AFUM Contract Administrative Guidelines Evaluation and Evaluation Criteria Article 10
Article 10, Evaluation, of the AFUM contract requires that all unit members be evaluated by a peer committee annually, except as shown below. Any unit member having the rank of Professor with tenure and any unit member having the rank of Extension Educator with continuing contract shall be evaluated by the department, division or other appropriate unit every four (4) years, or more frequently upon written request of the unit member. Any unit member having the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, any unit member having the rank of Associate Extension Educator with continuing contract and any Lecturer or Instructor with over six (6) years of continuous service in the same department, division or other appropriate unit shall be evaluated by the department, division or other appropriate unit every four (4) years, or more frequently upon written request of the unit member.
Peer Committee Evaluation Schedule
- Professor with tenure or Extension Educator with continuing contract every 4 years
- Associate Professor with tenure or Associate Extension Educator with continuing contract every 4 years
- Lecturer or Instructor with over 6 years of continuous service in the same department, division or other appropriate unit every 4 years
- All other AFUM unit faculty every year
All unit members (with the exceptions cited in the chart above), including first and second year faculty who have previously been considered for reappointment, should be evaluated at this time by both the peer committee and department chairperson. In addition, departments should review annually their evaluation criteria and student evaluation forms. If revisions are made, they should be submitted for administrative approval in accordance with Article 10, Section B.3 of the faculty contract.
Procedure
The department chairperson is responsible for convening the peer evaluation committee. The chairperson may be an observer of the deliberations of the committee evaluation. The chairperson will provide the peer committee access to the personnel file, including student evaluation results. The peer committee or the chairperson of the peer committee must meet with the faculty member who is being evaluated for a frank discussion of the faculty member’s performance, if such a meeting is requested by the faculty member. This meeting should occur before the peer committee puts its evaluation in writing. Once the evaluation is in writing, the faculty member has one week in which to comment, also in writing, if he/she so desires. The response must be attached to the evaluation and both placed in the personnel file.
The peer committee need not evaluate any faculty member whose service will cease at the end of the current year. That is, any faculty member who has stated in writing an intent to resign or retire, any faculty member completing a terminal year, or any faculty member with a fixed-length or soft-money appointment which will expire this year and will not be renewed.
Following receipt of the peer committee evaluation and after the period in which faculty may comment in writing, chairpersons will prepare their evaluations which will be discussed with the dean (vice president in units without deans) according to college practice prior to being communicated, also in writing, to the faculty member.
Evaluation Criteria and Student Evaluation Forms
Each peer committee should annually review departmental evaluation criteria and student evaluation forms and procedures to consider revisions. Any revision is subject to administrative review and becomes effective at the beginning of the following academic or fiscal year. Proposed revisions to criteria should be submitted for administrative review by June 1.
Evaluation Procedures for Faculty With Joint Appointments
Faculty holding joint appointments are reviewed by a single peer committee for the purpose of evaluation, reappointment, tenure and promotion. The composition of the peer committee for the unit member in a joint appointment shall reflect the proportion of responsibilities assigned to the unit member in each department, division, or other appropriate unit. For the purpose of evaluation, reappointment, promotion, and tenure there shall be a single recommendation from the peer committee. Please note that a cooperating (unsalaried) appointment is not a joint appointment.