Confidentiality of Personnel Deliberations
Composition of Departmental Personnel Committees (Probationary and Temporary Appointment, Retention, Tenure, and Promotion, and Evaluation of Temporary, Probationary and Tenured Faculty)
Composition of Departmental Personnel Committees
The department annually elects 2 personnel committees.
The probationary and tenured faculty members of the department or equivalent unit shall elect a peer review committee(s) of tenured faculty members. When there are insufficient eligible members to serve on the peer committee, the department shall elect members from a related academic discipline(s).
(The Committees, as a whole, must take responsibility for the following tasks: Probationary Appointment; Temporary Appointment; Retention, Tenure and Promotion; Range Elevation; Evaluation of Temporary Faculty; Evaluation of Probationary Faculty; Evaluation of Tenured Faculty (Post-Tenure review); Evaluation for Request to Emeritus status; and Collaboration on the Development of Individual Professional Plans. It is required that each unit indicate below which Committee is responsible for each of these tasks.)
| Committee Titles and Responsibilities |
Number of Members (at least 3; all tenured full time) (Indicate if must be (full) professor rank) |
Number of Alternates (1 or more; all tenured full-time)* (Indicate if must be (full) professor rank) |
|---|---|---|
| Appointments |
(1 Probationary faculty may be elected) |
1 tenured full professor |
|
RTP Committee A Evaluates tenured faculty for promotion to full professor or post-tenure review or for Emeritus Status; assists in IPP collaboration |
2 full professors, Chair serves as ex officio voting member OR 1 full professor, LBS chair, and WGSS Director serve as ex officio voting members (when the faculty member being reviewed teaches exclusively in WGSS) |
2 full professors OR 1 full professor (when the faculty member being reviewed teaches exclusively in WGSS) |
|
RTP Committee B Evaluates candidates for probationary or temporary appointments. Also evaluates probationary and temporary faculty for retention, tenure, and promotion or range elevation |
1 associate or full professors, LBS chair and WGSS Director serve as ex officio voting members |
1 associate or full professors |
Additional:
Liberal Studies Department faculty members who hold a joint appointment in another department shall not serve simultaneously on Appointments or simultaneously on RTP committees in both departments. The Chair of Liberal Studies shall consult with the Chair of the joint department to coordinate service on personnel and other departmental committees in both departments. (If the joint faculty member elects to develop an Individualized Professional Plan (IPP) s/he shall follow guidelines for specifying the coordination of service on personnel committees (Appointments and RTP) and additional departmental committee responsibilities between the Department of Liberal Studies and the joint department as specified on the Individualized Professional Plans policy.
Eligibility for Committee Service and Balloting
Additional:
The Liberal Studies Appointments Committee shall consist of the Chair of the Department of Liberal Studies and two additional members elected from a ballot of nominees consisting of tenured faculty from the department and additional faculty members from closely related disciplines if needed to meet the minimum requirements of nominees on the ballot (twice as many as the number of elected positions). Nominees not elected will serve as alternates according to the voting order of the balloting. OR, When the appointment is for a position in Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies the Appointments Committee shall consist of the Chair of the Department of Liberal Studies, the Director of the Program in Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, and one additional member elected from a ballot of nominees consisting of tenured faculty from the department and additional faculty members from closely related disciplines if needed to meet the minimum requirement of nominees on the ballot (twice as many as the number of elected positions). Nominees not elected will serve as alternates according to the voting order of the balloting. 1 Probation faculty may be elected to the committee.
RTP Committee B shall consist of the LBS chair, the WGSS Director, and 1 elected associate or full professor from the LBS/WGSS faculty.
RTP Committee A shall consist of the LBS chair and 2 elected full professors, OR when the faculty member being reviewed by the Committee A teaches exclusively in WGSS, the committee shall be comprised of the LBS chair, the WGSS Director, and 1 elected full professor. In the event that LBS faculty are not available to serve on RTP committees, faculty from related disciplines may be elected to serve.
The Liberal Studies Appointment Committee, RTP Committee B and RTP Committee A shall be elected in the spring semester of each year and shall serve during the fall through summer of the subsequent academic year.
The Chair of Liberal Studies shall oversee the distribution of ballots to all tenured and probationary faculty. Ballots shall contain the names of all eligible members who are in residence on campus during any of the semesters that the committee will meet. The ballot shall contain at least twice as many nominees as there are members to be elected.
Recruitment of Probationary Faculty
Appointment of Probationary Faculty
Additional:
The Department Chair shall serve as a voting member of the Appointments Committee.
