Faculty Evaluations – Are We Losing Sight of What Matters Most?

Student evaluations used to be the sole measure of evaluating faculty performance, but now they are merely a piece of a large puzzle. In 2010, the American Association of University Professors surveyed 410 academic deans of four-year liberal art colleges to determine how faculty members were assessed. The data was compared to a survey conducted in 2000 with some surprising findings.

The results were interesting and they may indicate that we are losing sight of what matters most. The report concluded that evaluations are changing. In 2000, classroom teaching was the primary criterion in assessing faculty performance and other evaluation factors were much less important. Specifically, student evaluations were the dominate source used to assess teaching performance.

While we can rest assured that classroom teaching and student evaluations are still the most relied-upon source, other sources like scholarly research/publications, chair and dean evaluations and committee evaluations have gained importance over the years.

1. Scholarly research & publications

   With many schools facing economic difficulties and budget cuts, it’s no wonder that scholarly research and publications have become increasingly important in faculty assessment. In 2010, 51.8 percent of colleges considered research a major factor in evaluating overall faculty performance, an increase from the 40.5 percent reported in 2000. Similarly, the number of colleges using publications as an evaluation factor increased from 30.6 to 39.6 percent.

   This is indicative of the “oft-heard observation that faculty members are paid to teach but are rewarded for their research and publications”. One dean was quoted stating that publishing papers is important to stay visible and “high visibility is the name of the game today”. This may be alarming to students, as professors may take time and effort away from their teaching and put it towards their research.

2. Chair & dean evaluations

   Chairs and deans have rising importance in evaluating teaching performance. Colleges that use the chair’s evaluation to assess teaching performance rose from 70.4 to 79.1 percent and colleges using the dean’s evaluation rose from 64.9 to 67.9 percent. As the study conductors Miller and Seldin rightly ask, “how sound are their judgments?” How can an evaluation of teaching be done without being in the classroom? What is done to ensure impartiality?

3. Faculty committee evaluations

   Faculty committee evaluations have also increased in precedence over the past decade. This raises the question, what do faculty committees base their evaluations on? The study found that the “committees’ impressions of a professor’s classroom competence are partly based on the professor’s record of research and publications”. This brings us back to point raised earlier. Are research and publications correlated to classroom teaching?

While it is clear that the assessment of faculty is changing, do these changes reflect what matters most – the quality of education? As more and more factors gain importance in evaluating faculty, will student evaluations matter less?

Read the full study ‘Changing Practices in Faculty Evaluation‘.