Personnel Committee and Head Reviews

I.  REVIEWS: 
Beginning in their first year, Lecturers, Adjuncts, and Senior Lecturers (hereafter referred to as NTT faculty) are placed on a rotation of reviews.  All NTT faculty will be reviewed annually either by a Personnel Committee in the relevant teaching area(s) or by the Department Head/Head’s designee, and/or the Directors of the Professional Writing Program and the First Year Writing Program, where appropriate.

Each yearly review process evaluates the material in the faculty member’s departmental teaching file. In years of committee review, a teaching portfolio submitted by the faculty member is also assessed.

The following procedures have been established in order to implement a thorough and consistent faculty evaluation process.

A. Schedule of reviews:

Personnel Committee Reviews:

• Lecturers are reviewed by a personnel committee in the first and third years of their appointment, usually in the spring. Lecturers are reviewed every three years thereafter if there are no concerns.
• Faculty holding the rank of Senior Lecturer are generally reviewed by personnel committee every three years.
• Teaching Assistant Professors are reviewed by committee every year; Teaching Associate Professors are reviewed by committee every three years.
• Additional committee reviews may be requested by the faculty members, the Department Head or Program Director, or the personnel committee.

Personnel Review committees make recommendations for renewal or promotion to the DVF and the Head. Recommendations are submitted on the department’s committee review report form. The DVF reviews these recommendations and advises the Head. Copies of the recommendations/review will be provided to individual NTT faculty, and the original will be added to his/her departmental file.

Eligibility for Promotion:

• Lecturers become eligible for promotion to Senior Lecturer when they have the equivalent of five years of college-level teaching. Adjunct Lecturers become eligible for promotion when they have taught 18 sections.
• A committee review is required for all promotion decisions.

Head Reviews:

• In years when committee reviews are not scheduled, the Head/Head’s designee and the Directors the First Year Writing Program and the Professional Writing Program, where appropriate, review the materials in the NTT’s department files only. NTT faculty not undergoing committee review may also be asked to submit annual activity reports.
• The Head notifies the NTT faculty member by letter about the outcome of the review, and a copy of that letter is added to his/her departmental file.

Materials Required for Reviews:

1. Departmental Files:  These are examined during Head/Program Director and committee review.  They include:

• reports of classroom observations
• faculty CV
• prior committee and Head/Program Director review reports
• other supporting documentation

All faculty are responsible for submitting an updated CV annually. Copies of supplemental material (e.g. letters, awards notifications, publications, etc.) can be submitted to the Head’s assistant for inclusion in the departmental file.

2. Teaching Portfolios: Compiled and submitted by the faculty member, these are examined during committee reviews only. A list of the required and optional portfolio components can be found here.

II.   OBSERVATIONS: 
In addition to the reviews described above, NTT faculty are also observed in the classroom

• in their first year,
• in their third year,
• and every three years thereafter.
• Additional observations may be assigned at the request of the faculty members, the Head or Program Director, or the personnel committee.

The observation report becomes part of the department file that is reviewed each year. 

•  Please note:  classroom observations do not necessarily coincide with committee reviews.
  

III.  PROCEDURES/TIMETABLES FOR COMMITTEE REVIEWS AND OBSERVATIONS:

• Early in the fall semester, the Head’s office and program directors will identify (1) faculty due for review and (2) faculty due for classroom observation;  they also identify (3) faculty observers from the appropriate subject areas (to the extent possible) and members of personnel review committees.
•  For committee review: During the fall semester, NTT faculty due for spring committee review are reminded to assemble and maintain their teaching portfolios according to the formal guidelines for portfolios posted on the department website.
• In December, the Head’s designee will notify NTT faculty to be reviewed by committee of the date on which their teaching portfolios are due (submitted via Moodle, usually in mid-February).
• During the spring semester, personnel committees review portfolios and departmental files and make renewal and promotion recommendations to the Head. The DVF review recommendations and advise the Head. Copies of the committee reports will be provided to individual NTT faculty. The originals are placed in departmental personnel files.
• The personnel committee can require committee reviews of individual NTT faculty in subsequent years if the majority on the committee thinks an additional annual evaluation is warranted. The Department Head may also request additional annual evaluations.
• For observations, various program directors will coordinate faculty observers. Observing duties should be equitably divided up among tenured, tenure-track, and any NTT eligible to observe; observers are chosen from the tenure-track faculty in the appropriate teaching area and from non-tenure-track faculty at a higher rank than the person being observed.
• NTT faculty teaching in more than one area should not be observed more than once in a given semester unless they choose to be (e.g., someone teaching both creative writing and composition could be observed for one area in the fall and for the other in the spring) or unless they are eligible for promotion.
• Guidelines for conducting the classroom observations are posted here.

For university policies on NTT reviews, visit University Regulations on Non-Tenure Track Faculty Ranks & Appointments.

Last updated February 2019