Personnel Action Files
Individualized Professional Plans
Additional:
Liberal Studies Department faculty and/or Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty who hold joint appointments shall collaborate with the Chair of Liberal Studies and the Director of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies (if faculty members is appointed in WGSS) chairs to develop language in their IPP that specifies equability committee responsibilities for category C of the IPP: specifically for personnel committees (Appointments and RTP) as well as other "time sensitive" committees such as assessment, graduate studies, or other committees that have high workloads. In general, the department chairs shall develop, share with the faculty member, and revise as needed annually, a schedule that outlines committee responsibilities for the duration of the IPP (e.g., alternating service on RTP committees between departments from year to year).
Eligibility for Tenure and Promotion
| Area of Specialization | Terminal Degree |
|---|---|
|
Interdisciplinary Studies or other specialty areas with evidence of expertise in interdisciplinary-based research and investigation |
Ph.D. |
Evaluation of Permanent Instructional Faculty
Additional:
Category B: Activities considered appropriate as "scholarly and creative activities" for the discipline are:
- Publication of articles and reviews in peer-reviewed journals and anthologies relevant to the faculty member's area of expertise.
-
Publication of peer-reviewed books in the faculty member's area of expertise.
-
Publication of peer-reviewed books and social issues of peer-reviewed journals where the faculty member serves as an editor.
- Professional practice that utilizes the faculty member's academic expertise in a manner that results in an advancement of the field, including manuscript review and writing reader's reports for university presses and peer-reviewed journals.
-
Publications in major print or internet media related to the faculty's research and/or expertise (op-ed pieces, feature articles, reviews, etc.).
- Participation in activities of scholarly or professional societies or campus based scholarly organizations beyond mere membership, such as elective office, fellowship status, committee membership, receipt of special awards, organization of symposia, chairing of conference sessions, and presentation of papers.
- Receipt of external or internal fellowships or grants or other subsidies for the pursuit of research or study in the faculty member's field, and significant commissions in the creative arts.
- Holding significant special appointments such as visiting professorships, lectureships, or consultant assignments in other academic, scholarly, professional, or governmental institutions, and editing of scholarly or professional publications.
- Creation, exhibition, performance or publication in the arts or literature.
- Producing and directing events in the performing arts, including visual arts, music, dance, and theatre, beyond normal instructional duties.
Committee Procedures
Review of Faculty Holding Joint Appointments and of Faculty Active in Interdisciplinary Programs
Additional:
With the approval of the Department Chair and the faculty member, a faculty member holding a joint appointment can be evaluated in one of the following ways:
- By both the Liberal Studies RTP Committee and the RTP Committee of the other department in which the individual holds an appointment.
- By a committee consisting of two faculty members from the appropriate Liberal Studies RTP Committee and two members of the appropriate RTP Committee from the other department in which the individual holds an appointment.
Student Consultation in Academic Personnel Processes
Oral Testimony
Additional:
The Liberal Studies RTP Committee shall not routinely invite anyone to meet with the committee to give oral testimony. Since oral testimony is given only to clarify material in the file, no other persons will be routinely interviewed by the committee.
The Liberal Studies RTP Committee will not honor requests to meet with it from any person or persons prior to the issuance of its recommendation, Following the issuance of the recommendation, the committee will honor the request of the candidate to meet with the committee.
Role of Department/Division/School Chair or Director
Additional:
The Department Chair shall serve as a voting member of the RTP Committee A and the Appointments and RTP Committee B.
The Director of the Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies Program shall serve as a voting member of the RTP Committee A when WGSS faculty are being reviewed, the Appointments committee when the position is for WGSS, and RTP Committee B.
Appointment of Temporary Faculty
Evaluation of Temporary Faculty
Additional:
Evaluation of temporary faculty is based on instructional performance, taking into account student opinion surveys, syllabi, class materials, classroom visits, evidence of active learning pedagogy and/or other evidence of currency in the field (see below). It also includes those contributions in Category B and C that are relevant to their instructional assignment or that provide student services.
Temporary faculty with multi-year appointments may be evaluated more frequently at the request of the faculty member or the Appointments and RTP Committee B.
The Liberal Studies Appointments and RTP Committee B may invite the Department Chair to submit a written report on anyone being reviewed whose work the Chair considers to be particularly commendable or whose work needs improvement. Those being reviewed will receive these reports and have ten days to submit a response or rebuttal to the committee.
The Department Chair will arrange for classroom observations for temporary faculty as appropriate. Class observations will normally be performed by Assistant, Associate, and/or Full Professor in the department.
According to its overall judgement, the Appointments and RTP Committee B will give each temporary faculty member one of the following ratings as specified by university policy:
- Outstanding - describes truly exceptional performance.
- Commendable - describes performance that is better than satisfactory or that exceeds expectations.
