MERIT EVALUATION POLICY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Jan 1 – Dec 31
I.General Policies--The following policies will apply in annual faculty evaluations leading to recommendations for merit pay raises.
1.The evaluation period is:
a.Teaching Load: Fall Semester and Spring Semester
b.Student Evaluations of Teaching: Spring Semester, Summer Semester, and Fall Semester
c.Research and Service, Teaching Pedagogy, and Faculty Development Activities: Jan 1-Dec31 for each calendar year
2.Near the beginning of the evaluation year, each faculty member will submit his/her goals for teaching, professional growth and service. At that time the faculty member will choose the weights for teaching, professional growth, and service upon which he/she will be evaluated for the coming year. The faculty member, in consultation with the chair, may change the weights at a later date if circumstances change (e.g. the acceptance of an article). In, addition, the chair may negotiate with a faculty member the number of points to be awarded for particular activities in teaching pedagogy, faculty development and service. The results of such negotiations will be shared with members of the merit evaluation committee.
The points chosen must total 100. The choices for points are:
Teaching40, 45, 50, 55
Professional Growth30, 35, 40, 50
Service10, 15, 20
3.Near the end of the evaluation year each faculty member will prepare a report of his or her activities and accomplishments. This information will be used for merit evaluation purposes and included in the annual report.
4.The department chair will evaluate each faculty member's accomplishments, and assign points in each area: teaching, professional growth, and service. The points assigned will be reviewed by a three member merit evaluation committee of economics faculty.[1]
5.A different merit system to that described in this document may have to be employed under unique circumstances. Examples may include the hiring of a new faculty member during the mid-point in the academic year or extended leave for a faculty member for medical or academic reasons. In such circumstances, the chair (after consulting with the Dean and members of the Merit Committee) will attempt to establish a mutually satisfactory merit evaluation process.
II.Areas of Evaluation
A.Teaching (40, 45, 50, 55 points)
30 points for all faculty will come from (a) Teaching Evaluations, (b) Syllabi/Student Contact, (c) Teaching Pedagogy, and (d) Faculty Development Activities.
(a)Teaching Evaluations: (15 points)
1)Student Evaluations: (10 points)
For each class taught during the academic year (including summer courses), sum of means for two measures are recorded (disciplined-centered questions and instructor-centered questions). The sum of these two measures has been calculated for each section taught. The median value of this sum of all courses taught is the determinant the student evaluation points. See below for the computation.
MedianPoints
>68-above 10
>63-67.9 9
>57-62.9 8
>50-56.9 7
>40-49.9 6
>35-39.9 5
>30-34.9 4
>25-29.9 3
>15-24.9 2
>10-14.9 1
>0-9.9 0
Note: Independent study courses will not be included in the determination of the quantitative portion of the teaching evaluation score. A faculty member may request that teaching evaluation scores not be included in the merit evaluation scores for special cases. Such cases might include distance learning or experimental courses. The final determination of the inclusion or exclusion of such courses in the merit scores will be made by the chair.
2)Chair's Evaluation of Teaching: (5 points)
Up to 5 points assigned by chair based on student evaluation comments and other survey input
(b)Course Syllabi/Student Contact (5 points) Points will be based on course syllabi (distributed to students, posted on web, expected outcomes linked to department’s, etc) and faculty availability to students. Generally, faculty (teaching a full load) would be expected to maintain 10 office hours per week (as specified in the Faculty Handbook).
(c)Teaching Pedagogy (5 points) Points will be awarded based on classroom innovations and activities. Examples of such activities include the utilization of technology/software, significant writing/research assignments, oral presentations, group assignments, utilization of guest speakers, review sessions for students, one-minute papers, and classroom experiments.
(d)Faculty Development Activities (5 points) Attendance at conferences or workshops on improving teaching or research skills (minimum of 40 hours with a least one workshop/seminar devoted to the improvement of teaching)
Additional Instructional Activities (e-h below) will count for between 10-25 points. (depending on the total points selected for teaching)
e)Teaching Load (Maximum 15 points)
(i)Number of sections (omit summer)1 pt./section
(ii)Number of preps (omit summer)1 pt./prep > 3
(iii)New preparations (omit summer)1 pt./new prep
(iv)Number of students (omit summer).025 x#stud
(v)Upper div. preps (omit summer)1 pt/prep > 1
(vi)Graduate classes (omit summer)1 pt. per
graduate class
(vii)Honors classes1 pt. per class
Off-campus assignments
(viii)1 point for teaching at Newnan
(ix)3 points for teaching abroad
(x)Independent Studies SupervisionMAX 2 pts.
assigned by
chair
f) Additional Teaching Evaluation Points (Maximum 5 pts.). Additional points assigned to faculty member based on student evaluations (objective section and comments).
g) Additional Teaching Pedagogy or Faculty
Development Activities (Maximum 10 pts.). Significant activities beyond the minimum expected in II.A.c and II.A.d. above. New preparations, teaching awards, online teaching activities, etc. may also be included here.
B.Professional Growth (30, 35, 40, or 50 points)
(a)Option 1 (0-30 points) - One refereed article[2] will result in 30 points being awarded. The maximum that can be received without a refereed article is 25 points. To receive 21 points, the person must have four "other research activities".[3] An additional four points can be earned for non-refereed professional publications (beyond the four "other research activities").
(b)Option 2 (30-40 points) - One refereed article and one "other research activity" will result in 35 points being awarded. One refereed article and two "other research activities" will result in 40 points being awarded One refereed article alone will result in 30 points being awarded.
(c)Option 3 (50 points) - Two refereed articles or more will result in 50 points being awarded. For articles in excess of two, additional points may be assigned by the Department Chair in accordance with III.1. below.
C.Service (10, 15, or 20 points)
(a)Committees(0-9 points)
Departmental, college, university
or system. Specify significant committee
roles such as committee chair.
(b)Recruitment and Placement(0-6 points)
Recruitment of majors, recruitment for
classes, other recruitment activities,
job placement, internship development
(c)Community(0-9 points)
Presentations to civic/other
organizations, local economic
development activities, work
with local teachers and schools,
newspaper columns or articles
(d)Other service(0-3 points)
Service to the profession or other service
(activities with economics organizations, civic
organizations, consulting
III.Other Policies
1.The department chair, at his or her discretion, may award up to 5 additional points to a colleague for truly outstanding accomplishments in teaching, service, or professional growth.
2.The chair's recommendations for merit pay raises will be based primarily on the total points awarded in the process above.
[1] 1The evaluation committee will be appointed by the chair. One person will rotate off the committee each year and will be replaced by a new member.
[2] 2A refereed article is defined as one listed in Cabells, the Journal of Economic Literature, or a relevant citation index. Upon review by the chair and the merit evaluation committee, other publications may be considered refereed upon adequate justification by the faculty member. Such a review process should take place prior to submission or the undertaking of the activity. This could include books, chapters in books, other publications or the editorship of a refereed journal. Publications may only be included for merit credit once. A publication may be counted when it is officially accepted, during the year in which it is published or no later than one year after it is published.
[3] 3"Other research activities" include article submissions, publications in non-refereed journals, paper presentations at professional meetings, grants received, book or software reviews, service as referee, textbook supplement authorship, or working with an undergraduate student on a research project that results in a student presentation. Serving as a paper discussant can count at most as one "other research activity".