Dossier & Evaluation Guidelines for Lecturers, Clinical & Professionally Licensed Faculty
Developed by the Ad Hoc Committee on Promotion of
Lecturers, Clinical & Professionally Licensed Faculty
April 2014
Introduction
The Miami University Policy and Information Manual (7.11.F) states that Lecturers and Clinical/Professionally Licensed Faculty (LCPL) may apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer and Senior Clinical/Professionally Licensed Faculty after five (5) years in rank as LCPL faculty.
Faculty who wish to be considered for promotion are responsible for assembling and submitting a dossier of accomplishments and relevant supporting materials to their department or program (when appropriate). The dossier should be in accordance with these dossier guidelines for LCPL faculty and demonstrate the criteria for promotion of LCPL faculty in MUPIM 7.11.F. Faculty who were hired prior to 2014 have the option of following these dossier guidelines or the previous guidelines for promotion of LCPL faculty which are available on the Provost’s website.
The dossier is to be evaluated by the department or program, the chair and/or program director (when appropriate), the academic dean, and the Provost.
This document provides guidelines for assisting candidates in making the case for promotion and aiding those who must evaluate the candidates and make promotion recommendations and decisions.The guidelines are aids to, rather than substitutes for, the professional judgment of the candidate’s colleagues.
A candidate initially prepares a dossier, not to exceed twenty (20) pages. The candidate’s dossier should present in narrative and summary fashion the information he or she wants those making promotion decisions to know about the record of performance. It should make the case for promotion.
The dossier & evaluation guidelines for LCPL faculty are reviewed and approved each year by University Senate.
Preparatory Steps
Develop Clear Philosophy and Plan
LCPL faculty should carefully develop, in concert with their department chair a philosophy of teaching and service and emanating from that philosophy an agenda/ plan of activities. This plan should be tailored to the specific professional expertise of the faculty member and the needs of the curriculum, program/department, division, and students.
Plans will be flexible and open to revision, assuming faculty member, departmental, and divisional agreement. Department chairs or program directors will sign off on an LCPL faculty member’s plan and goals as part of the annual review.
The philosophy/agenda should articulate:
- A statement of teaching and service philosophy and its potential value
- The “academic fit” with the faculty member’s expertise (as a teacher and advisor and as participant in the institution)
- Realistic objectives
The construction of a successful teaching/service agenda may be a multi-year effort and typically involves:
- Assessment of the challenges and needs within the served department, division, or University;
- Alignment of those needs with the faculty member’s skills and knowledge;
- Building of relationships and opportunities for teaching, service and collaboration.
Engage in Ongoing Documentation
LCPL faculty members should consider documentation as an ongoing process, rather than a summary of outcomes, making it a continuous process with regular feedback from colleagues. Throughout their career at Miami, they should focus on documenting their individual contributions while providing context to the teaching and service activity, balancing attention between process and impact, and clarifying the intellectual questions that guided their teaching and service responsibilities.
Below are some possible sources to maintain on a regular basis:
(1) Personal Evaluation
Examples of valued documentation include but are not limited to:
•Reflective critique of process, outcomes, and the alignment of the teaching and service activity with the mission of department, division, and institution.
(2) Internal Documentation
Examples of valued documentation include but are not limited to:
•Results of any formal assessment or evaluation undertaken of teaching or service
•Documentation of curricular, assessment, or other teaching innovations
•Minutes of meetings, letters or memos that document processes and show the impact of a faculty member’s teaching, advising, or service-related practices
(3) External Documentation
Examples of valued external documentation of service and teaching include but are not limited to:
•Peer review letters or other feedback from clients or sponsors, administrators or colleagues who engaged in or observed teaching, advising or service activities
•Media reports, awards or other public recognition of teaching or service
•Other evidence of impact
Examples of unsatisfactory documentation
•A simple listing of courses, committees, responsibilities or organizational affiliations
•Assertions of merit based upon time on task rather than specific results
•Evidence of outcomes but no evidence of individual role
•Failure to show how service work is consistent with teaching or advising development and goals or how it is aligned with departmental, divisional or University needs
Dossier Preparation
LCPL faculty should address the following questions in the dossier:
(1)Clear Goals
- Does the dossier state the basic purposes of the teaching and service work clearly?
- Does the dossier define objectives that are realistic and achievable?
- Does the dossier identify important teaching-related questions in the field?
(2)Significant Results
- Does the dossier demonstrate the extent to which the teaching and service agenda’s goals were achieved?
- Does the dossier document the impact of the teaching in multiple ways and the impact of the service work?
(3)Reflective Critique.
- Does the faculty member critically evaluate his or her work?
- Does the faculty member bring an appropriate breadth of evidence to the critique?
- Does the faculty member use evaluation to improve the quality of future work?
Suggested Format for Dossier
Note: You do not need to enter information for each item on the outline.
Part I: Introduction
A.Summary of the Candidate’s Educational and Professional Experience
B.Teaching & Service Philosophy
Part II: Teaching & Academic Advising
A.Classroom Teaching
1.Undergraduate and Graduate Courses Taught
List each course taught since your date of hire. Include: courses taught in chronological order by semester and year; course number, title, and number of credit hours; official course enrollment;percentage of course you taught based on proportion of total student contact hours in course; brief explanation of your role, if not solely responsible for course, including TA supervision, course management, team teaching, etc. Do not include in this list independent studies, credit workshops, continuing education, or other non-credit courses.
