Personal characteristics and skills which athletic directors prize in coaches are discussed. Highly valued competencies include: (1) technical understanding of sports; (2) ability to relate to students, colleagues, and the community; (3) ability to use conceptual skills; and (4) dedication to the school's goals. (PP)

Although there are serious reservations regarding student evaluation, many of the students and teachers who have used evaluation instruments have found them to be effective in improving the learning process. The effectiveness of evaluation depends upon the quality of the climate in which it takes place. (MLW)

The faculty peer review system described assumes cooperation between employees and employers toward individual and departmental goals, and provides measures of change in objectives or behavior. Experiences at San Jose State are reported and a President's scholars review form is included. (MSE)

Questions raised frequently by college and university faculty about use of portfolios to document effective teaching are answered. The questions address such issues as how the portfolio is organized, what it should reflect, how and by whom it is used, preparation time, the mentor's role, reliability, subjectivity, maintaining the portfolio's…

Analysis of the content of and student responses to college course evaluations suggests that, in general, students are seeking entertainment, comfort, high grades, and less work and are hostile to the necessary routines and rigors of higher education. The commonly used numerical evaluation form is not only unreliable and invalid, it is an…

A survey of 63 college provosts and academic vice presidents concerning evaluation of tenured faculty found that, although frequency and form of evaluation vary widely, the large majority of institutions do perform regular reviews of tenured faculty. Most respondents also felt that the tenure system works relatively well. (MSE)

A discussion of the usefulness of student questionnaires for evaluating college faculty concludes that student opinion expressed in such surveys tends to be relative and extreme rather than absolute and balanced. An important role for questionnaires is to impose self-policed minimum teaching standards. Results should be handled with care. (MSE)

While student evaluations of teaching performance can provide useful feedback on faculty, particularly on dimensions of course delivery, there are serious limitations. Bias and distrust are often overlooked in interpreting student ratings. An inappropriate use is in rank-ordering faculty in a department. Student evaluation data must be integrated…

It is argued that despite the current view of college teaching as a discrete set of skills, good teaching is more complex and involves understanding the specific contexts in which teaching occurs, and how teachers understand and communicate concepts to a changing student population. Portfolio-based peer assessment of college teachers is…

Maintains that teaching and faculty development (research as well as a broad range of other possible activities) are mutually beneficial and inseparable activities. (SR)

Singles out three interrelated areas in the exposition of faculty evaluation and assessment: (1) the nature of the procedure; (2) the rhythms of professional life; and (3) mutual rights and responsibilities, particularly in the process of posttenure review. (Author/VWL)

Contributes to a special issue on how the reconsideration of what scholarship is affects the way in which scholarship is assessed. Examines the scholarship of application, which involves the practical application of theory to respond positively to the needs of the community. Offers two case studies demonstrating this beneficial role. Discusses…

For a communication studies administrator, the scholar envisioned in Ernest Boyer's "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate" is an instructive guide to faculty and administrators pondering the balance or relationship between teaching and research. It is an immodest claim that each discipline teaches well but broadly…

In 1992, the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges adopted this report on the state's accreditation, and directed the Executive Committee to work with the Accreditation Committee in order to implement its recommendations to the greatest extent possible. Suggestions concerning the composition and effectiveness of visiting teams are…

There are many problems common to faculty evaluation, in particular its subjective and unsystematic form. There are solutions to some of those problems. The first task is to delineate exactly what responsibilities faculty will be expected to perform. Too often so many tasks are expected of faculty that no one can complete them all well.…