Industry's experience with performance appraisal and performance management are examined, and a University of New South Wales (Australia) performance management program for general staff is discussed. The issues raised appear to be common to universities, and it is concluded that the approach is unlikely to work effectively in the university…

The University of Queensland's use of organizational theory to incorporate student evaluations of instruction into annual faculty evaluations and tenure and promotion decisions as a means of planned institutional change is discussed. (MSE)

A study of how class size and discipline group (social sciences, humanities, and miscellaneous) correlate with elements of student ratings of faculty and faculty self-evaluation is reported. It was found that discipline does not affect student evaluations but does affect teaching style. Students in small classes are more critical of teachers. (MSE)

The performance review process used for faculty evaluation at Nene College (England) was assessed by surveying appraisers, appraisees, and senior administrators. Most appraisees and appraisers thought that appraisers should be line managers rather than peers, and that classroom observation should be included. Opportunity for staff to communicate…

A study investigated the response of faculty and administrators at four United Kingdom universities to implementation of faculty performance appraisal. Overall, staff felt the appraisal had little tangible benefit. Ambiguity over the objective of performance appraisal, as a management tool or for faculty development purposes, is seen as a concern.…

Argues that college faculty evaluation policies, procedures, and criteria emphasize technical rather than substantive aspects of teaching, focus on process over outcomes, lack strategic concern for institutional use of evaluation data, and deemphasize discipline. Recommends evaluating three aspects of teaching (planning, implementation, results),…

A study investigated the usefulness of two U.S. instruments for measuring college student perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Although the measures showed internal consistency, most items were seen as appropriate, and each item was considered of importance by some students, further analysis suggests cross-cultural validity may be weak.…

A study investigated the relative importance of refereed and nonrefereed publications in faculty tenure and promotion decisions at 26 English-speaking Canadian graduate colleges, faculties, and schools of education. Results show publication in refereed journals as significantly more important than in nonrefereed serials. (MSE)

A study tested a procedure to identify and weigh various indicators of college faculty research productivity, as one measure of program quality. Eighty-six faculty in 34 Australian schools of education were surveyed. Highly valued indicators of research productivity included refereed journal articles, peer reviewed books, and major competitive…

London School of Economics and Political Science (England) course evaluations were used to examine whether teachers assessed differently across courses have distinguishing characteristics, and whether courses assessed especially discrepantly for one teacher have distinguishing features. Results show course-level characteristics (class size, number…

Initiatives at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) to improve instructional quality include identification of teaching skills through consultation with expert teachers, specification of teaching standards, use of student feedback on teaching, awarding of distinguished teaching awards, assessment of teaching competence upon hiring, a…