Approved by dept. Sept. 2002

Minor revision: 4/1/03
 
Physics and Engineering Department

Expectations of Faculty and Departmental Faculty Review Procedures

 

Scope: This documents sets departmental expectations for both pre-tenure and post-tenure faculty. In addition departmental procedures pertaining to the review and recommendation of faculty members are presented.

 

Expectation of Faculty

The expectations that the Physics and Engineering Department has for its faculty members fall into the four categories discussed below. These apply to all faculty equally with one exception that pertains to research. The exception is discussed in item C.3.

 

  1. Teaching – Teaching should be your first priority. Doing an excellent job in preparing your courses and developing your teaching skills is expected.

1.       Load - You are expected to teach 12 credits on the average each academic term.

 

2.       Student Evaluations - It is expected that the collective summary of your student evaluations indicates good overall performance from the student’s perspective. It is expected that the evaluation or comments pertaining to individual categories, such as organization, testing or classroom presentation may indicate a need for improvement. Progress toward improvement is expected in subsequent terms.

 

3.       Peer Faculty Evaluations – It is expected that both casual peer observations as well as formal evaluations reflect that as a teacher you are dedicated, engaged, professional and competent.

 

4.       Development – It is expected that, as a teacher, you will actively pursue activities to improve teaching style and pedagogy. This may include things like attending campus-sponsored workshops, reading relevant literature or observing other faculty in the classroom.

 

5.       Advising and Availability to Students – It is expected that you will be available to assist students with both class work and academic advising. Holding the college required office hours is a minimum. We pride ourselves with maintaining close personal contact with our students via an “open door policy” and you will be expected to do the same. Treating students courteously and providing an inviting environment is important. You will be asked to support a share of our advisee list. This means knowledgably answering questions regarding our curriculum and programs and assisting students with questions on other programs and careers.  Sponsoring student field trips, clubs and other outings or activities is also expected.

 

  1. Service – The order of priority for service is first to the department then the college and then the community.

1.       Department – It is expected that you will take responsibility for and participate in;

a.       Routine department business

b.       Special projects as the department needs them.

c.       Attend and periodically host, departmental functions both during the school day and at other times.

d.       Periodically it is expected that you will take a leadership role in the department. This may include, but is not limited to, being a representative to other college committees or taking a turn as department chair.

Note: In all cases, years of service at Fort Lewis College and tenure status will be considered before you are asked to assume a leadership role that may require you to make controversial decisions.

 

2.       College –

a.       Service to the college generally means serving on and actively participating in the work of committees.  Although secondary to teaching and work at the department level, you are expected to be a contributing member to one or more committees, task forces or other similar college sponsored groups.

b.       During your first two years you should restrict yourself to one committee and should not chair, co-chair or otherwise take a leadership role. Making sure you leave time to adequately prepare your courses and develop a professional development program is of primary importance.

 

3.       Community – Service to the community means periodically taking responsibility for an activity or program that provides a service to the community. This may include making presentations at local schools, attending a meeting of a local professional group, participating in the operation of the regional science fair, representing Fort Lewis College on a community committee or other activities.

 

  1. Scholarship and Professional Development – This should be an important part of your academic life. Often it is easy to neglect this aspect, especially when the other demands on your time are considered.
    1. It is expected that you will perform the necessary professional study to maintain currency in your field.
    2. It is expected that you will be active in research or other acceptable forms of professional development.

a.       Participation in undergraduate research is expected. In general, it would be ideal if our students could work with you on your professional research. Alternatively, you may want to initiate research on an alternate topic that would be appropriate for our students and is of interest to you.

b.       In either of the cases posed above the expected quality of research should be such that it results in papers or presentations that are appropriate for a journal, professional magazine or conference. This would include local, regional or national venues and does not imply that it has to be peer reviewed journals or meetings.

c.       Other forms of professional development might include significant research, study and application of pedagogical techniques applicable to your discipline, development of a new laboratory facility, attendance at professional meetings, taking a course, or professional consulting in your field. These types of activities should result in documented results and should have a scope roughly equivalent to the alternative effort of performing research.

d.       Although we have no hard and fast guidelines on the frequency of publication or presentation, the general rule would be to produce some form of results (as discussed above) about every two years.

e.       It is recognized that in order to be successful these activities require funding. The department and college will try and assist when possible with at least partial funding. However, it is your responsibility to develop outside sources of funding as needed.

