Procedures:

All tenured and tenure track faculty and teaching academic staff (lecturers) will be evaluated each year for their teaching, professional development, and university and discipline-related community service.  This evaluation will be conducted every other year by the Department Merit Committee and in alternate years by the appropriate committee at individual Colleges.  Each evaluation will cover the previous two years of activity. During those years that the Department conducts the Merit Review, the Department chair will provide members with a blank copy of the Activity Report form—typically as an email attachment along with a reminder of the due date (on or before January 4)—as well as a list of the names of those serving on the Merit Committee, and identification of which individuals will serve as the two reporters for each faculty member. Tenure track and tenured faculty members will be responsible by getting their current and past year activity reports to each member of the Merit Committee—preferably via email as an attachment to a message. Instructional Academic Staff Members should provide only the Chair and Vice-Chair with their Activity Report Forms. It is strongly suggested that all new department members review their Activity Report Forms with the mentor prior to submitting it for review by the Department Executive Committee or the local campus committee. The chair will identify two “reporters” for every faculty member; tenured members of the Department should provide these two reporters with supporting documents such as syllabi, course materials, papers published, etc.) that will demonstrate  achievements in the evaluative areas of teaching effectiveness, professional development, university service, and public service. Directors of theatre may wish to create a videotape of production clips and to include production photos. Given that each member of the committee will review the materials submitted by all probationary faculty members, probationary faculty member will only need to provide supporting materials to non-executive committee members who have been assigned as their reporters.

The Merit Committee typically meets during Winter Break or, in rare instances, early in the Spring semester to review materials and make merit determinations. IAS Merit will be considered and assignments made by the Chair and Vice Chair who will report their decisions to the other members of the Executive Committee. The chair will inform faculty members of their merit ratings in a letter that will also detail the impressions shared by the Merit committee when determining the ranking.

Criteria used for Merit Evaluation:

 In keeping with Senate Policy, the committee will consider Teaching, Professional Development, and Service. Also in keeping with this policy and the goals of the UW Colleges and the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts, teaching is to be weighted most heavily. In order to ensure an emphasis on teaching, the UW Colleges Department of Communication and Theatre Arts adopted the following policy in the Spring of 2003:

In the Communication and Theatre Arts Department merit deliberation process, demonstrated innovation in teaching will be the primary determinant for at least one of our department’s upper merit category placements.  It is also assumed that the candidates will perform meritoriously in at least two of the other merit categories.  

Guidelines for Merit Procedures:

 Each member of the Merit Committee will conduct a careful review of the Activity Report Forms of each faculty member of the department prior to the meeting. In addition, they will read all of the student evaluation commentary and supporting documentation of the faculty member(s) for whom they are serving as reporters; and prepare a written summary for the other members of the committee. The merit meeting will begin with a discussion of each faculty member’s performance during the two year period. Initial rankings will be assigned; unless there is automatic consensus, these initial rankings will be discussed before committee members submit new rankings. This process will continue until consensus is reached.

All tenured and tenure track faculty and teaching academic staff (lecturers) will be evaluated each year for their teaching, professional development, and university and discipline related community service.  This evaluation will be conducted every other year by the Department Executive Committee and in alternate years by the appropriate committee at individual campuses.  Each evaluation will cover the previous two years of activity.

Activity Report Guidelines and Procedures

Expectations for Teaching Excellence:  Faculty members should take use the narrative portion of the Activity Report form to describe efforts to keep the course content current, steps taken in the interest of teaching innovation, and detail changes made to the course in response to peer and/or student feedback. 

Expectations for Professional Development Activities:  The characterization of professional activity outlined in {CTA By-laws III.A.2.a.ii; see below} (in relation to pre-tenure review) reflects the overriding professional development philosophy of the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts.

Evidence of Professional Growth:

The years leading up to the tenure decision provide an opportunity for the faculty member to chart a course of development that will ensure that the individual remains current in the areas in which s/he teaches and works. This development should enable meaningful contributions to the relevant profession, and will--when appropriate—address any deficiencies identified either through peer review or student evaluations. While there are many opportunities for continued growth as a scholar and/or artist and/or producer, involvement with other professionals beyond the UW Colleges (i.e. in state, regional, national, and international arenas) is central to the definition of professional development. Fostering one’s intellectual and artistic growth is seen as fundamental to serving the college classroom and performance venues.

Some of the activities a faculty member might list as professional development include:

• Completion of coursework relevant to professional growth.

• Presentations at state, regional or national meetings of recognized

   professional associations.

• Production work that represents significant growth beyond those  

   productions done in conjunction with department credit bearing courses.

• Participation in workshops relevant to professional growth.

• Publication

• Research relevant to professional growth.

•Other work in the field for which one is paid, work in the field that has 

  been subject to the review of   peers, or work in the field that is done with

  or through professional theatres and other organizations.         

 Our department boasts a faculty remarkably diverse in terms of training—with representation from MFA and PhD programs alike; further, some department members are accomplished scholars of rhetorical theory and others concentrate more exclusively on working as theatre artists. Such diversity enriches our interaction with one another and offers tremendous benefits to the institution; but it also translates into a wide range of professional development possibilities. In keeping with the priority the UW Colleges give to teaching, the department supports efforts in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The faculty member must be able to articulate the relevance a particular activity to an overall record of professional development --as is true with the presentation of all materials submitted for the purposes retention, promotion, tenure, and merit.

 Expectations for University Service:  All faculty members are expected to contribute on a regular basis to governance at the department and campus levels and, occasionally, contribute to Colleges and System wide governance initiatives and activities. 

Samples of completed Activity Reports can be obtained through either the Chair or faculty mentors.

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