7. EVALUATION
7.1 PURPOSE OF EVALUATION
The overarching purpose of faculty evaluation is to maintain excellence of instruction, and of service, at the university.
In order to achieve this purpose, several processes are available.
7.1.1 TERMINOLOGY
The following definitions are intended to provide clarity around the terms, and the relations between the processes, described here in Article 7.
“Formative evaluation”: evaluation undertaken with the aim of assessing a faculty member’s current practice and improving it as deemed appropriate.
“Summative evaluation”: an evaluation, the results of which contribute to a decision regarding continued employment.
“Self-directed evaluation”: an evaluation utilizing a tool or process chosen by the faculty member as part of their ongoing formative evaluation and the results of which go only to the faculty member, to be shared only at the discretion of the faculty member.
“Supervised evaluation”: an evaluation, whether formative or summative, the results of which go to the faculty member’s supervisor.
7.2 EVALUATION OF NEW REGULAR INSTRUCTIONAL FACULTY
7.2.1 New faculty shall receive an initial two-year appointment and shall be on probation during this period. New regular faculty who have prior experience at VIU performing the duties of their regular appointment as limited term contract faculty can, at their request and at the beginning of their regular appointment, have that work counted as one year of the probationary period, if that work accumulates to 1.0 FTE. With the agreement of the Dean, this abbreviated probationary period can be extended to non-regular faculty upon appointment to a regular position. A Supervised Formative Evaluation will be completed by no later than the end of the first year or shortly after hire if the faculty member opts for the abbreviated probationary period. A Summative Evaluation will be completed by the end of the probation period.
7.2.2 The primary professional responsibilities of the Professor/Instructor are to prepare and to teach courses and programs within their area of competence, and to tutor, advise and evaluate students. As well, all faculty are required to fulfill the following core duties:
a) maintain posted office hours and be available to meet with individual students at other mutually agreed upon times;
b) provide additional assistance to students in areas such as study skills, academic advising, special events, as well as recruitment and admission of students;
c) remain current in their field;
d) demonstrate participation in professional development and/or scholarly activity;
e) participate in departmental and institutional activities.
7.2.3 In their first and second years, a review of performance will assess overall performance based on suitability and will include student surveys as well as any of the following in order to assess performance:
a) Classroom observation. The timing of the classroom observations shall be subjected to agreement between the faculty member and the Appropriate Senior Administrator.
b) Where applicable, interview with students. The students to be interviewed shall be randomly selected. The interviews shall be done either individually or in groups of no more than five (5) students. The faculty member may send an observer to the interviews.
c) Review of course materials.
d) Discussion with Department Chair.
7.2.4 If in the summative evaluation, the Appropriate Senior Administrator determines that a faculty member’s overall performance is unsatisfactory, the Appropriate Senior Administrator may invoke the terms of Article 7.2.7 or may indicate that the faculty member will be required and assisted to address the areas identified in the evaluation as requiring improvement by a development program specifically designed for the member. This program, as well as the timetable for implementing it, will be determined through a meeting between the faculty member and the Appropriate Senior Administrator. The faculty member may elect to invite a VIUFA shop steward or a colleague chosen by the faculty member. In such cases, the Appropriate Senior Administrator will Chair the meeting. At this meeting the Appropriate Senior Administrator will determine the time of a follow-up evaluation to determine whether the faculty member has been successful in addressing the areas identified as requiring improvement.
7.2.5 The probationary period for a probationary faculty member may be extended for up to a maximum of one (1) year if deemed necessary by the employer for exceptional circumstances.
7.2.6 If at the end of the two-year probationary appointment or the extended probationary appointment the faculty member’s performance is satisfactory, then the faculty member will be considered to have successfully passed probation.
7.2.7 If at the end of the two-year probationary appointment or extended probationary appointment the faculty member’s performance is determined by the Appropriate Senior Administrator to be unsatisfactory, the appointment will be terminated.
7.2.8 Nothing in this provision prevents the early termination of a probationary appointment for reasons of professional unsuitability/incompetence.
7.3 SUMMATIVE EVALUATION OF NON-REGULAR FACULTY
7.3.1 Evaluation of non-regular instructional faculty
Overall performance of non-regular regular instructional faculty will normally be evaluated each semester, using some or all of the following methods:
a) Student course surveys. Non-regular instructional faculty members may request that student surveys not be used to assess overall performance for courses for which the faculty member has already received two or more satisfactory evaluations. Student surveys that have been waived for specific courses may resume upon the request of the faculty member or at the discretion of the Senior Administrator.
b) Classroom observation. The timing of the classroom observations shall be subjected to agreement between the faculty member and the Appropriate Senior Administrator.
c) Where applicable, interview with students. The students to be interviewed shall be randomly selected. The interviews shall be done either individually or in groups of no more than five (5) students. The faculty member may send an observer to the interviews.
d) Review of course materials.
e) Discussion with Department Chair.
Each semester an appropriate Senior Administrator shall provide the faculty member with a written summary of the evaluation that will include an assessment of overall performance as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory’.
7.4 EVALUATION OF NEW REGULAR NON-INSTRUCTIONAL FACULTY
New faculty shall receive an initial two-year appointment and shall be on probation during this period.
Evaluation shall be carried out using methods appropriate to the particular assignment. Interviews with or questionnaires of students, clients and colleagues (where appropriate) and the relevant Appropriate Senior Administrator’s assessments based on relevant job related activities shall constitute the basis of the evaluation process.
Whenever appropriate the provisions of Article 7.2 shall also apply to non-instructional faculty.
7.45 FACULTY SELF-DIRECTED FORMATIVE EVALUATION
The parties support periodic formative self-directed evaluation of faculty as a means of collecting valuable feedback in order to continue to provide high quality instruction and service.
The approaches to periodic faculty self-directed formative evaluation shall be governed by the following general principles, applicable to both instructional and non-instructional faculty;
7.5.1 VIUFA faculty and university administration are committed to formative evaluation and promoting a culture of evaluation in a non-threatening environment.
7.5.2 As this is self-directed formative evaluation, access to and control over information gathered in the evaluation process shall remain with the faculty member.
7.5.3 The evaluation process will follow a minimum 3-5 year cycle.
7.5.4 Faculty members will design their own evaluation process. To accommodate differences in work, program, and discipline, a “menu” of evaluation options, including an “other” category, should be available for each Faculty, department, or administrative unit.
7.5.5 The periodic evaluation should not be onerous.
7.5.6 The faculty member’s conclusions based on information gathered from the evaluation may inform the faculty member in the design of their professional development plan for the following cycle.
7.5.7 As this is self-directed formative evaluation, access to and control over conclusions drawn or reports to be made shall remain with the faculty member. No adverse inference can be drawn from the failure of the faculty member to report on the results of periodic evaluations.
7.5.8 Non-regular and Limited Term Contract instructional faculty members may voluntarily participate in self-directed formative evaluation.
7.6 FACULTY INITIATED EVALUATION
Nothing in this Article prevents any faculty member from initiating an evaluative process with their Senior Administrator.