2. Evaluation Criteria:
A. Performance Criteria
Only the criteria relevant to a candidate’s actual performance, as described below, are acceptable in evaluating a candidate for promotion and tenure. Among those criteria which are not relevant and/or acceptable in the promotion or tenure evaluation are sex, race, color, creed, age, national or ethnic origins, sexual orientation, disability, lifestyle, family structure, and political affiliations.
1. Candidates must fulfill the responsibilities of their appointments in a manner supportive of the mission of the college and consistent with the goals of the college. According to our statement on Students’ Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities:
Central College exists for the transmission of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the development of students, and the general well-being of society.
The tenured faculty of the college exist, therefore, to transmit knowledge, pursue truth, and help provide for the development of students and the well-being of our
community. These basic concepts are at the core of the college Goals for Faculty and underlie the performance criteria established for candidates for promotion and tenure.
The responsibilities of all faculty members derive from the overall mission and goals of the college and thus share common elements and priorities.
Each individual faculty position is further defined by its location within a specific department, and by the requirements, assigned responsibilities, and characteristics particular to that position. Candidates for promotion and/or tenure will thus be evaluated on their performance in the roles shared by all faculty and on the performance of the duties specific to the individual’s position.
Candidates for promotion and/or tenure must perform the duties of their positions so as to further the four Goals for Faculty.
2. Teaching (Goals 1 and 2): "To develop a community of scholars in which teaching and learning are the activities with the highest priority. To be models and mentors who support the development of students as independent learners, responsible citizens, and morally responsive persons.”
Central College prides itself on being an institution where teaching and learning occur more effectively than in larger, more depersonalized settings. Faculty members aim to stimulate and facilitate students' intellectual and personal growth in a variety of formal and informal settings both within and beyond the classroom.
Classroom performance includes a wide range of activities related to faculty-student interaction in the teaching-learning process. Candidates for promotion and tenure will be expected to demonstrate knowledge and enthusiasm for their subject matter and to encourage active, student-centered learning, effective communication, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and ethical awareness. Candidates should use a variety of appropriate, effective teaching techniques, and include clear statements of goals and objectives. Candidates will carefully and effectively prepare course syllabi as well as all class sessions. Students will be given appropriate assignments and receive fair, prompt evaluation of their work. Candidates will demonstrate appropriate concern for their students’ learning and make themselves reasonably available to their students.
When appropriate, faculty will contribute to such academic initiatives as Intersections, skills across the curriculum programs, and CORE curricular efforts.
In the classroom, faculty members are guided by the following Guiding Principles in Pursuit of Gender Equity, actively seeking to assure that
Both women’s and men’s interests and values are recognized and validated throughout the College curriculum. Learning opportunities are provided equally to women and men.
Pedagogical approaches, advising content and style, and instructional methodologies are designed to promote the intellectual growth of both women and men equally.
The language of the community reflects the equal status accorded to women and men.
Faculty teaching is not limited to the classroom. Teaching and learning are mutually supportive and occur, for example, in the laboratory, studio, recital hall, library, and student center. They occur during study abroad, internships, practica, and service; and they happen experientially, one-on-one, and collaboratively. Teaching activities extend to theater production, media production, musical ensemble groups, foreign language labs and language houses, and similar activities. Teaching also includes coaching athletics, speech, mock trial, and debate. It encompasses collaborative research with students, supervising independent study projects, senior honors projects, student teaching, and internships. Within the context of the many non-classroom teaching activities, faculty take care to assure that students are treated in accord with the following principles:
Leadership opportunities and career development opportunities are provided equally to women and men students.
The co-curricular programs of the College meet the needs of both female and male students. Particular effort is made to ensure that the co-curricular environment is free of harassment and is hospitable to both women and men. (Guiding Principles in Pursuit of Gender Equity)
The teaching and learning process also includes effective advising. Every member of the faculty spends out-of-class time with students who need extra help, and virtually everyone is responsible for helping students plan their academic schedules. But the adviser role goes well beyond helping students to plan class schedules and satisfy graduation requirements. It often includes career advising and professional, post-graduate educational advising. In addition, faculty can expect to become one of those sources to whom students turn with personal problems. Although not every faculty member can become an expert personal counselor, familiarity with student support services and knowing when it is appropriate to refer students to such services is expected.
Effective teaching is the most important aspect of a candidate’s performance. All other aspects of performance are related — either directly or indirectly — to the primary responsibility of teaching and must be viewed as complementary to and supportive of that primary responsibility. Outstanding contributions or performance in the other areas (2 – 3 below) cannot be substituted for teaching effectiveness.
3. Professional Growth and Development (Goal 4): “To grow professionally, contributing to the College and the larger academic community through research, creative expression, innovative teaching, and interdisciplinary dialogue.”
