1. Purpose

​a. To encourage colleagues to reflect about their work and to plan for their continuing professional development as thoughtfully as possible, and to do so with the discipline that a periodic assessment provides.

b. To help colleagues share their plans for sabbaticals and other experiences that should aim to refresh and renew senior faculty, to further develop the University and its departments, and, to these ends, to make creative use of such professional development resources as may be available.

c. To provide the University from time to time with an assessment of each tenured colleague's performance.

d. In all of these ways, to be certain that as an institution, as a community, and as individuals, we are giving full assurance to ourselves and our students that we take our charge with the utmost seriousness to perform consistently at the highest level possible.

2. Procedures (updated proposals #17-03, 17-07)

​a. The evaluation for tenured faculty will take place in the year before the faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical. This will normally enable the sabbatical year and, where applicable, other resources available for professional development to be of maximum use to the faculty member for both personal development and development appropriate to the needs of the department and the University.

b. The evaluation will not be held when, in the opinion of the Provost, its purpose has been served by a recent review for tenure or promotion.

c. The centerpiece of the evaluation will be a professional statement addressing teaching, scholarship, and contributions to the other purposes of the University. The professional statement will describe accomplishments in terms of the goals stated in the previous review and will discuss the faculty member's plans, aspirations, and needs for subsequent years. It will also include, when applicable, a prospectus for the sabbatical for which the faculty member is eligible to apply, and will link these plans to the faculty member's professional development.

d. The faculty member being evaluated will be responsible for seeing that their dossier includes the following per the Senior Reviews Checklist (available from the provost’s office).

1. Provost's letter from previous senior review

2. A professional statement including:

• a reflection on teaching objectives, approaches, students’ evaluations, and advising
• a brief statement about recent scholarly/creative activities
• a brief statement about recent service and leadership activities
• a brief statement of plans regarding teaching, research/creative work, and other services to the University for the next few years

3. Sabbatical prospectus

4. Supporting documents, including:

• updated CV with activity since the last senior review highlighted
• list of course enrollments, number of completed evaluations, and grade point averages (for all semesters taught since the last senior review)
• course materials: samples of syllabi, assignments, and exams (for all semesters taught since the last senior review)
• copies of student evaluations (for all semesters taught since the last senior review)
• list of scholarly/creative activities, noting whether the work was peer reviewed (for all work completed and accepted since the last senior review)
• copies of scholarly work (for all work completed and accepted since the last senior review)
• list of activities indicating committees, professional responsibilities, and community service (for all service since the last senior review)

e. The President’s Senior Faculty Advisory Board will review the faculty member's materials, including the Provost's letter from the previous review. The Board will then advise the Provost regarding strengths and weaknesses and, when appropriate, suggest ways in which any problem areas might be addressed. Merit pay at the senior review will be evaluated based on criteria in section I.E.3.g.

f. The evaluation will conclude with a conference between the faculty member and the Provost, followed by a letter from the Provost to the faculty member and the relevant chair recording the results of the review and extending the opportunity for the faculty member to meet with the Provost if requested by the faculty member. The purpose will be to assist the faculty member to assess strengths and weaknesses and to determine ways in which the University can contribute in the following years to the faculty member's intellectual growth and professional development.

g. If a tenured faculty member does not meet expectations in teaching, scholarship, or service at the time of the review, the faculty member will discuss with the Provost issues of concern and develop a plan to improve the faculty member’s work. The plan should be grounded in the feedback from the most recent review conducted by the President’s Senior Faculty Advisory Board. A written copy of the plan will be included in the dossier for the faculty member’s next regularly scheduled review.