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New Part-time faculty will be observed by a two-person team, one chosen by the Writing Program Coordinator and one by the candidate, during the first semester of employment.  At the end of the third week of the second semester of employment, the faculty member will submit a teaching portfolio, which includes the two observation reports and additional information as indicated on the portfolio guidelines sheet available in the Writing Program Office, 206 SFH.

Ideally, the faculty teams doing the observations will submit to the Chair a joint report – signed and dated – of the class observed.  If the appointed and chosen observers are unable to observe the same class, each observer may submit to the Chair a signed and dated report.  Comments may include the following:

• effectiveness of organization and use of class time;
• ability to elicit discussion;
• ability and willingness to answer questions;
• respect for students;
• interaction of students with students and of students with the instructor;
• knowledge of material being presented;
• clarity in explanation of assignments; and
• other comments deemed relevant to teaching performance by those doing the peer reviews.

The teaching portfolio should include the following:

• Syllabi and supplemental handouts for the semester under review and the two most recently completed semesters.  (Those teachers submitting a portfolio for the first time should submit syllabi and supplemental handouts for only the current and previous semester of employment.)

• Student evaluation summaries and all written student comments for the three most recently completed semesters.  (Those teachers submitting a portfolio for the first time should submit summaries and comments for only the previous semester of employment.)

• A set of graded papers from one class during the semester in which the teaching portfolio is reviewed or the most recently completed semester.
• Reports of two classroom observations made during the semester previous to the one in which the portfolio is being evaluated.

• Any other materials the temporary faculty members deems professionally relevant – publications, committee work, departmental service, vita, etc.

This review will result in a written evaluation, including a rank (defined as performance rating along a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (high), by the PT Review Subcommittee of FAC.  The members of this committee include the Chair, the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator, the Graduate Studies Coordinator, one member of FAC who holds a TT appointment, the PT faculty representative to FAC, and the Writing Program Coordinator (who chairs the subcommittee).

Faculty members will be given a copy of the written FAC evaluation and the classroom observations, and they will retain the right to request additional evaluations.

All other PT faculty will not undergo observations except in the cases of underperforming PT faculty as discussed in the following paragraph.  However, those faculty members will be required to submit syllabi, a set of writing assignments, and a representative sample of graded papers once a year (usually in fall semester) for each different course preparation.  These documents plus the student evaluations are required for reappointment and will be reviewed each year by the PT Review Subcommittee of FAC to determine the faculty member’s continued teaching success.  A faculty member in this category will not be notified after the review unless there has been a change in his or her status.  Such notification will be made approximately one month into the semester following the review.

Those faculty who receive two or more semesters of weak student evaluations (deviating from the norm by +0.75, for example, in terms 21 and 22), a number of legitimate student complaints, or who produce insufficient or no syllabi, will be contacted privately by the Writing Program Coordinator to discuss the possibility of continued faculty development.  The specific form of that development work will be decided by the faculty member in consultation with the Writing Program Coordinator, but the options will include continuing observations for a period of time, undergoing a portfolio review, or designing a professional growth and assessment project.  Detailed descriptions of these options are available in the Writing Program Office, 206 SFH.

Those faculty who would like evidence of further faculty development work for such purposes as letters of recommendation, promotion, consideration for NTT positions, general teaching improvement, or applications for teaching awards may consult the Writing Program Coordinator to discuss taking on some or all of the faculty development options indicated above.