Transcript A Quick Guide to Tenure and Promotion

Tips On Writing Annual Reviews
September 2014
Recording date of this workshop is
September 25, 2014
Some of the rules and procedures
discussed in this workshop are
subject to change.
Please check university resources
before relying exclusively
on this recorded presentation.
On Writing the Text
Tip 1: Use a committee

Keep it small. For example:
• Chair
• Director of Undergraduate Studies
• Director of Graduate Studies
• An elected junior faculty member
Committee (continued)

Procedural example:
• Each committee member reads each faculty file.
• Each committee member rates each file on a 5
point scale on teaching, research, and service.
• A formula is used to combine the ratings (e.g.,
teaching and research weighted twice, service
once).
• A meeting is held to discuss the ratings.
Committee (continued)

Some advantages of a committee:
• Provides evidence of reliability of merit
ratings. Negates charges of bias.
• May reveal things that the chair did not
notice.
• Helps to catch mistakes.
• Helps to educate those who serve on
the committee about their colleagues.
• Reduces the work required of the chair.
Tip 2: Use a Template

Example:
• What is the faculty member doing well?
• What areas need improvement?
• What should be done to improve?
• What is the timeline for improvement?
• How will you know that improvement has occurred?
Think About Next Year

Things to improve and the timeline

Specific goals:
• Teaching
• Research
• Service
Template (continued)

Some advantages of a template:

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Makes it easier to write the reviews
Uniformity can guard against bias
Reduces omissions
Tip 3: Address All Aspects of
Performance


Unless explicitly negotiated
otherwise, all tenure-track and
tenured faculty teach, engage in
scholarship, and contribute to
service.
Please address the faculty member’s
performance in each of these areas.
Tip 4: Don’t Neglect Service

Consider formulating departmental guidelines
that increase with rank. For example:
• 5% - assistant professors
• 10% - associate professors
• 20% - full and regents professors

Don’t allow the willing to be overloaded.

Don’t indulge the unwilling.

Evaluate quality as well as quantity.
Tip 5: You Can Address
Collegiality

It may be in your
guidelines (e.g.,
“All faculty are to
be evaluated in
terms of their
contributions to
promotion of a
positive and
effective
workplace.”)
• CAHNRS guidelines
Collegiality (continued)

Talking about collegiality may be
difficult.
• It’s easier if you talk about how a
faculty member’s behavior is interfering
with some aspect of the performance of
the unit.
• Be specific about the problems created.
Tip 6: Assess quality

Do not just list
activities, assess their
quality.
• You are trying to
communicate how well
this faculty member is
performing relative to
the standards of your
discipline to those
outside of your
discipline.
• You are also educating
the faculty member
about what counts.
Tip 7: Be Positive

Faculty members will not “hear” feedback
that is unrelentingly negative.

Start the review with something positive.

Use proactive language. (e.g., This is a
problem, but here’s how we can work
together to correct it.)
• Whenever possible put a good spin on things.
• Don’t leave the faculty member without hope
(unless there is none).
Tip 8: Be Developmental not just
Evaluative


Consider setting goals for the future.
Help the faculty member to improve.
Tip 9: Be Realistic


You hurt, not help, faculty members
by giving them unrealistically
positive messages.
Your messages should be realistic
with regard to all standards:
• Departmental
• College
• University
Faculty View

“I’m hoping that it [my review] will
actually be a little brutal …I hope
that it’s not a pat on the back.
Because I don’t think that serves
anybody anyway…”
• Anomymous faculty member,
Perspectives on what pre-tenure faculty
want and what six research universities
provide, COACHE report, 2008
Tip 10: Be specific

Faculty members cannot alter their
behavior unless they understand the
praise and criticism.
• Not “your teaching is poor”
• Rather, you need to improve your
teaching in large sections. Your lectures
are regarded as disorganized. CTLT can
help.
But Not Too Specific

Do not make specific promises about
tenure.
• Not: You will receive tenure if you publish 7
papers.
• Better: You will be a stronger candidate for
tenure if you publish at least 7 refereed journal
articles in which you appear as the major
contributing author.
Tip 11: Be Accurate



Errors in their annual reviews anger
faculty members.
Please do change errors of fact
before sending the review to the
Dean.
You are not required to change your
judgments.
Tip 12: Talk to Your Faculty

Hold the optional discussion with
each faculty member every year.
• Some chairs find that the discussion is
more productive if the merit rating is
withheld until the end.