- Satisfactory - describes performance that meets expectations.
- Needs Improvement - describes performance that does not meet expectations.
- Unsatisfactory - describes performance that is seriously deficient.
A review that rates a temporary faculty member's performance as satisfactory or better shall be accompanied by a favorable recommendation for reappointment. Reviews that find a temporary faculty member's performance to be Commendable or Outstanding may include a statement of commendation.
A review that rates a temporary faculty member's performance as "Needs Improvement" or "Unsatisfactory" will delineate the specific reasons for the rating.
The evaluation of temporary faculty will be based on some or all of the areas described below.
I. Class observations:
- It is normal for instructors to be visited at least once a year during their first three years of appointment. After the first three years of teaching, the instructor, the Appointments and RTP Committee B or the Department Chair may request a class observation. Class observations should normally be part of the evidence to justify range elevation. New instructors should be visited informally-- by the Liberal Studies Chair or a designee-- early in the first semester of teaching (usually in the third or fourth week) so that any problems needing attention can be dealt with as soon as possible. The visit need not result in a full-scale report, but a written record of any serious problems or concerns should be made and shared immediately with the instructor and the chair and when relevant, the Appointments and RTP Committee B. A formal observation should normally be conducted either that semester or in the subsequent semester.
- The selection of the class (course, day, and time) shall be at the discretion of the observer, who shall provide notification of the visit at least five days prior to the visit.
- Before the class, the instructor should give the observer a copy of the course syllabus and any relevant teaching materials that will make the process of evaluation easier, including access to the course learning management website (e.g., Moodle) which shall be evaluated for course materials as well as evidence of teaching/pedagogy. Those conducting the observations of part-time faculty should provide an objective and detailed description of the activities that occur in a classroom, including the instructor's preparation and mastery of content, the goals/objectives of the class meeting and their relation to the design of the course as a whole, the effective use of time, specific pedagogical techniques and practices employed by the instructor, the instructor's manner and rapport with the students, and the level of interest/attentiveness/preparation/involvement of the students.
- The report should include assessment and, when appropriate, commendation of the instructor's strengths, The report should also include, when appropriate, suggestions for improvement. The primary purpose of the observation should be to help improve instruction. Nevertheless, the report is also part of a personnel file used to determine retention, rehiring, and occasionally dismissal. Either the observer or the Appointments and RTP Committee B may choose to provide a summary comment (such as outstanding, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, etc.), but no such summary comment is required.
- A copy of the report of the observation should be given to the instructor at the same time it is presented to the Appointments and RTP Committee B and the Department Chair. The instructor should then have ten days to submit a rebuttal statement.
II. Narrative of Teaching and Course materials
- The instructor will provide a supplementary file containing a narrative of teaching that explains pedagogical techniques (active learning), course materials that will enable the Appointments and RTP Committe B members to evaluate both teaching effectiveness and currency in the field. In all cases, the instructor should provide a copy of the course syllabus and samples of assignments and instructional materials that will enable committee members to evaluate:
- Course organization and design
- Course congruence with Department and University policies and procedures
- Appropriateness and effectiveness of assignments
- Relevance and currency of course materials
- A sense of the tone of the course
- The instructor's professionalism
- The instructor's currency in the field including professional achievements
- In addition, instructors should include copies of sample student papers that they have marked and graded. Normally, instructors should provide three sample papers representing a superior, an average, and a weak performance in one of their classes. These will be evaluated in terms of the appropriateness and usefulness of the instructor's responses.
- If the course materials seem to require specific comment because they are unsatisfactory, problematic, need improvement, or are distinguished in some way, the Appointments and RTP Committee B should note the fact in its final report and when appropriate, provide commendations or specific suggestions for improvement, If the course material seem satisfactory and typical, no summary statement is necessary.
III. Student Opinion Surveys
- In examining student opinion surveys, the Appointments and RTP Committee B will consider both the "overall teaching score" and the departmental mean for the specific questions. Minor variations from the mean should not receive undue attention.
IV. Grading Practices
- The Department Chair shall provide the instructors with information on the Department's grading practices/norms for specific courses. If the instructor's grading practices fall consistently and significantly above or below the department norms, the Chair and the Appointments and RTP Committee B should note and consider that fact.
V. Professional Achievement and Service
- The RTP Committee will also consider and evaluate evidence of professional achievement or special service to the department and/or our students when such evidence is relevant to specific teaching assignments, appropriately documented in the supplemental file, and deserving of comment or commendation.
Consideration for Three-Year Appointments
Additional:
Temporary faculty with multi-year appointments may be evaluated more frequently at the request of the faculty member or the Appointments and RTP Committee B.