Last year the Committee on Budget and Interdepartmental Relations asked the Senate Committee on Teaching to formulate a comprehensive policy with guidelines for how the assessment of teaching should be presented in recommendations for faculty promotion or advancement. The Committee on Teaching conducted a review, which included among other things invoking the aid of faculty who have received the Distinguished Teaching Awards. Please distribute these documents to your respective teaching units. The Policy has the full endorsement of the Committee on Budget and Interdepartmental Relations and unit heads are urged to follow it as closely as possible. The University community believes that excellence in teaching and excellence in research go hand in hand, and as a matter of policy teaching and research are both essential duties of every faculty member.
Promotion depends upon the demonstration of excellence in both areas.
The essential question in the evaluation of teaching is whether the candidate contributes in an effective, creative, and appropriate way to the teaching mission of the department. Attention should be paid to the varieties of demands placed on instructors and the range of teaching activities called for in various disciplines and at various levels. It is imperative that clear documentation of ability in teaching be included in all advancement and promotion cases. Incomplete advancement or promotion cases will be returned to the originating department. While no two cases will be alike, there are several recurring themes which may be addressed in the preparation of the teaching component and several useful techniques for verifying performance in these areas.