Student Course Evaluations
All faculty members, both full-time and part-time, shall have the following number of their courses evaluated by students each calendar year. Tenured faculty members shall be evaluated in at least two courses each year. Untenured faculty members in their third year of teaching or beyond shall be evaluated in at least four courses each year. First and second year faculty members shall be evaluated in at least five courses each year. Part-time faculty members shall have at least half of their courses evaluated each year. All evaluations shall be read by the Associate Dean and by the appropriate Division Chair. Either the Associate Dean or the Division Chair will discuss with the individual faculty member any concerns that warrant special attention. Sample course evaluation forms are included in Appendix D.
On-Going Evaluation of all Faculty
Members of the Centre College faculty shall be evaluated annually on the basis of their performance in each of the three areas defined in Performance Standards: effective teaching, scholarly and professional activity and achievement, and service to the College and community.
The performance of all members of the faculty with regular appointments shall be reviewed annually by the President, the Dean of the College, the Associate Dean, and the appropriate Division Chair. Untenured faculty members shall receive a review letter every year; Associate Professors shall receive a letter every other year; and Professors shall receive a letter every third year. These evaluations shall be based principally on student course evaluations, reports of classroom visits, the curriculum vitae, the annual Faculty Activity Summary (see Faculty Activity Summaries (p. )) and other information that faculty members may provide.
Untenured faculty members on either regular or visiting appointments shall be evaluated annually. In addition, as part of the tenure process, untenured members of the faculty with regular appointments shall be evaluated by the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment and by the Dean of the College at the mid-point of their probationary period (i.e., a mid-probationary review during their third year, or during the second or third year for faculty members whose probationary period is four or five years, respectively) and during the year prior to the final year of probation.
Classroom Visits
Each untenured faculty member shall receive during each academic year at least three announced classroom visits by the Division Chair or by another faculty member designated by the Division Chair. At least one of these visits shall be made by the Division Chair. A written evaluation noting the date, nature, and results of each visit shall be made by the Division Chair or the faculty member designated by the Division Chair. A sample evaluation form for classroom visits is included in Appendix D. Visitors may respond to the questions on a separate sheet.
Following the classroom visit, the visitor shall send a copy of the draft evaluation to the untenured faculty member for review. The untenured faculty member and the visitor shall meet in person for a follow-up conversation. The date of that conversation shall be recorded on the classroom visit form. After the meeting with the untenured faculty member, the visitor will have the option of revising the proposed evaluation. Within two weeks of the classroom visit, the visitor shall send copies of the final evaluation to the untenured faculty member and to the Division Chair, who shall promptly send a copy to the Dean’s assistant to distribute to the file and to the Associate Dean. The untenured faculty member may also choose to send comments on the final evaluation to the visitor and to the Division Chair, who shall promptly send a copy to the Dean of the College. A copy of the final evaluation and of any comments by the untenured faculty member on the final evaluation shall be placed in the untenured faculty member’s open file. These documents shall be read as part of the annual review, mid-probationary review, and tenure review.
For the 2020-21 academic year, each untenured faculty member may request two or three announced teaching observations by the Division Chair or by another faculty member designated by the Division Chair. An untenured faculty member shall have no more than two visits in a single term and at most one class visit during Fall Term 2020. Prior to the class visit, the untenured faculty member and the visitor shall identify an appropriate observation opportunity, discuss the overall course structure, the instructor’s learning goals and teaching strategies, and overall student learning in the course. The untenured faculty member shall provide the visitor with a syllabus and, as appropriate, may add the visitor to the course Moodle page so that they can see how students are engaging with the material asynchronously. Within two weeks after the class visit, the visitor shall complete the 2020-21 Class Visit Form and send a draft version to the untenured faculty member for review, after which the untenured faculty member and the visitor shall have a conversation. The date of that conversation shall be recorded on the 2020-21 Class Visit Form and, after the meeting with the untenured faculty member, the visitor has the option of revising the draft form. Within three weeks of the class visit, the visitor shall send a final evaluation to the untenured faculty member and to the Division Chair, who shall promptly send a copy to the Dean’s assistant to distribute to the untenured faculty member’s file and to the Associate Dean. The untenured faculty member may also choose to send comments on the final evaluation to the the Division Chair, and the Associate Dean. A copy of the final evaluation and of any comments by the untenured faculty member on the final evaluation shall be placed in the untenured faculty member’s file. These documents shall be read as part of the annual review, mid-probationary review, and tenure review.
Faculty Activity Summaries
Early in December of each year, the Dean of the College shall send to every faculty member a form on which the latter shall record his or her activities of the preceding calendar year in the areas of teaching, scholarly and professional activity and achievement, and service to the College and community, a current curriculum vitae, and a statement of professional goals. The deadline for returning the completed form to the Dean with a copy to the Division Chair shall be such as to permit its use in the annual review. Copies of completed activity summaries shall be placed in the faculty member's open file. The FAS form is included in Appendix D.
Open File
An open file for each faculty member is available through Moodle and will be used at the time of mid-probationary review, tenure, and promotion review by the Committee on Tenure & Reappointment or Special Committee on Promotions, Division Chairs, Dean of the College, and the Associate Dean. During the review period, items can not be added to the Open File unless authorized by the Associate Dean and the Chair of the committee. On May 1 after the review is complete, access to the Open File is given back to the faculty member. The open file shall contain the following:
- a current curriculum vitae;
- a statement by the Faculty member, written at the time of the mid-probationary, tenure, and promotion reviews, in which he or she describes his or her achievements and future goals as a teacher and scholar, and amplifies or explains any of the materials in the open file. The statement should contain an ample and candid assessment of the professional significance of any publications and/or presentations;
- annual Faculty Activity Summaries;
- course evaluation summaries;
- sample syllabi and paper/project assignments submitted at the discretion of the Faculty member;
- reports of classroom visits;
- materials relating to the faculty member's scholarly and professional activity and achievement—articles, publicity, grant proposals submitted to external funding agencies, grant awards, etc. This should include all final reports from any sabbatical leaves, Stodghill awards, FDC grants, annual reports from those holding endowed professorships, as well as a summary of accomplishments resulting from any other outside grants; and,
- reports of the annual and mid-probationary reviews, as applicable.
Closed File
A closed file for each member of the Faculty on regular appointment shall be accessible via Moodle and available to the Dean of the College and the President. At the time of the mid-probationary, tenure, and promotion reviews, the closed file is also available to members of the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment or the Special Committee on Promotions, as appropriate for the review. It shall contain the following confidential items, which shall be collected by the Dean of the College at the time of the mid-probationary, tenure, and promotion reviews:
- evaluations from members of the faculty member’s program and from other colleagues who can assess his or her work; and
- letters solicited from current and former students, the Division Chair, and the Associate Dean.
- past letters from the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment with their recommendations of the candidates.
For promotion to full Professor, the Special Subcommittee on Promotions may request letters from outside scholars who are able to judge the faculty member’s professional or scholarly work. Any such letters shall be placed in the closed file. (See Appendix B: By-Laws of the Centre College Faculty, 6c.)
The contents of the open and closed files provide the basis for the assessment of each faculty member. As part of its responsibility to assure a fair and thorough evaluation for mid-probationary, tenure, and promotion reviews, the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment and the Special Subcommittee on Promotions may consult with the faculty member, the Dean of the College, or other persons.