2.Evaluation of teaching
Describe carefully how the quality of your teaching has been evaluated (e.g., student evaluation of teaching, peer review, departmental surveys of former students) and how you have used these multiple measures of evaluation to improve the quality of instruction.
A summary of the completed evaluation forms for classes evaluated by students should be provided. Indicate how the evaluations were administered. If the completed evaluation forms contain written comments, a summary, in typed form, should include examples of the full range of those comments. The summary for each course evaluations should specify the course number, title, and date.
Reports of observations by peers should be included in the chair’s/program director’s statement and should describe the overall quality of teaching and the basis for that evaluation (in-class observation, review of syllabus, examinations, etc.). The course(s) observed and the point in the semester at which the observation(s) took place should be specified.
Other evaluations of teaching, such as exit interviews, critiques of syllabi, self-evaluations, or letters from former students solicited by the chair/program director, may be included.
3.Awards and formal recognition for teaching
Identify commendations you have received for recognized excellence in teaching. These awards may include citations from academic or professional units (department, division, university, professional association) which have formal procedures and stated criteria for outstanding teaching performance.
B.One-on-One/Small Group Teaching, Independent Studies
1.Independent Studies, Directed Studies, tutorials, practicum, or other major projects.
2.Graduate/professional exams, theses, and dissertations (if appropriate)
C.Credit Workshops and Continuing Education Instruction (Some departments or divisions may describe these activities as professional service.)
Summarize the major instructional activities (workshops, non-credit course, etc.) which you have conducted since your date of hire. Identify your role in the instruction and the number of participants. Provide participant evaluations if available.
D.Development of Teaching Materials
Give specific examples of new teaching methods or materials you developed. A summary evaluation of these activities should be included in the chair’s/program director’s letter.
E.Curriculum Development
Give specific examples of your involvement in curriculum development and/or assessment(e.g., your role in the design and implementation of new or revised courses; creation of newprograms; your role in assessment data collection or analysis and how it was used to documentor improve student learning). A summary evaluation of these activities should be included inthe chair’s/program director’s letter.
F.Instructional Currency and Professional Growth as a Teacher or Advisor
Describe your goals for engagement in any teaching and advising improvement activities. List Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) publications as well as participation in workshops, symposia, professional conferences, CELTUA programs, one-on-one mentoring activities that were geared to developing expertise in teaching and advising. Identify certificates earned if any. Discuss how new ideas/insights gained were implemented into your pedagogical and advising practices.
G.Academic Advising
Describe specific responsibilities in advising (if applicable). Identify number and level of advisees seen on a regular basis. Include quality indicators of advising effectiveness such as scores from annual online evaluations.
Part III: Service
Documentation must effectively represent service activities and products in a way that enables evaluators to apply the quality indicators. Types of documentation differ based on the kinds of service, the constituencies served, the types of products created during the service, and other factors.
A.Service to the University
Indicate dates and degree of responsibility. Include brief description and the outcomes that resulted from your involvement/work.
1.Departmental committees.
2.Division or University committees.
3.Administrative positions held.
4.Other administrative services to/for the University.
5.Other special assignments.
Note: Examples of “Service to the University” may include:
•Contributing as a member or leader of a task force to address an issue facing the campus or university community
•Participating as an elected member in faculty governance
•Participating in faculty governance activities
•Serving as a chief departmental advisor or University Studies advisor
•Chairing a committee
•Helping a committee to meet its goals
•Contributing to a search committee for an LCPL faculty member or staff member
•Bringing new campus or university initiatives to fruition
•Representing the university in a public media forum
B.Service to Students
1.Adviser to student groups and organizations
Identify name of group or organization and specific responsibilities as adviser. Include quality indicators of advising effectiveness.
2.Other student services
Summarize participation in student affairs programs such as fireside discussion, lectures to student groups outside your department, addresses or participation at student orientation. What were/are the outcomes of this service?
Identify other involvements with or services to students not covered in the above categories.
3.Awards or formal recognition for service to students
Cite recommendations received as recognition for contributions to student affairs, such as election to student honoraries.
C.Service to the Discipline or Field in Terms of Teaching or Advising
1.Offices held in professional societies.
List organizations in which office was held or service performed and dates of service. Describe the nature of the organization: i.e., open or elected membership, honorary, etc. Indicate awards received.
2.Participation in state or regional, national or international programs or special assignments.
List specific activities (e.g., panel discussant, session chair, respondent). Include brief description.
3.Continuing education instruction, if not included under teaching.
4.Other professional service, if not included elsewhere, such as reviewer of proposals or manuscripts related to the scholarship of teaching, author of scholarship of teaching and learning, or external examiner.
Note: Examples of “Service to the Discipline or Field” may include (but are not limited to) the following:
•Serving as an appointed or elected officer of an academic or professional association related to teaching or advising within the discipline or field
•Serving as an organizer or leader of workshops, panels, or meetings in areas of teaching or advising within the discipline/profession
•Participating in professional accreditation activities
•Contributing to a journal or conference to remain current in teaching, advising or one’s field/discipline
•Refereeing manuscripts or grant proposals submitted to teaching journals and professional meeting program committees
•Presenting at appropriate professional meetings or conferences
•Establishing professional or academic standards related to teaching.
D.Other Forms of Service
Include documentation of other types of service (e.g., service to the community or region) not included elsewhere.
1