Evaluation Materials

The summaries on the pages that follow list the documentation required and/or recommended for the stages of a faculty member's on-going review for tenure and promotion. They supplement the criteria outlined in separate sections on tenure and advancement; candidates should consider them in conjunction with that information.

As the details on these summaries specify, different materials are helpful to the Promotion and Tenure Committee at different intervals in a faculty member's on-going review for tenure and advancement.

In the scheduled yearly reviews for probationary faculty (see “Evaluation

Calendar”) and routine reviews of tenured faculty, for example, no interpretation and evaluation of the person's teaching, scholarly/artistic achievement, or service to the University need be offered beyond those of the faculty member, of the faculty member's supervisor, and, with regard to teaching, of current students (except as noted in the document). PAT does not expect that faculty members at those junctures will submit letters from alumni, representative evidence of

IWU Faculty Handbook Chapter IV - 16

scholarly/artistic achievement, or letters concerning their work from colleagues on committees with them or at other universities.

In the Major Pre-Tenure Review, however, PAT conducts an assessment of the faculty member's progress toward tenure. The emphasis here is on progress: PAT is well aware that the expectations for a pre-tenure faculty member are not equivalent to those for a tenure candidate. As the Personnel Council stated in a memo of 22 April 1994, "[T]here would still be ample time for the committee to give constructive feedback to the candidate so that she or he could develop further before making a case for tenure." To make the best use of that review and to receive the most helpful feedback from PAT, the faculty member should strive at this point to situate accomplishments to date in the context of larger goals and strategies for development. The materials requested, then, are more extensive, including, for example, representative samples of scholarly/artistic achievement.

PAT receives interpretation and evaluation of the faculty member's work drawn from a slightly broader base within the University community (as noted) in order to make a more thorough and thoughtful evaluation of the faculty member's situation but does not, at this stage, seek letters from those outside the University community.

Faculty members under consideration for tenure and/or promotion need to submit a significantly more substantial review file. Here the interpretive and evaluative emphases should be on the faculty member's achievements (as opposed to development) in the categories of teaching, scholarly/artistic achievement, and service. At this juncture, PAT considers internal assessments by those involved in evaluating a faculty member's work thus far and considers representative evidence of scholarly/artistic achievement. PAT further solicits assessments of the faculty member's work by some outside the immediate IWU community—evaluations of teaching by alumni, and assessments of scholarly/artistic achievement by

colleagues in the broader profession.

In preparing any file for PAT, faculty members should follow one basic principle:

be thorough and straightforward in the self-evaluation, and back up claims with appropriate documentation. It is this attention to carefully selected,

well-organized, and thoughtfully analyzed materials, not sheer quantity, that makes an impressive file.

The following separate sections contain the specific materials needed by the Promotion and Tenure Committee:

• Annual Review Materials (or materials needed each time self-evaluations are filed, if not annually)

• Major Pre-Tenure Review Materials

• Tenure/Promotion Materials

Under compelling circumstances, and in consultation with the candidate and the Provost, a supervisor may designate another faculty member to write addressing

any part of a case: teaching, scholarly/artistic achievement, and/or service. When a supervisor elects this option, she/he should submit a letter as part of the case articulating the compelling circumstances and the appropriateness of the designee.

a. Annual Review Materials (or materials needed each time self-evaluations are filed, if not annually)

Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae with a complete listing of professional achievements over the faculty member's career, highlighting scholarly/artistic achievements since the last evaluation.

Teaching

• Thoughtful self-assessment of one's development as a teacher, including strengths and areas of desired growth.

• Supervisor's assessment of teaching, supported by reports of supervisor's classroom visits.

• Faculty member's and supervisor's summaries of student evaluations. To facilitate PAT's interpretation of student evaluation summaries,

Department Chairs, School Directors and Interdisciplinary Program Directors should keep on file the three most recent years of student evaluations for each faculty member. The evaluations themselves would be made available to PAT with advance notice to a faculty member if, in its opinion, raw data were necessary to render an appropriate judgment.

Evaluations older than three years should be returned to faculty members for their personal files.

