Faculty Personnel Policy
Draft Agenda for Unit Personnel Meeting
Candidate Name: Salvatore Alaimo
Unit: SPNHA
Personnel Action (check all that apply):
__X__ Contract Renewal
_____ Tenure
_____ Promotion
Meeting Information:
Date: 2/18
Time: 9:30-11 AM
Location: Dev 502C (Amway)
1. General review of applicable criteria
2. Criteria for Personnel Action (2011-12):
a. Effective Teaching
Achievements
 PA360 (3)
 PA643 (2)
 PA660 (3)
 PA661
 PA680 (2)
 Master's Thesis Committee Chair (Luke DeMott, W 11 - Present)
 PA 699 (2: Rebeca Velazquez, W 12; Tera Qualls, W 12 )
 Honors Senior Project (2: Kristin Repucci; W 12, Bradie Sheehan, W 11)
 Advisees: W 11 = 26; F 11 = 47; W 12 = 53; F 12 = 37
Questions, issues, concerns
b. Scholarly/Creative Activity (or Achievement - Librarians)
Achievements
 Book review: Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 40, pp. 583-586.
 ARNOVA conference (Indianapolis, 16 November 2012).
 ANSER conference (Waterloo, 30 May 2012).
 ARNOVA conference (Toronto, 18 November 2011).
 BenchMark 3.5 Conference (San Diego, 25 March 2011).
 Grants for Where is “What is Philanthropy? – an unfinished documentary"
film (2 for $20,000)
Questions, issues, concerns
c. Service to Unit, College, University, the Profession, Community
Achievements
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Chair, Evaluation/Assessment Subcommittee Committee
Member, MPNL program committee
Member, Graduate Council and Policy Subcommittee
Developer and co-coordinator, Brown Bag Lunch and Learn Series
Chair, Faculty Search Committee (March 11 - June 11)
Guest presenter, CCPS New Faculty Orientation
Presenter / trainer, Johnson Center for Philanthropy Nonprofit Services.
Member, JCP Executive Director Search Committee. (Oct. 10 – Feb. 11)
Member, Black History Month Committee (until March 11).
Member, Martin Luther King Service Committee. (until February 11)
Member, Learning to Give National Content Advisory Committee
Member, ARNOVA Teaching Section. (Nov 11 - Nov 12).
Technical assistance, Area Agency on Aging West Michigan,
Chair, Heart of West Michigan United Way Allocation-Evaluation
Council - evaluation subcommittee
Technical assistance, Girl Scouts of Maine (March 12).
Questions, issues, concerns
Suggestions for revisions to final agenda due to Unit Head by: _____2/12_______
UNIVERSITY STANDARDS
A. Effective Teaching. Effective teaching facilitates student learning and includes, but is not limited to, knowledge
of the field taught, classroom and mentoring performance, and communication and human relations skills. Faculty
members teach effectively by communication and human relation skills. Faculty members teach effectively by
challenging and engaging students, by supporting their academic and professional growth, and by establishing and
maintaining high academic standards. They address in their courses relevant knowledge together with intellectual
and practical skills pertinent to the discipline or profession. They use appropriate pedagogies and relevant
assessments of student learning. They contribute to revising or developing courses and curricula as needed by
their units. Effective teaching must be documented by: a) self-evaluation, b)peer evaluation, and c) student
evaluations.
B. Scholarly/Creative Activity. This includes, but is not limited to, professional research, creative activities,
scholarly writing, editorial boards, scholarly presentations at conferences, participation in professional activities,
degrees and continued education, and holding official positions in professional organizations when the position
has scholarly outcomes.
C. Service to Unit, College, University, the Profession, and the Community. A faculty workload includes service to
the unit, College, and University as well as to the community/profession. Unit, college and university service
includes, but is not limited to, participation in university governance, unit, college and university committees,
curriculum development, serve as an advisor to student organizations, and carry out special assignments.
Community service and service to the profession involves the engagement of a faculty member's professional
expertise. Community service includes, but is not limited to, engaging in community outreach, acting as a board
member in a community based organization, participating in public service programs, and work as a pro bono
consultant on community projects when representing the University. Service to the profession includes leadership
or committee roles in professional organizations. Each unit will determine the types of community/professional
service most appropriate to its specific mission and program objectives. It is the responsibility of each faculty
member to describe the nature of service and the time commitment involved.
SPNHA STANDARDS
Teaching: At GVSU, teaching is the most important aspect of your evaluation as a faculty member. An excellent
teacher is one who is able to apply appropriate teaching methods and technologies to a topic area and successfully
engage students in the learning enterprise. All faculty members should strive for excellence in teaching, which
means that both students and colleagues recognize that your teaching methods and course content are effective,
innovative, and up-to-date or even at the cutting edge of your field. Student advising is an aspect of this
dimension of faculty performance. Effective advising entails keeping regular office hours, staying well informed of
the curricula and university requirements, and helping students select courses that fit their interests and career
goals.
Criteria of effective teaching include, but are not limited to:
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Knowledge of the field taught
Classroom performance (e.g. clarity, pacing, breadth and depth of coverage)
Communication skills
Evaluation skills
Course development
Performance as an academic advisor
Faculty members should maintain a careful, complete, and consistent record of their course design, activities, and
methods. The ability to articulate one’s teaching methods is critical to faculty evaluation (see section below on
candidate portfolio).
Scholarship. Scholarship is an integral part of the mission of the School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health
Administration (SPNHA) at GVSU. SPNHA faculty members demonstrate their professional development by
contributing scholarly articles, books, and reports to the peer reviewed academic literature in their fields of
expertise, and to organizations that serve the public. Examples and types of scholarship include, but are not
limited to:
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Original research (creation of knowledge)
Integration of knowledge (synthesis and reorganization). Review articles and books, meta-analyses, and
well-crafted texts that bring diverse findings together, including theoretical analyses, surveys, analyses of
archival data, outcome research, qualitative and case studies
Application of knowledge (e.g. research reports, program audits, program evaluation)
Scholarship of pedagogy and teaching in public affairs and administration.
While the form of scholarly work may vary, all scholarship will be evaluated using the same framework. To qualify
as scholarship, the critical elements of scholarship outlined above will be considered. For purposes of determining
professional achievement and excellence, work must reflect a high level of expertise through substantive content
and contribution to the field beyond those involved in other faculty duties (e.g. teaching and service). In order to
reach this determination, the work should involve a product that is peer reviewed by qualified professionals using
the following criteria:
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Theoretical conceptualizations conveyed by the work
Methodological considerations reflected in the work
Appropriateness of analytical methods used and conclusions reached
Implications for professional practice
Ethical considerations and professional integrity.
Community Service. Serving the community is an important part of the career of faculty members in SPHNA. The
expertise developed in scholarship and teaching ought to be made available to the organizations that provide
services to the public. Faculty members do this by serving on boards of directors, by consulting, by participating in
public forums and speaking to organizations on current affairs, providing interviews with the media, writing
columns in local newspapers, etc. Faculty must demonstrate that their community service is related to or flows
from their academic expertise and interests. Community can also include one’s professional community, and
activities such as reviewing journal articles, serving on conference program committees, moderating panels at
professional conferences, etc., are among examples of service to one’s professional community.
Unit and University Service. Service to the unit and university involves curricular development for SPNA, course
development for general education, proposal writing, and serving on unit, divisional, and university-wide
committees. Examples include:
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Committee assignments
Curricular development
Special unit assignments
Writing letters of recommendation
Mentoring colleagues
Enhancing public relations