L&S Policy for Evaluating Short-Term Instructional Academic Staff

(Approved by L&S Academic Planning Council, November 16, 2006,
in consultation with L&S Committee on Academic Staff Issues et al.)

Departments and programs that employ short-term instructional academic staff (associate lecturers, lecturers, faculty associates, faculty assistants, etc.) are required to have a process in place to evaluate teaching performance. The form of evaluation is set by the department or program with the participation of its academic staff. The minimum College expectation is that it will include:

• classroom observation (SEE NOTE) of new (defined as a first time appointee in the department in any of the above titles) short-term instructional academic staff early in the semester for the purpose of teaching improvement and mentoring;
• classroom observation (SEE NOTE) in each semester of appointment for the evaluation of teaching performance; and
• a mechanism for student evaluations of short-term instructors each semester.

The College expectation is that student evaluations will be among several criteria for evaluating teaching performance. A copy or summary sheet of such evaluations should be provided to the staff member and placed in the departmental personnel file. All written evaluations of teaching performance should be placed in the staff member’s departmental personnel file and teaching performance should be a criterion in any future hiring decision.

Short-term instructional academic staff appointments are governed by Academic Staff Policies and Procedures. ASPP 10.06 requires that new employees be informed of the unit's procedures for performance reviewat the time of appointment.

Note: For distance/mediated courses, field courses, supervision of internship courses, etc. the department or program will need to arrange an equivalent observation.

Added 1/16/07; emk