Revision Responsibility: Vice President of Academic Affairs

Responsible Executive Office: Vice President of Academic Affairs

Purpose: Primarily, to recognize outstanding faculty performance and to provide feedback that can be used by individual faculty to improve performance, thereby enhancing the college’s instructional programs and services.

Policy:

As a private, four-year college, Platt College’s mission is twofold: 1) to provide quality undergraduate education and 2) provide graduates with competencies, skills, and levels of education for employment and continued success in higher education. Dedicated faculty who remain current in their fields and generously give of their talents and expertise to their students and the community are essential to the college’s success in achieving this mission.

I. Informal evaluation will be continuous throughout the year as administrators and lead faculty members observe the faculty in their work environment. It is expected that the appropriate administrator will promptly confer with faculty if problems with their work become apparent and maintain appropriate documentation of problems and their resolution.

II. Initial faculty evaluations are conducted 90 days after the initial hire date.  Subsequent faculty evaluations are conducted annually during the month of the faculty member’s hire date anniversary.

III. Faculty members will be evaluated with reference to their participation in three major categories: instruction, professional development, and service to the institution and community. It is expected that instruction will be emphasized in the evaluation.

The following percentages are provided as a general guide for the expected distribution of faculty efforts:

• Teaching: minimum of 50%*

• Creative Work/Scholarship and/or Evidence-Based Practice: minimum of 20%

• Service to Institution/Community: minimum of 20%

• Additional: 10% allocated at faculty’s discretion

* See section VIII for distribution of this section for Online learning Faculty Evaluations

IV. Results from multiple sources will be used by the administrator to determine the faculty member’s overall evaluation. The sources that are used and the frequency of their use will depend on the faculty member’s employment and whether or not problems have been identified. The sources include:

A. Self-evaluation: The purpose is to provide faculty with an opportunity to reflect upon their effectiveness in the classroom and their contributions to the institutional mission. Based on this evaluation, faculty also are expected to identify goals and develop a plan for continued growth and development.

B. Student evaluation of instructor: This evaluation is intended to provide feedback to faculty and afford them the opportunity to improve their teaching effectiveness. The results will also be used by the appropriate administrator in arriving at an overall evaluation of the faculty. The student evaluation is conducted every quarter.

C. Peer evaluation: Peer review of various aspects of the teaching-learning process is intended to provide faculty with insights about the process and suggestions for improving their instructional effectiveness.

D. Administrator evaluation: This evaluation by the appropriate administrator is both formative and summative, identifying areas for improvement and providing an opportunity for dialogue about future directions for growth and development as a faculty member.

Student Evaluation of Faculty

A. Faculty must use the college-developed instrument appropriate for the didactic, laboratory, practicum, liberal arts and sciences, or blended delivery format (eCombination) that exists inside of eComments, the evaluation portion of My Platt College. These instruments are developed by faculty and consist of (1) questions about general attributes that the faculty has identified as characteristic of effective instructors and (2) program or delivery-specific questions identified by the department.

B. The Registar is responsible for opening eComments via My Platt College to students before the end of every quarter.

C. The IT Director is responsible for extracting the eComment files from My Platt College and distributing the completed student end-of-course evaluations to the Dean or their designee.

D. The appropriate administrator will distribute the results to the faculty after the grades for the quarter have been turned in.

V. Peer Evaluation

A. Faculty must choose one of the following options for peer review and make arrangements for the review to be conducted using the appropriate form:

• Class visitation or critique of video-taped lecture and subsequent written evaluation (Form B)

• Evaluation of syllabus, handouts, tests, and other course materials (Form C)

• Other activities as approved.

B. Faculty will review the peer evaluation and provide a copy as part of the documentation provided to the appropriate administrator.

VI. Self Evaluation

Using Form D, the faculty will:

A. Summarize their progress toward the goals established in their professional development plan for the year;

B. Summarize strengths and weaknesses identified in evaluation results from the student and peer evaluations;

C. List significant accomplishments and activities relating to teaching, creative works, scholarship and/or evidence-based practice, service to the institution/community.

D. Evaluate their efforts and/or effectiveness for each general category listed in a.-d; and

E. Develop a plan based on the results of their self-evaluation for professional development for the next year, which addresses areas where improvement is needed and establishes specific goals for improving instruction, professional development and service to the institution and community.

The faculty will submit the self-evaluation, peer evaluation results, and professional development goals for the coming year to the appropriate administrator.

VII. Administrator Evaluation

A. The appropriate administrator will review the student evaluations and the materials submitted by the faculty member (self-evaluation, peer evaluation results, and professional development plan for next year). In the case of teaching administration, the Vice President of Academic Affairs will also review faculty performance in the program with the administrator.

B. The administrator may also conduct classroom observations as deemed appropriate or as requested by the faculty member.

C. Administrators will conduct an annual evaluation conference for all faculty.

D. Following the evaluation conference, the form will be signed by both the administrator and the faculty member, along with a response from the faculty member, if desired, and forwarded to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, who will sign the form.

E. The evaluations will be placed in the faculty member’s personnel file. 

VIII. Online learning Faculty Evaluation

A.  Faculty members teaching in online learning programs/courses at Platt College have the teaching component of their evaluation conducted using the distance education teaching evaluation criteria that are found in the (end of course on line student evaluation of faculty form). The criteria are outlined through the following categories: 1) course overview and introduction, 2) learning objectives, 3) assessment and measurement, 4) resources and materials, 5) learner engagement, 6) course technology, 7) learner support, 8) accessibility, and 9) student self assessment of         achievement of program/student learning outcomes. Each of these categories is scored by the student using a Likert scale. The total score is evaluated against a minimum expectation benchmark. Performance by faculty members that is below benchmark requires a focused Performance Improvement plan using the Faculty PI Form to guide their teaching performance improvement process. The results are tracked as part of the       overall faculty member’s evaluation and are incorporated into respective merit, program, and College level teaching-learning evaluation plans.

Revised: July 6, 2010, September 7, 2011 to include Section VI Online learning Faculty Evaluation; April 8, 2015 to update use of CAMS eComments system for student end-of-course evaluations and roles and responsibilities of Registrar and IT Director.