3.7.2  

The institution regularly evaluates the effectiveness of each faculty member in accord with published criteria, regardless of contractual or tenured status.

RATIONALE FOR COMPLIANCE JUDGMENT

 All full-time faculty members are evaluated each spring semester for performance during the previous calendar year.  The evaluation includes faculty self-evaluation, supervisor (dean) evaluation, and student evaluations.  Periodic classrooms observations are also part of the process.  The criteria for evaluation are published on the evaluation form [1].  In spring 2007, during evaluations for calendar year 2006, full-time faculty members have the option of using the current form or the new form [2] that has been approved by the Faculty Senate and will be used by all full-time faculty beginning next year.  Copies of the completed evaluations are filed with Human Resources and are included in all promotion and tenure applications.  Part-time faculty members are evaluated, at least annually, by the program coordinators.  The evaluation process for adjunct faculty includes classroom observations and student evaluations.  Adjunct faculty evaluation materials are maintained in the academic division office.

College-wide required student evaluations are completed in every course for both fall and spring semesters.  Nashville State has used a locally-developed instrument that includes 15 items [3] for many years for on-ground courses.  It used a separate instrument for student evaluation of online courses [3].  In fall 2006, however the College began using the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) instrument [4] developed at Kansas State University for both on-ground and online courses.  Faculty piloted IDEA in fall 2005 and voted to adopt it campus-wide beginning fall 2006.  With IDEA, the same instrument is used for on-ground and online courses.  Faculty members receive a diagnostic report for each class.  This report includes information designed to improve faculty effectiveness in helping students achieve course objectives. [5].  The College’s first IDEA institutional report [6] showed that the percent of 1,021 Nashville State classes at/above the IDEA average was 65% for “Progress on Relevant Objectives,” 68% on “Excellent Teacher,” and 62% on “Excellent Course.”  The report notes that, when any of these percentages “exceed 60%, the inference is that the group’s overall instructional effectiveness was unusually high.”  

After the 2006-2007 year, faculty will administer IDEA to all their classes during one semester each year, as assigned by the Institutional Research Department.  Faculty and/or deans will, in addition to the required administrations, be able to request the administration of IDEA for any course in any semester.