Make annual review an ongoing
process even though you write it up
once a year.
Tip 13: Clearly Communicate
Changing Standard

You may need to change your standards.
• To bring them into line with the college and
university
• To improve the department

Clearly communicate the new standards to
the faculty.
• If necessary, revise your tenure and promotion
guidelines.

Give faculty members time to adjust
before enforcing new standards.
Tip 14: Educate Your Faculty About
Each Other’s Performance


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Faculty members suspect they are
being evaluated unfairly.
You can dispel this myth by releasing
a summary of each faculty members’
performance without names.
This is particularly useful if you are
changing the rating scale.
Tip 15: Talk to Your Dean



Keep your standards in line with
those of the College by
communicating with the Dean.
The Dean can help you deal with
problems.
Don’t take the Dean by surprise.
Tip 16: Discuss Annual Review in
the Chair’s Annual Evaluation


Dean’s provide annual reviews for
department chairs and directors.
The annual review of chairs should
discuss their efforts at faculty
development.
• Faculty development includes annual
review.
On the Merit Rating
Tip 1: Use a Committee


Committee ratings
are usually lower
than chair’s
ratings.
Committee ratings
provide a reliability
measure to counter
charges of bias.
Tip 2: Use Most of the Rating Scale

Don’t use a restricted scale (e.g., 4.5 –
5.0) because:
• It provides inaccurate information to those
reviewed.
• It does not help performance to improve.
• It can get you into trouble.
Use Most of the Rating Scale
(continued)

You don’t need to use the whole
scale unless appropriate.
• For example, ratings between 0 and 2.0
are rare.

Your mean does not have to be 3.0.
• A mean of 3.5 might be appropriate.
• A mean of 4.5 is unlikely to be
appropriate.
Tip 3: Use Ratings Below 3.0 to
Signal Serious Problems

Faculty members hear what they want to
hear.
• They may ignore even strongly worded
problems in the text.

You’ll get their attention with a rating that
indicates they are not “meeting
expectations.”
• Very low scores (e.g., 1.0) are appropriate if
they’re failing by a long way.
Tip 4: Readjusting the Scale

When readjusting the scale provide
faculty members with their score on
the new scale and the equivalent
score on the old scale.
• It helps to decrease the pain of
adjustment.
Tip 5: Avoid the Rating During
Discussions


Faculty member tend to fixate on the
merit rating.
Fixation may prevent them from “hearing”
the message in the text.
• Consider meeting without providing the rating
or providing the rating at the end.
• Bring the conversation back to the text if the
rating is dominating.
Tip 6: Z Scores Can Standardize
Scores Across Departments

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The departmental mean and
standard deviation can be used to
generate a score that is standardized
across departments (z score).
Of course, doing this assumes that
performance is equal across
departments.
Some Closing Don’ts
Tip 1: Don’t Ask Faculty Members
to Write Their Own Reviews

It puts them in a tough spot.
• That’s called “a conflict of interest.”

It denies them the information and
reassurance that they need.
Tip 2: Don’t Neglect Some Faculty


The rules specify that we do a
thorough review of assistant
professors.
Don’t neglect your associate and full
professors.
Tip 3: Don’t Be Overly Kind

Excessively positive feedback:
• Is not fair to the faculty member.
• Is not fair to the faculty member’s betterperforming colleagues.
• May get you into trouble at tenure and/or
promotion time.
• Will get you into trouble if you want to
discipline or separate the faculty member.
Tip 4: Avoid an Annual Burden


Carry on a conversation with faculty
through the year.
Ask faculty members to enter data
into WORQS as they go.
The End
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