Faculty Handbook 2007-2008

To encourage colleagues to reflect about their work and to plan for their continuing professional development as thoughtfully as possible, and to do so with the discipline that a periodic assessment provides.

To help colleagues share their plans for sabbaticals and other experiences which should aim to refresh and renew senior faculty and to further development of the College and its departments; and to these ends make creative use of such professional development resources as may be available.

To provide the College from time to time with an assessment of each tenured colleague's performance.

In all of these ways, to be certain that as an institution, as a community, and as individuals, we are giving full assurance to ourselves and our students that we take our charge with the utmost seriousness to perform consistently at the highest level possible.

The evaluation for tenured faculty will take place in the year before the faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical. This will normally enable the sabbatical year and, where applicable, other resources available for professional development to be of maximum use to the faculty member for both personal development and development appropriate to the needs of the department and the College.

The evaluation will not be held when, in the opinion of the Provost, its purpose has been served by a recent review for tenure or promotion.

The centerpiece of the evaluation will be a personal statement addressing teaching, scholarship, and contributions to the other purposes of the College. The personal statement will describe accomplishments in terms of the goals stated in the previous review and discuss the faculty member's plans, aspirations and needs for subsequent years. It will also include, when applicable, a prospectus for the sabbatical for which the faculty member is eligible to apply, and will link these plans to the faculty member's professional development.

The faculty member being evaluated will be responsible for seeing that his or her dossier includes the following:

The President's Advisory Board will review the faculty member's materials, including the Provost's letter(s) from previous review(s). The Board will then advise the Provost regarding strengths and weaknesses and, when appropriate, suggest ways in which any problem areas might be addressed.

The evaluation will conclude with a conference between the faculty member and the Provost, followed by a letter from the Provost to the faculty member and his or her chair recording the results of the review. The purpose will be to assist the faculty member to assess his or her strengths and weaknesses and to determine ways in which the College can contribute in the following years to his or her intellectual growth and professional development.