Ensure that the evaluation measures lead to actionable outcomes. The measures should be reliable (repeatable across different settings), valid (measures should judge instructors in a reasonable way, like the don’t judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree adage), fair (the measures minimize bias), and avoid undesirable consequences of using the measure (e.g. instructors making a class easier due to the discredited belief that students rate easy classes better).
Fairness and reliability are most easily addressed by using multiple measures. See the Evaluation Bias section for more information.
Disciplinary action and approaches for remediation for unsatisfactory evaluation results should be defined.
While drawing from evidence-based tools, be sure to consider how these tools are used locally, which are the best-suited tools and approaches to a given context, and how they should be adapted to fit local needs.
While adaptation is encouraged, there should be enough commonality across the different units that measures used in the evaluation system are coherent across the campus.
It can be easier to establish a new approach to evaluation by starting with low-stakes improvements, with evaluations used for merit rather than reappointment, promotion, and tenure. Additionally, value participation in the new evaluation system; that is, reward faculty for having trust and being willing to engage in new evaluation measures.