Faculty Evaluations and Reappointments

Professional Activities Record/Professional Activities Highlights (PARs and PAHEs)
Each year faculty members submit a written record of their activities and accomplishments. The Professional Activities Record is required annually for all tenure-track faculty and every three years for all tenured faculty (A-H January, 2007 for 2006; I-P January, 2008 for 2007; and Q-Z January, 2006 for 2005. Please note that the report due in January of 2006 covers the calendar year 2005). In non-PAR years, tenured faculty use the Professional Activities Highlights form, summarizing the most important accomplishments of the year; a c.v. may be appended. Both the Professional Activities Record and the Professional Activities Highlights forms are available from department secretaries. Use of the PAR by visiting and part-time faculty is at the discretion of the departments in which they teach.

Professional Activities Evaluation
The Professional Activities Evaluation form (PAE) is completed by the department chair to evaluate each faculty member. Information provided in the Professional Activities Record should be used as the basis for the evaluation. The Professional Activities Highlights form provides space for chairs to make brief evaluative comments on the highlights recorded. Evaluations in all instances are to be consistent with the guidelines on evaluation that appear in the Faculty Policies Handbook, section 4.7.

Standards to be applied in the evaluation of all faculty are stated in detail in the Arts and Sciences Faculty Policies Handbook, 3.1.31; 3.1.32; and 3.1.33. To address differences between departments as they pertain to teaching, scholarship/creative activity, service and advising, each department develops statements on criteria and procedures for faculty evaluation, in compliance with the provisions in the concluding paragraphs of each of the Handbook sections. These statements are reviewed for approval by the Dean as revisions are proposed, with College-wide review of all statements occurring at least once within each five-year period.

Initial responsibility for evaluation of the performance of faculty members rests with the department chairs; however, departments are expected to establish peer review procedures. College policies require that student opinions be taken into account in the evaluation process. Research concerning such opinions suggests that students are typically generous and rather uncritical in their assessments, which should be taken into account in their use. Notwithstanding this tendency, research also shows that student evaluations are valid measurements of teaching performance.

College procedures call for the chair to discuss the evaluations with the faculty member, to request the faculty member to sign the forms, and to invite the faculty member to file a response if they wish to elaborate on or take issue with any point made in the evaluation. In turn, the Dean reviews the evaluations in conferences with the department chair. Following these conferences, the Dean may, at his or her discretion, record brief notes on the forms before signing them and returning copies to the chair for forwarding to the faculty members.

The evaluations by chairs, accompanied by the Professional Activities Records or the Professional Activities Highlights and Evaluation form are to be submitted to the Dean by February 15. The conferences of department chairs with the Dean will typically occur in the next six weeks, although that depends on the schedules of both the chairs and the dean.

Evaluation of Tenure-Track Faculty
Recommendations for reappointment or non-reappointment of tenure-track faculty are made each year by all tenured faculty in each department. All tenured faculty members, except those on leave, are required to participate in the evaluation.

The following procedures are recommended for review of tenure-track faculty:
1) The faculty members should complete a PAR and provide that with any other evidence of performance to the department chair by a specified date.
2) The materials submitted should be review by all tenured faculty members in the department.
3) The chair, or another faculty member specified by the department, must write a memorandum recommending reappointment or non-reappointment of the tenured-track faculty member. This letter should provide thorough comments evaluating teaching, scholarship, service and advising.
   2. The evaluative memorandum presenting the recommendation to the Dean should record who participated in making the recommendation, and the recommendation should be signed by all tenured faculty (person on sabbatical or other leaves of absence may be excused).
   3. Second-year faculty should submit their PARs to chairs by November 1; other faculty should submit them by January 15.

Evaluation of Chairs
Evaluation of the performance of department chairs follows procedures like those outlined above, except the Dean does the evaluation.

PAR/PAHE/PAE Timetable
Professional Activities Records of all tenured faculty and third-, fourth-, and fifth-year tenure-track faculty are to be presented to department chairs by January 15 (chairs' records should be given to the dean by this date). PARs are not required of candidates for tenure in the year in which tenure review occurs (typically the sixth year in the tenure track). First-year faculty should give PAR's to chairs by January 15; second-year faculty by November 1.

Reappointment of Tenure-Track Faculty
Timetable
First year faculty members who will not be recommended for reappointment are to be so notified, by AAUP standards, as early in the academic year as possible. At Drake, we have established March 1 as the target date.
   * Recommendations concerning first-year faculty must therefore reach the Dean no later than February 15 to allow time for consultation and counseling.

Second year faculty members, according to AAUP guidelines, if the are not being reappointed, must be notified by December 1.
   * Recommendations regarding reappointment or non-reappointment of first-year faculty must be made by the department chair, in accordance with established department procedures, and submitted to the Dean no later than November 15, again, to allow time for consultation and counseling.

Third-, fourth-, and fifth-year faculty members must be submitted by February 15. Recommendations of third-year faculty are regarded as particularly critical. Persons for whom the eventual attainment of tenure is regarded as at all problematical should not be recommended for reappointment at any stage, but particularly not at this time.

Recommendations concerning candidates for tenure in the year of mandatory review are due in the Dean's office October 1. This means that department review processes must be completed by this time.

Criteria and Procedures for Evaluation of Tenure-Track Faculty
Recommendations for reappointment or non-reappointment of tenure-track faculty are made each year by all tenured faculty in each department.

Procedures: The procedures to be following in the annual evaluations are:
1. The faculty members should complete a PAR and provide that and any other evidence of performance to the department chair by a specified date.
2. The materials submitted should be reviewed by all tenured faculty members in the department.
3. The chair, or another faculty members specified by the department, must write a memorandum recommending reappointment or non-reappointment of the tenure-track faculty member. This letter should provide thorough comments evaluating teaching, scholarship, service and advising.
4. The evaluative memorandum presenting the recommendation to the Dean should record who participated in making the recommendation, and the recommendation must be signed by all tenured faculty (persons on sabbatical or other leaves of absence may be excused). [Note: All tenured faculty members, except those on leave, are required to participate in the evaluation.]
5. Questions that are likely to arise from the recommendation should be the subject of a discussion between the department chair and the Dean at least several weeks before the recommendation is formally submitted. A conference between the Dean and the department chair about the recommendation regarding third-year and fifth-year faculty members is required, and it is preferred in all instances.

Criteria::
1. Each year the evaluation of tenure-track faculty should assess teaching, scholarship, service and advising. These should be discussed using the same criteria that are to be addressed in the tenure document should be used. These are detailed in the Faculty Policies Handbook, Section 3.1.3 Criteria for the Review of Faculty Performance.
2. In the evaluation leading to the recommendation at every stage, chairs and departments address both the strengths and the weaknesses of the faculty member in the areas of teaching, scholar-ship/creative activity, service and advising.
3. The evaluation must reflect the agreed-upon standards of the department as required by the College tenure policy as stated in the College handbook. The document should indicate the (a) strength of the recommendation, (b) whether positive or negative, and (c) the degree of involvement of members of the department in arriving at the recommendation.