The role of academic deans with respect to faculty work varies depending on the institution. Some evaluate faculty directly, while others are involved through reporting relationships with department chairs. Deans are in a position to allocate resources and shape institutional policies and structures that create conditions for productive…

A social sciences paradigm for defining "wicked problems," which are aggressive but not clearly defined, is applied to the evaluation of college instruction. It is proposed that the construct is useful in planning for college faculty evaluation procedures and that prompt action is needed. (MSE)

Psychometric considerations that must be addressed in planning a faculty evaluation system for higher education are discussed. Constructing a framework for evaluation is reviewed through the example of evaluation of instructional competence, research productivity, and professional service. (SLD)

Conditions that can enhance college teachers' acceptance and productive use of feedback about instruction are outlined, including understanding of the purposes of evaluation, who provides the feedback, the message itself (form, timing, sources, and subsequent messages), characteristics of the recipient, immediate environment, and consequences…

Menges identifies four areas of educational research in which data is substantial but much less useful than it could be: faculty behaviors and intentions; technology-mediated instruction; effective evaluative decisions and context-specific research. He suggests some directions for future research. (JM)

A research project was conducted to study the following areas: faculty research and publication programs at colleges of business, rewards for faculty research, publications considered for faculty rewards, quality evaluation of faculty research, and why business deans consider research and publication important. (CT)

Compared to the problem-centered world of the superintendency, the professoriate is characterized by a less-hectic environment of reflection, teaching, discourse, writing, and research. Professors have fewer support services, but work in a more collegial environment where committees make many decisions. Sidebars advise about faculty evaluation and…

The response of Sydney University to recent union agreements concerning the restructuring of Australia's faculty reward system is described, especially as it concerns new requirements for faculty development and evaluation. It is concluded that the new policy is a more enlightened one, emphasizing development over assessment. (MSE)

A discussion of the use of performance management for faculty and nonacademic staff in colleges and universities first offers the definition of performance management used in business, examines colleges and universities as institutions of learning, and suggests the notion of quality maintenance as a better approach to personnel management. (MSE)

Contributes to a special issue on how the reconsideration of what scholarship is affects the way in which scholarship is assessed. Examines traditional criteria for evaluating faculty research. Identifies activities pertinent to the scholarship of discovery, and the assessment practices in the field of communication as well as in general use. (SR)

Argues that the use of teaching portfolios can improve college faculty teaching skills and provide evaluators with useful information in promotion/tenure decisions. Suggestions are offered for portfolio content, portfolio design, and ways to create an institutional climate of acceptance. (DB)

The evaluation of training faculty performance is a major institutional consideration for improving training and determining the timing of promotion. The common techniques used in evaluating teaching are peer evaluations and student evaluations. These methods are plagued by inconsistent results because the aspects evaluated in online teaching and…

Online education is used for a variety of purposes in higher education. Two such purposes are improving one's performance over time and understanding one's professional development in the context of online teaching and learning. Relying on data from online staff development courses delivered in five Spanish universities, this article explores…

This chapter examines, within the higher education context, the difficulties which instructional developers often encounter in gaining cooperation to achieve their goals. It is argued that instructional development in the university involves a paradox in that a great deal of money is provided for the improvement of instruction, but an environment…

Student forms for evaluating instruction are examined from three perspectives: as forms themselves, through their relationship with their authors, and through the milieu in which they exist. Results suggest that the forms objectify students, reify knowledge, place themselves beyond criticism, and reinforce "banking" education and closed learning…