty, the Chair will arrange a formal meeting with the faculty member under review to discuss the departmental evaluation.
- After meeting with the faculty member, the Chair will finalize the departmental evaluation and submit the departmental evaluation letter and related materials to the Academic Dean by November 20 (or the Tuesday before Thanksgiving if the date falls over the holiday break). The Academic Dean can elect to write a separate review or endorse the Department Chair’s review. A copy of the Dean’s review or endorsement will be sent to the Department Chair and the tenure-track faculty member by December 5.
- Once the tenure-track faculty member has received copies of reviews from the Department Chair and Academic Dean, the Department Chair or evaluated faculty member may request a formal meeting including the Chair and the Dean to discuss the reviews before submission to the VPAA/Provost. After the meeting, the faculty member being reviewed may send a separate letter to the VPAA/Provost, if desired.
- All finalized evaluation letters are due to the VPAA/Provost by January 7.
- Tenure-track faculty in their first year of service should follow the same process but observe these due dates:
Jan. 15* Self-assessment due to Department Chair
Jan. 20 Chair evaluation shared with tenured faculty in the
department for endorsement. Chair will arrange a formal
meeting to discuss evaluation with the first-year faculty
member before January 31.
Jan. 31 Chair submits finalized evaluation letter to the Academic
Dean; Separate Letters due to Dean.
Feb. 7 Dean’s response due to faculty member and Department
Chair. The Department Chair or evaluated faculty member
may request a formal meeting including the Dean and the
faculty member to discuss the reviews before submission to
the VPAA/Provost.
Feb. 15 Final evaluation letters for first-year faculty due to
VPAA/Provost.
*With the exception of November 20, if any of these dates fall on a weekend, the following Monday will be observed as the due date for letters.
B. Tenured Faculty
In the interest of encouraging continuous faculty development, and to ensure that faculty are performing at an acceptable level, every tenured faculty member will receive a formal evaluation every three years.
- This triennial review procedure shall be initiated by the Department Chair soliciting a self-evaluation by the faculty member under review. Thereafter, the Department Chair will prepare a written evaluation based on different sources including, but not limited to, the self-evaluation, personal observation, feedback from other faculty and students, and student course evaluations.
- The Chair will forward an evaluation to the Academic Dean. The Dean will forward the evaluation to the VPAA/Provost, along with comments or an evaluation, and provide a copy to the faculty member. The evaluated faculty member may submit a response to the evaluations to the VPAA/Provost. The VPAA/Provost will meet with the faculty member to discuss the reviews. The following schedule should be followed:
March 30 Self-evaluations due to Chair; These should be no more than
two pages and cover mainly the past three years;
April 15 Chair evaluations due to Dean;
April 30 Dean evaluations due to VPAA/Provost.
a) Chairs should stagger these evaluations to make them manageable within the department’s annual calendar;
b) Chairs should inform the appropriate Academic Dean on an annual basis regarding which faculty are due for evaluation;
c) In the case of a Department Chair, the appropriate Academic Dean will conduct this review according to the same procedure.
C. Improvement Plans for Tenured Faculty
In the case of an unsatisfactory evaluation, a tenured faculty member will, by the end of the following semester, write a comprehensive improvement plan, which includes specific and measurable goals. This plan shall address the identified problem area(s) and shall demonstrate how the faculty member will esolve and significantly improve upon these problem area(s). This plan is to be approved in advance by the next highest level of authority (Department Chair, Academic Dean or VPAA/Provost). The faculty member will be re-evaluated at a time to be established in the plan, but not later than three (3) semesters. If significant improvement is not evident, then the Department Chair or Academic Dean shall refer the faculty member to the VPAA/Provost for disciplinary action. The faculty member is entitled to appeal any disciplinary action taken to the Faculty Review Committee.
D. Criteria for Evaluation
In evaluating each faculty member, whether tenure-track or tenured, the evaluator should at least consider the faculty member’s performance in the following areas: (1) Teaching Excellence and Effectiveness; (2) Scholarship and Professional Development; and (3) Service and Contributions to the University (see also Article X.B. Criteria and Evidence for Tenure & X.G. Criteria for Faculty Rank).
The evaluation should also be based on personal observations, feedback from other faculty members, information from the faculty member under evaluation, and student evaluations.