• Representative course syllabi and assignments, along with

evaluative/interpretive comments from both the faculty member and the supervisor.

Scholarly/Artistic Achievement

• Faculty member's self-evaluation of his/her achievements and their contributions.

• Interpretation and assessment of the work by the faculty member's supervisor.

Service

• Department service, all-University service, and relevant community service (if any) should be referred to in the self-evaluation, with such explanation as may seem necessary to clarify and assess the extent and importance of the service. No documentation is required.

IWU Faculty Handbook Chapter IV - 18

• Supervisor's assessment of the extent and importance of all relevant service.

Length of Candidate and Supervisor Evaluations

The candidate’s entire self-evaluation narrative should not exceed 10 pages, 12 point, double-spaced. Supervisors’ evaluations should not exceed 8 pages, 12 point, double-spaced.

Optional Materials

No other materials are necessary. However, if a faculty member believes that some aspect of his/her teaching, scholarly/artistic achievement or service cannot adequately be documented by the materials listed above, the faculty member may choose to supplement the file with any additional materials that would help the members of PAT better understand his/her progress toward tenure or promotion.

b. Major Pre-Tenure Review Materials Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae with a complete listing of professional achievements.

Teaching

• Thoughtful self-assessment of one's development as a teacher, including strengths and areas of desired growth.

• Supervisor's assessment of teaching, supported by reports of the supervisor's classroom visits.

• Faculty member's and supervisor's summaries of student evaluations. To facilitate PAT's interpretation of student evaluation summaries,

Department Chairs, School Directors and Interdisciplinary Program Directors should keep on file the three most recent years of student evaluations for each faculty member. The evaluations themselves would be made available to PAT with advance notice to a faculty member if, in its opinion, raw data were necessary to render an appropriate judgment.

• Representative course syllabi and assignments, along with

evaluative/interpretive comments from both the faculty member and the supervisor.

Scholarly/Artistic Achievement

• Materials providing evidence of scholarly/artistic achievement should include the following:

 Representative evidence such as an article; a book; a videotape; a recording; a report of professional service to the community; a design;

a photograph of an exhibition; a report of contributions to a professional organization; a report of participation as an editor or referee of a scholarly/artistic journal; software; commissioned work; a scholarly/artistic grant reviewed favorably by an external agency; and so forth. The above list of potential evidence is not exhaustive and will vary according to the faculty member's discipline and his/her area of expertise.

• Materials should address the impact of the faculty member’s work. Those materials should be interpretive and evaluative--that is, they should assess the contribution to the faculty member's field. Materials should include the following:

 Faculty member's interpretation and evaluation of his/her work.

 Interpretation and evaluation of the work by the faculty member's supervisor or the supervisor's designee.

Service

Department/school service--such contributions should be listed and explained in the self-evaluation, and the faculty member should make sure such service is also addressed in the supervisor's evaluation.

• University service outside the department/school--the nature and extent of this should also be carefully explained in the self-evaluation.

Documentation should be in the form of notes for the individual's case file from committee/council chairs addressing the nature and value of the faculty member's service work.

Length of Candidate and Supervisor Evaluations

The candidate’s entire self-evaluation narrative should not exceed 25 pages, 12 point, double-spaced. Supervisors’ evaluations should not exceed 8 pages, 12 point, double-spaced.

IWU Faculty Handbook Chapter IV - 20

Optional Materials

No other materials are necessary. However, if a faculty member believes that some aspect of his/her teaching, scholarly/artistic achievement, or service cannot adequately be documented by the materials listed above, the faculty member may choose to supplement the file with any additional materials that would help the members of PAT better understand his/her progress toward tenure.

c. Tenure/Promotion Materials Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae with a complete listing of professional achievements.

Teaching

• Thoughtful self-assessment of one's development as a teacher, including strengths and areas of desired growth.Supervisor's assessment of teaching, supported by reports of the supervisor's classroom visits.

