University of Wisconsin Colleges

Department of Mathematics

Department Bylaws

Appendix E

Classroom Visitation Procedures

1. Probationary faculty members shall be visited at least once each academic year by a tenured faculty member from another campus. A probationary faculty member is entitled to and will receive up to three visitations in the year preceding the year a tenure decision must be made, if he/she so asks.

2. In promotion cases, one visitation will be scheduled for the fall semester prior to the promotion decision. A second visitation will be conducted at the request of the faculty member.

3. Faculty teaching mathematics but whose home department is other than mathematics, will be visited by a tenured member of the Mathematics Department during that teacher's first semester of teaching mathematics. Subsequent visitations may be scheduled at the discretion of the department chair or upon request of the campus dean.

4. Instructional academic staff will be visited in the first semester of employment by a tenure member or by a probationary faculty member with at least three years teaching experience in the UW Colleges Department of Mathematics. A second visit will occur before the end of the fourth semester of employment, and subsequent visitations will occur at least once in every four semesters of employment. A departmental visit shall occur prior to an promotion of an instructional academic staff member.

5. The department chair shall make the visitation assignments subject to agreement by both the person visiting and the faculty member being visited.

6. No visitation shall take place during the first two weeks or last two weeks of a semester.

7. No more than one visitation to an individual shall occur in any one week.

8. The visitor shall contact the visitee in advance to inform him/her the week during which to expect a visit. The visitee should then tell the visitor of any days which would be poor days to visit due to scheduled exam, review session, other classroom visitation, or any other non-routine class activity.

9. The visitor should arrive early enough to visit with the instructor before the class begins. Immediately after the classroom visit the visitor and visitee should discuss the class and the reactions they each had to it.

10. Normally the visitor shall visit more than one class.

11. The following points are some of the criteria on which the evaluation may be based:

a. Mathematical Content

b. Presentation

c. Technique

d. Rapport

e. Strengths

f. Weaknesses

12. The visitor is a guest in the classroom and should not participate in any part of the classroom activities, nor should the visitor question the instructor about anything during the class session.

13. A written report of the evaluation shall be sent to the mathematics department chair with copies to the visitee, campus dean, and appropriate campus committee. In cases of appointments in two departments or two departments, copies should also be sent to the other department chair or dean of the other campus. After receiving a visitation report, the visitee may elect to contact the department chair for more information.

14. The written report shall be completed within three weeks of the visitation and distributed as per (13).

15. The Department of Mathematics chair has the right to schedule a visitation(s) for a faculty member during any semester.