Universities can effectively employ regional accreditation processes in striving to find legitimate means and credible mechanisms for more equitably evaluating faculty teaching and professional work. Examples from accreditation show how institutions can ensure compliance while establishing strong evaluation procedures for faculty service and…

The current approach to research, teaching, clinical service, and administration at academic health centers is reviewed, and the traditional values underpinning this approach are challenged. A new form of faculty management that matches the individual faculty member's priorities and skills with the health center mission and which focuses on the…

This paper discusses issues which make it difficult to measure the teaching performance of college faculty. The issues discussed are those which could lead to ethical and legal problems should they be ignored--those issues which are sensitive because personnel decisions are made on the basis of evaluations. Simplistic methods, such as student…

Three areas of quality assessment in higher education are examined: students, faculty, and library resources. Types of student data that institutional researchers should address include: entrance tests scores, retention rate, student outcomes, location and recruitment of graduates, results of licensing examinations, scholarship recipients, and…

This paper explores issues related to the degree to which weight and emphasis are given in higher education hiring and promotion practices to research versus teaching and service. In particular it examines the special problems posed by research demands in traditionally non-research universities. Noting that one of the most significant…

A complicated and continuously changing issue for faculty in professional schools is reviewed here: the role of faculty practice in their academic lives in general, and in their peer evaluation in particular. The discussion first considers the roles played by faculty professional practice in various professional fields and identifies the…

Approaches to obtaining valid information for evaluating faculty and the issue of alcoholism and job performance are addressed. Among the complications to this undertaking is the existence of an invalid self-perception on the part of faculty that they are not employees of the institution, and a tolerance among faculty for deviance or eccentricity.…

Judicial responses on disclosure of faculty peer evaluation records in employment discrimination litigation are reviewed, and the competing interests of faculty, plaintiffs, and universities are examined. It is argued that existing mechanisms to protect confidential peer review materials are flawed by not accurately measuring the plaintiff's need…

Urges community college division heads to be aware of their legal rights and responsibilities and develop policies guaranteeing students' contractual and constitutional rights. Discusses litigation in academic affairs; the need for well-developed syllabi; course, program, and faculty evaluation; liability for negligence; testing and advising…

Discussion of the evaluation of university faculty compares assessment that leads to judgment of performance (summative) and appraisal concerned with providing useful feedback (formative). Characteristics of each approach are considered, including purpose, criteria, review procedures, evaluators, recipients of results, timing, and follow-up.…

Evaluation research has established that college student ratings of faculty are reliable, valid, and widely used. However, resistance continues. Minimizing this resistance is crucial, and designating an influential change advocate within the institution can influence acceptance of a new system. Research on institutional contexts for evaluation…

Presents several common misperceptions about student evaluation of college faculty members. Asserts that it is essential to examine the operational processes used to measure effective teaching. Discusses the role of research, the importance of sociology, and the utility of standardized assessments of student learning in faculty evaluation. (CFR)

A discussion of the new scrutiny of faculty tenure by legislators and governing boards presents the views of four critics of traditional tenure. Topics addressed include problems associated with tenure, financial and educational perspectives on faculty productivity, possible alternatives to tenure, and implications for academic freedom.…

Intended as a contribution to a workshop discussion on program evaluation in higher education, the paper covers five major evaluation issues. First, it deals with evaluation concepts, explaining the purposes of evaluation; pertinent terms; and the sources of evaluation in public health procedures, the scientific method, the systems approach, and…

The document presents partial recommendations of a Pennsylvania State University Study Group on the Status of Women at the University. Recommendations concern job assessment and evaluation, recruitment of women faculty, part-time benefits and compensation, and recruitment of women administrators. Among specific recommendations are the following:…