• Faculty member's and supervisor's summaries of student evaluations. To facilitate PAT's interpretation of student evaluation summaries,

Department Chairs, School Directors, and Interdisciplinary Program Directors should keep on file the three most recent years of student evaluations for each faculty member. The evaluations themselves would be made available to PAT with advance notice to a faculty member if, in its opinion, raw data were necessary to render an appropriate judgment.

Evaluations older than three years should be returned to faculty members for their personal files.

• Representative course syllabi and assignments, along with

evaluative/interpretive comments from both the faculty member and the supervisor (or the supervisor's designee).

The Provost's Office shall collect written comments from alumni directly, using a uniform set of questions developed by PAT and approved by the General Faculty. Alumni selected to participate shall include some chosen randomly and some chosen by the faculty member.

Evaluations from alumni shall be solicited in the following manner:

Five alumni shall be chosen by the faculty member; fifteen alumni shall be chosen by a random process of selection from former students of the six previous years. This list of fifteen shall be submitted to the faculty member, and he/she may eliminate as many as five names from the list. The Registrar’s Office shall inform PAT of the academic record of all alumni solicited.

Scholarly/Artistic Achievement

• Materials providing evidence of scholarly/artistic achievement should include the following:

 Representative evidence such as an article; a book; a videotape; a recording; a report of professional service to the community; a design; a photograph of an exhibition; a report of contributions to a professional organization; a report of participation as an editor or referee of a scholarly/artistic journal; software; commissioned work; a

scholarly/artistic grant reviewed favorably by an external agency; and so forth. The above list of potential evidence is not exhaustive, and will vary according to the faculty member's discipline and his/her area of expertise.

• Materials should address the impact of the faculty member’s work. Those materials should be interpretive and evaluative--that is, they should assess the contribution to the faculty member's field. Materials should include the following:

 The faculty member's interpretation and evaluation of his/her work.

 Interpretation and evaluation of the work by faculty member's supervisor or the supervisor's designee.

 Interpretation and evaluation of the faculty member's achievements from two colleagues of the faculty member's choice outside the University.

Faculty members should choose external evaluators who have

demonstrable standing in the field. If an academic is selected, under most circumstances the evaluator should be at or above the rank to which the candidate is seeking promotion. Reviewers should be in a position to give independent judgment about the candidate, free from conflict of interest.

Letters from reviewers with some closer connection to the candidate, such as dissertation advisors or research collaborators, are best used to

supplement rather than replace the two standard references.

Service

• Department/school service--such contributions should be listed and explained in the self-evaluation, and the faculty member should make sure such service is also addressed in the supervisor's evaluation.

• University service outside the department/school--the nature and extent of this should also be carefully explained in the self-evaluation. Documentation should be in the form of notes for the individual's case file from

committee/council chairs addressing the nature and value of the faculty member's service work.

Length of Candidate and Supervisor Evaluations

The candidate’s entire self-evaluation narrative should not exceed 40 pages, 12

IWU Faculty Handbook Chapter IV - 22

point, double-spaced. Supervisors’ evaluations should not exceed 8 pages, 12 point, double-spaced.

Optional Materials

Additional information addressing teaching (e.g., reports of colleagues' classroom visits) might be supplied in any year when evaluation materials are submitted. Materials beyond those specified previously, however, are not required.

Additional materials addressing the question could include additional letters, reviews, articles, or commentary on the achievement from professional journals, awards for or formal commendation of the scholarly/artistic work, and so forth. Here, as elsewhere, the faculty member should concentrate on the quality and representativeness of the additional evidence and not on its quantity.

While community service activities are not requirements for tenure or advancement, some such activities could well be documented to supplement University service in faculty members' case files. Faculty members should solicit statements from knowledgeable people to the effect that the service work was valuable to the community and that it was in the faculty member's professional field. It is understood that there may be situations in which soliciting such an endorsement from sources outside the University could lead to misunderstandings. Still, for service to be credited, some sort of

documentation is normally necessary, and full explanation should be provided of the reason for the absence of documentation.

d. Review and Promotion of Coaches and Physical Education Faculty Members

1) Regular PAT (first-year, fourth-year, and periodic) Review Materials

In document Illinois Wesleyan University Faculty Handbook (Page 108-115)