    1. Exception to research - The larger emphasis at Fort Lewis College on undergraduate research is relatively new (say in the last eight or ten years). Prior to this time a much smaller emphasis was placed on research when hiring faculty. Because of this, department members who began their tenure at Fort Lewis College prior to this time may not have developed the expertise, contacts or other necessary support to effectively carry out sustained undergraduate research programs. These faculty are not held to this same standard pertaining to research. They are strongly encouraged to participate in undergraduate research at the level stated in sections C.2.a,b and d, however if they choose not to do this they should substitute other professional development activities which require approximately the same time and energy as is required by the research expectation. All department members are expected to meet all other professional development expectations.

 

 

  1. Other expectations
    1. Collegiality – It is expected that you will;

a.       Interact with your colleagues in a professional, courteous and friendly manner.

b.       Promote cooperation within the department.

c.       Support collective, departmental decisions even if you don’t necessarily agree.

    1. Flexibility – It is expected that you will be agree to periodically teach courses which are not necessarily in you field of expertise or of high interest to you. This implies that you will develop the required knowledge to effectively teach the course. Thematic Studies courses are one example but others within the department would also be applicable.

 

 

Departmental Faculty Review Procedures

All faculty members are required by the College to undergo periodic review. The review frequency and thoroughness is dependent on tenure status and the type of review. The following departmental procedure is used for all faculty reviews except merit recommendations that are listed separately.

 

A. For all reappointment, tenure and promotion and post tenure reviews.

  1. The faculty member submits a Personnel Action File (PAF). The PAF should include all materials as listed on the current, official Fort Lewis College PAF requirements document distributed by Vice President for Academic Affairs.
  2. The Department establishes a personnel review committee consisting of at least three people for each faculty member being reviewed. The department chair will not be on review committees.
  3. The committee reviews the PAF, student evaluations, visits classes and in consultation with other department members prepares letter of recommendation that is submitted to the department chair.
  4. The department chair reviews the committee’s recommendations as well as the PAF and submits both the committee’s recommendation and his/her recommendation to the Dean of Arts and Science.
  5. The person being reviewed is given a copy of both recommendations and if requested can meet with the committee and/or the chair to discuss the outcomes.

 

B. Application for Merit Procedure – The detailed departmental requirements and procedure for applying for a Merit-2 raise is included as a separate document (below). This procedure has been in use for several years.

 

 

updated 3/12/00
 
Merit Level 2 Award Procedure

Department of Physics and Engineering

Approved March 1999

 

            Fort Lewis College provides annual faculty salary increases using two vehicles, Merit Level 1 (Merit-1) and Merit Level 2 (Merit-2). Merit-1 is basically an across the board cost of living increase allotted as a percentage of your salary.  Technically, however, it is not guaranteed to all faculty; it is tied to performing faculty duties at an acceptable level.  Merit-1 awards are recommended to the administration by each department  for each member.  

 

            The intent of the merit-2 is to reward individual faculty performance that substantially exceeds the expected level of annual accomplishment in teaching, service and professional development. Merit-2 is not to be passed around. It is perfectly acceptable to award it to the same person year after year.  It is, in the truest sense of the word, a merit award and should be determined based on objective criteria.     Any faculty member wishing to be considered for a Merit-2 award must apply by submitting, to the Department Chair, a memo requesting consideration.  The memo should be one or two pages and should include the request and a list of accomplishments or work that you have completed over the past year that you feel qualifies you for the merit award.  In all cases it is the responsibility of the faculty member to accurately document the items they include in the list.  Documentation should include the scope, date, audience, collaborators and outcome of the action (see attached example). Documentation should be sufficiently thorough so that colleagues can objectively assess each item.  In addition, further documentation of meritorious performance may be requested by the department, Dean or V.P. of Academic Affairs.  This may include the same kind of data required in a P.A.F. In cases where a faculty member applied for, but did not receive Merit-2 the previous year, his or her “significant accomplishments” from the previous year can be added to those of the current year. This should be done only when the accomplishment or effort shows a consistent commitment to a specific poject.

 

            Recipients of Merit-2 are chosen according to a procedure adopted by the department.  Final recommendation is made by the Chair to the dean and then to the V.P. for Academic Affairs. The procedure for the Department of Physics and Engineering is as follows:

1.       All members of the department receive copies of all Merit-2 applications and rank the top three.

2.       The Chair will compile the rankings, notify the department of the results, allowing review and discussion.

3.       The Chair will pass the departments rankings on to the Dean with the Chair’s recommendation which may either agree or disagree with the departmental rankings.

 

 

 


Criteria for Assessing Meritorious Performance

“ABOVE AND BEYOND THE EXPECTED”

TEACHING:      

1.       It is expected that you do a good job teaching all your courses/labs.

2.       It is expected that you periodically update your courses/labs to keep them current with the subject matter of that discipline.

