MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Members of the Academic Council Ad Hoc Committee on the Evaluation of Teaching

 

FROM:            Jim Bissett

                        Chair, Academic Council

 

DATE: October 9, 2002

 

RE:                   Committee Charge and Activities

 

Thank you for agreeing to serve on this committee.  I think we all understand how important this issue is, and how influential our work will be.  I have included additional details about the committee and its work here.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any member of Academic Council with questions or comments.

 

I. Purpose and Charge of the Committee

 

In his remarks to the faculty and staff at the opening session of the 2002 Faculty Planning Week, President Lambert charged us with coordinating a campus-wide discussion about the way we evaluate our teaching, with special emphasis on the role of student evaluations in that process.  In response, the Academic Council will form an ad hoc committee to explore the following questions:

 

1.      As we evaluate teaching, do we rely too heavily on the Student Evaluation of the Learning Process?  How should that instrument be weighted in the evaluation process?

 

2.      What additional ways of evaluating teaching should be employed by faculty members, department chairs, deans, and committees as they assess the effectiveness of teaching?  What relative weights should be accorded to these measures?

 

3.      What are the implications of using more diverse criteria in evaluating teaching?  Will this involve significant investments of time and energy by faculty members, chairs, and deans?  If so, what institutional resources should be devoted to this process?

 

As the committee explores these questions, it may wish to suggest amendments to the section of the Faculty Handbook that deals with teaching as a part of the evaluation system for teaching faculty (II-8,D3a, p. 60).  In doing so, the Ad Hoc Committee for the Evaluation of Teaching should work closely with the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Promotion, Tenure and Professional Status Criteria.

 

II. Timeline

 

Our goal is to discuss and approve the changes you recommend in time for them to become part of next year’s Faculty Handbook.  In order to achieve this, the committee must make its final recommendations to the Academic Council no later than March, 2003.

 

III. Committee Membership

 

The committee will represent various campus constituencies, including those with experience as Department Chairs and on Academic Council.  Steven House will represent the Academic Affairs office.  The following faculty members have agreed to serve: Larry Basirico, David Copeland (Academic Council representative), Glenda Crawford, Stephen Futrell, Gene Gooch, Rosemary Haskell, Linda Poulson, and George Sleek.  The Student Government Association will appoint two students to serve on the committee.