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-Dec 31 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:
Teaching
40, 45, 50, 55
Professional Growth
30, 35, 40, 50
Service
10, 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.
II.
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.
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.
Median
>68-above
>63-67.9
>57-62.9
>50-56.9
>40-49.9
>35-39.9
>30-34.9
>25-29.9
>15-24.9
>10-14.9
>0-9.9
1The
Points
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
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.
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 classes
1 pt. per class
Off-campus assignments
(viii) 1 point for teaching at Newnan
(ix)
3 points for teaching abroad
(x)
Independent Studies Supervision
MAX 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)
2A
Option 1 (0-30 points) - One refereed article2 will result in
30 points being awarded. The maximum that can be
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.
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").
C.
(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.
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
3"Other
research activities" include article submissions, publications in nonrefereed 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".
(d)
Other service
(0-3
points)
Service to the profession or other service
(activities with economics organizations, civic
organizations, consulting
III.
Other Policies
1.
2.
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.
The chair's recommendations for merit pay raises will be based
primarily on the total points awarded in the process above.