Board of Regents Policy on Course/Instructor Evaluation
The Board of Regents requires that all teaching faculty be rated by students annually on a form determined by the faculty of the Academic unit.
Purpose of Course/Instructor Evaluations
Course evaluations are used for two primary purposes:
- to improve instructional methods or course content.
- to support faculty claims of teaching effectiveness in performance reviews and in applications for tenure and Promotion.
Full-Time Faculty
Several course/instructor evaluation options are available to English Department faculty:
- the standard English Department Course/Instructor Evaluation Form (adopted by vote of the departmental faculty and approved by the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Vice-president for Academic affairs)
- other evaluation forms (instructor's preference)
- Student Government association Instructor Evaluation
- chairperson visitation and evaluation.
The standard English Department Form is the official departmental instrument for course/instructor evaluation, beginning in the Spring 1995 semester. Faculty wishing to include course evaluation data in their annual Performance Appraisal Reports must use the Department form.
Probationary faculty must invite the chairperson to observe class sessions at least once per academic year (but preferably once per semester) during the probationary period. Non-probationary faculty may invite the chairperson to observe class sessions at their discretion.
- The department chairperson will contact the faculty member regarding class visitation.
- The faculty member and the chairperson will agree on which course will be visited, and the faculty member will provide a list of dates.
- The chairperson will select the class period to be visited from this list and inform the faculty member.
- The chairperson will make notes during class visitation and will maintain a file of these notes throughout the faculty member's probationary period.
- Following the class visitation, the chairperson will review the class session with the faculty member upon request.
Part-Time Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants
Part-time faculty and graduate teaching assistants must use the standard Department form for evaluation of each of their classes. Summaries of the evaluations for each part-time faculty member and graduate teaching
assistant will be reviewed by the appropriate course director or by the department chairperson.
The appropriate course director and/or the department chairperson will also make occasional evaluative visits to the classrooms of part-time faculty and graduate teaching assistants. When making evaluative classroom visits, the course director and/or the department chairperson will follow the procedure for classroom visitation of full-time faculty.