Candidates for promotion and tenure are expected to be professionally active. On-going scholarship and/or creative activity is integral to quality teaching and is also worthwhile as a contribution to the academic community. Some professional activities may result in a product suitable for review by peers outside Central College such as conference presentations, work submitted for publication, juried exhibits, or performances. Other activities may be directed toward one’s professional growth as a teacher or toward the improvement of teaching and learning at Central. Examples of professional growth and development include:
a. Scholarly inquiry, investigations, creations or performances undertaken within the recognized boundaries of a discipline
b. Inquiry and collaboration at the interface between traditional disciplines Investigations into the teaching-learning process, evaluation, and assessment; Re-tooling one’s education and training in order to enable the college to offer new courses or new majors or other significant opportunities for students
c. Learning and integrating new technologies or pedagogical methods, design or concepts into one’s courses
d. Service in professional societies
e. Participation in professional meetings as presenter, discussant, organizer, or chair at the state/regional/national/international level
f. Continuing education appropriate to the profession of teaching or to one’s discipline Lending one’s expertise to or engaging in occasional consulting activities with outside agencies or organizations, including such programs as artist-in-residence
g. Making significant online contributions such as moderating a professional discussion list or creating and maintaining a website for a professional organization.
4. Institutional Service and Leadership (Goal 3): “To participate in governing the College, developing its academic programs, and enriching its cultural environment.”
All members of the faculty have contributions to make to the on-going vitality and effectiveness of academic life and the community of the College. Opportunities for college service are numerous and diverse. Candidates for promotion and tenure are expected to participate in the governance of the college. This service may take a variety of forms, including:
a. Service on and contributions to faculty committees, or to other committees, councils, or task forces involving faculty
b. Serving as department chair
c. Actively advising student activities and clubs
d. Serving as a mentor to new faculty
e. Writing or assisting in preparing grant proposals
f. Participation in student recruitment activities; interviewing prospective students Leading peers or others on campus in adoption of new technologies
g. Serving on search committees for faculty in other departments or for administrators Representing the college to external agencies or organizations (e.g. NCAA, Commissions or Councils of the Reformed Church, academic accrediting agencies) Establishing programs in the community that enhance the academic experience of Central students
B. Criteria for Promotion to Professor
Only the criteria relevant to a candidate’s actual performance, as described below, are acceptable in evaluating a candidate for promotion and tenure. Among those criteria which are not relevant and/or acceptable in the promotion or tenure evaluation are sex, race, color, creed, age, national or ethnic origins, sexual orientation, disability, lifestyle, family structure, and political affiliations.
1. Criteria for Promotion to Professor
Promotion to the rank of Professor is an honor bestowed upon faculty members which recognizes their continued and deepening contribution to the life of Central College. While it is anticipated that most tenured members of the faculty will eventually reach professorial rank, such a promotion is seen not as automatic but as a meaningful recognition of achievement and performance. In keeping with the liberal arts mission of the College and the maintenance of a community of scholars, candidates for promotion are expected to have distinguished themselves in teaching, to have sustained a program of research or other forms of professional growth, and to have rendered service and leadership to the College community.
A candidate for promotion to Professor should demonstrate a pattern of achievement over time in each of the three areas, with strong contributions in at least two areas. The judgment of what constitutes “strong contribution” is in the hands of the Faculty Personnel Committee and the Administration.
The following lists provide examples of how the criteria for promotion to the rank of full professor might be met, in each of the three standard areas of evaluation. The examples are not exhaustive; nor are the categories all of equal weight. They try to take account of diversity among and within the disciplines. They represent not just a continuation of the standards appropriate for promotion to lower ranks, but also a qualitative deepening of the candidate’s contribution to the life of the college.
a. Teaching and Curricular Development
1. Consistently strong and effective classroom teaching as judged by peers Successfully responding to a new teaching challenge within the department or college Introducing colleagues to successful pedagogical innovations
2. Substantially enhancing the liberal arts environment of the college Leadership in development or accreditation of a significant program or major
3. Distinguished record of successful collaborative research with or academic coaching of students
4. Substantial involvement in the development or promotion of a major academic initiative
b. Professional Growth and Development
1. Publication of refereed monographs and/or articles in the candidate’s field of scholarship
2. Publication of refereed or commissioned artistic works (e.g., poetry, fiction, musical composition, commissioned painting or sculpture)
3. Participation and high ranking in juried exhibitions in the visual arts Performing, directing, or conducting in significant venues beyond the college Significant participation in reviewing/refereeing scholarly or artistic works or
4. performances; service as editor or editorial board member for a professional journal Effective popularizing of scholarship for a broader audience (e.g., textbooks, public lectures, interviews, publication in non-specialized journals)
5. Reception of competitive research grants or acceptance into competitive seminars, institutes or master-classes
6. Leadership in state, regional or national/international academic or professional societies
c. Institutional Service and Leadership
1. Service (with acknowledged success) as department chair
2. Effective leadership of a faculty or college-wide committee
3. Leading a major institutional initiative, council or task force
4. Direction of co-curricular events or organizations that complement the liberal arts ideals of the college
5. Providing effective college leadership in extraordinary circumstances (e.g., acting dean of the faculty)
6. Leadership of an outside organization, agency, board or commission that enhances the college’s image and reputation
7. Significant contribution to the cultural or intellectual life of the larger community