3.       It is expected that you use the accepted, commonly used technology (in department/campus/field) in your courses where appropriate.

4.       It is expected that you hold regular required office hours.

Examples of Meritorious Performance might include:

5.       Development of a new course/lab that specifically benefits the department’s offerings, goals and objectives.

6.       Major revisions to an existing course/lab that significantly exceeds the expectations listed above.

7.       Implementation of technology or instructional techniques that are above and beyond the expected standards listed above and that require a significant effort in research, development and implementation.

8.       Consistent commitment to organizing and spending extra time in working with students such as special “help sessions”, regularly tutoring or other activities where the time spent is dedicated solely to working with students.  For example, spending extra time in the office catching up on work and seeing students when they come by would not count as much as holding scheduled “help sessions”.

 

SERVICE:

1.       It is expected that you participate in general departmental work.

2.       It is expected that you take responsibility for, and adequately complete, one department job each year.

3.       It is expected that you attend departmental meetings, gatherings, etc.

4.       It is expected that you actively contribute to a college committee, faculty assembly and other faculty groups, periodically and as needed, especially when it benefits the department.

5.       It is expected that you take a turn in attending college wide or special events that require a department presence.

Examples of Meritorious Performance might include:

6.       Volunteering for and diligently carrying out, above the general expectation, a department job.  This is especially appropriate if the job has been generally neglected and requires more extensive work to revamp it or if for some particular reason the job requires an unusual effort during the review year (i.e. assessment this year).

7.       Sitting on and contributing to additional college committees or groups.

8.       Chairing college committees or groups.

 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:       

1.       It is expected that you will do something(s) each year to enhance your professional growth.   This may include research, consulting, self-study, extra-curricular presentations, attendance at conferences or workshops, etc.

 

Examples of Meritorious Performance might include:

2.       Completion of one of the items listed above, in quantity and/quality to an extent that significantly exceeds general expectations.

3.       Completion of more than one of the items listed above.  For example, performing self study on some topic, attending a conference and making a presentation to a college or local group.

4.       In nearly all cases, if professional development activities are to be used for Merit-2 justification, they should culminate in a presentation to the department (or other group) or publication (report or other document) that can be reviewed by the department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAMPLE MERIT-2 APPLICATION MEMO

 

TO:       John Doe, Chair Department of Physics and Engineering

FROM:  Jane Smith

DATE:  April 7, 1999

 

RE:  Request for Merit-2 consideration

 

            I would like to request that I be considered for Merit-2 based on my performance this past year.  Below I have listed those activities that I have completed and which I believe exceed the expected standards of this department.

 

Teaching:

1.       Based on a departmental request I volunteered to develop the new course PHYS 999.

Scope: Developed course from scratch to meet general studies requirements

Dates taught: Fall 1999, Winter 1999

Audience:  Upper division students

Collaborators:  none

Outcomes:  Course was successfully completed, see students and faculty evaluations.  It will be taught in the future as a general studies course.  Notes/demo/labs were documented so others can easily step in and teach the course (see notebook).

 

2.       ….

 

Service

1.       I was a member of the Dean search committee.

Scope:  I was one of seven people on the search committee.  We wrote the job description, fielded questions, reviewed applications, met with candidates and advised the administration.

Dates:  July 1999 through January 2000

Audience:  School of Arts and Sciences

Collaborators:  Dally Doe, Tom Smith, Jeff Jones, Teri Lewis, …….

Outcomes:  We received 56 applications, preliminary interviews with four candidates,….

 

2.       …….

 

Professional Development:

1.       I complete a self-study on (topic).

Scope:  this included reading 2 books (Ref. #1, Ref #2), and three journal articles (Ref. #1, Ref. # 2, Ref. #3), study of the mathematical development of ……,  discussion with colleagues, ………., experimentation on …….., etc.

Dates:  June 1999 through January March 2000

Audience:  none

Collaborators:  none

Outcomes:  I learned a great deal on the topic which is pertinent to my teaching and professional interests.  I made a presentation to the department on March 4, 2000.

 

2.       I attended the Astrophysics Conference at Socorro.

Scope:  I arranged for myself and six students to attend the 23rd Annual ……,  I attended numerous paper presentation and toured the ……..facility.

Dates:  November 12-14, 1999

Audience:  none

Collaborators: Steve Doe, 6 students

Outcomes: I learned about X and made a contact with Dr. B. Morse at U of  A who would like to come to FLC and make a presentation.