6K. Dean Evaluation

1. Purpose

When an Associate Professor takes on rank responsibilities at the school level, goal setting and communication with the school’s dean is an important step in this new role and as a Full Professor. Deans have an important perspective on the needs of the schools and institution, and their coaching of faculty is integral to the faculty member achieving excellence at advanced rank. The Dean Evaluation and all parts of the process are meant to be formative as well as summative in nature.

2. Schedule

  • Goal Setting. Beginning with the promotion class of 2020, after achieving the rank of Associate Professor, faculty consult with their dean to complete the first section of the  Dean Evaluation, which includes a review of the FPAR and the Summative Evaluation created with the faculty’s direct supervisor.
  • Evaluation. The second section of the Dean Evaluation is completed when an Associate Professor is preparing for promotion to Full Professor or every five years when the summative evaluation occurs, and for subsequent Summative Evaluations.

3. Contents

The evaluation is focused on the faculty member’s contribution to school initiatives. Contribution would occur through a faculty member’s teaching, institutional engagement, and professional development. Faculty will only be assessed on contributions discussed and documented with the dean during goal setting. Contributions by faculty beyond what was discussed and documented in the goal setting meeting should be included but not assessed in the evaluation. In the evaluation, the faculty member and the dean should refer to the faculty member’s Summative Evaluation, Faculty Planning and Activity Reporting (FPAR) Form, and any other ideas discussed in the goal setting meeting(s).

The faculty member’s Faculty Planning and Activity Reporting (FPAR) Form that contains all information since the last Summative Evaluation will be reviewed so that supervisors can refer to this information when adding their comments to Summative.

4. Process

a. Part One: Goal Setting

Starting in the first year of rank at Associate Professor, the faculty member meets with their dean for a formative conversation about the faculty member’s strengths and interests and how those can contribute to initiatives in their school. Those goals are agreed upon and recorded in Part One of the Dean Evaluation, as well as updated in the FPAR. The faculty member submits the agreed upon goals in Part One of the Dean’s Evaluation to the Faculty Evaluation Repository shell. These goals may be amended with additional meetings over the five-year period, initiated by the faculty member or the dean.

b. Part Two: Evaluation.

Both the faculty member and Dean will consult with the faculty’s department chair to complete this evaluation.

  • Step 1: The faculty member completes the Faculty Narrative portion of the evaluation and submits the document to the Faculty Evaluation Repository shell. The faculty member must complete and submit this by the due date of the Summative Evaluation. It is the faculty member’s responsibility to schedule the Evaluation Meeting with the dean.
  • Step 2: The dean completes the Dean’s Narrative portion of the evaluation within 2 weeks of receipt of the faculty’s evaluation narrative.
  • Step 3: Evaluation Meeting. The faculty and dean are required to meet in order to discuss the evaluation and the faculty member’s future work. The dean and faculty member need to sign the evaluation after the meeting. The faculty member and/or the dean may amend their own section of the evaluation after the meeting but prior to both parties signing. Signing the evaluation indicates that the evaluation meeting occurred and that the signees sections were written by the signee. Disagreement with the other party’s narrative may be reflected in the signees’ narrative section(s).

c. Part Three: Record Keeping.

The dean retains the physical signed copy and sends the faculty member a digital copy of the signed copy. The faculty member then uploads the digital signed copy to the Faculty Evaluation Repository shell. The supervisor then confirms the Dean Evaluation is completed in the Faculty Evaluation Repository shell. The signed copy housed in the Faculty Evaluation Repository shell is considered the official version. The Dean Evaluation will be shared with the faculty’s direct supervisor, may be reviewed by the Provost, and will be included in any future promotion portfolio. The official document will be kept in the office of the dean.