Candidates should know, for example, if there is a systematic review process and if so, what criteria and procedures are used. If the new faculty member's understanding is in conflict with the written regulations, or if customary practice seems to deviate from them, then the faculty member should, before accepting reappointment, clarify the situation with the department chair, with documentation in the form of a letter from the chair or a letter of understanding from the faculty member to the chair. In some institutions, beginning composition teachers have been required to shoulder inappropriate or excessive administrative responsibility. The administrative and teaching burden of the position may be so heavy as to prevent the candidate from fulfilling requirements for scholarly work. Where a position does involve administrative responsibilities, a new faculty member should have a clear understanding, documented in writing, of how such administrative work will figure in evaluations.
Some institutions base such evaluations solely on teaching and other locally assigned activities.
Given the wide variance among institutions on these matters, a new faculty member should seek and the department should provide detailed guidance from the beginning and throughout the early years of a career. Such procedures can give junior faculty members an indication of what progress they are making toward reappointment or tenure, though the actual reappointment or tenure process will involve levels of administration beyond the department and may involve factors not considered in annual reviews of individual performance, such as the resources and needs of the institution. If the institution has no procedure to evaluate teaching, individual faculty members would do well to design and conduct their own course evaluations in as professional and objective a manner as possible, documenting the results carefully. If there is no formal procedure for annual review, the above described annual report of one's professional activities is especially important, as it will be the sole means of documenting the candidate's efforts to fulfill the institution's requirements for reappointment, promotion, or permanent status. It may also prompt a busy department chair to provide some feedback, or even to institute an annual review process.