Purposes

The purposes of peer review are to:

  1. Review the faculty member’s professional performance.
  2. Help the faculty member establish or clarify professional directions.
  3. Provide the faculty member helpful feedback from peers.

Scope and Frequency

As required by UI policy on Review of Tenured Faculty Members (OM III-10.7), all tenured faculty members will undergo a peer review once every five years subsequent to their most recent tenure or promotion decision.

The following are exceptions to the five-year schedule:

  1. DEOs, Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, and Deans are not included during their time in office. Upon return to a full-time faculty position, DEOs and other academic administrators may request a one year extension for every three years served in that role, to a maximum of five years.
  2. Faculty members who have submitted written notification of retirement with plans to retire within one year of the review date are not included.
  3. Faculty members with an approved phased retirement plan are not included.
  4. Faculty members who are on developmental assignment during the review year may request a one-year extension.
  5. Faculty members who are being reviewed for promotion to a higher rank during the year of the scheduled review are not included.

Materials Required for a Peer Review

It is the responsibility of the person scheduled for review to supply the following materials by November 1 of the review year:

  1. The most current College of Education Faculty Vitae. (This includes a career publication record and selected service activities since the last peer review.)
  2. Student evaluations of teaching by ACE forms or other instruments which provide data regarding teaching such as the Post-Student-Teaching Evaluation System used by Elementary Education.
  3. Samples of representative teaching materials.
  4. A written statement of plans for the next five years as related to research, teaching, and service. The faculty member must also submit a written self-assessment of efforts over the previous five years in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and service.
  5. Any additional materials the faculty member considers appropriate.

Procedure for a Peer Review

The peer review procedure will involve the following steps:

  1. The DEO, in consultation with the faculty member who is to be reviewed, shall select three individuals within the college who hold the same or higher academic rank (two from within and one external to the department) to review the submitted materials.  The DEO will designate one member as chair of the committee.
  2. Peer reviews will include a minimum of one course teaching observation.  The faculty member, in consultation with the review committee, makes provision for the direct observation of his/her teaching and for individual interviews involving a representative sample of students with whom the faculty member has had direct contact in the time period since his/her last peer review.
  3. Committee members will review the submitted materials and then arrange a meeting with the faculty member to discuss strengths, limitations, and plans for future development.
  4. The chair of the review committee will prepare a written summary of the meeting with signature lines provided for committee members and the faculty member.  The faculty member may respond in writing and attach the response to the summary.
  5. The committee submits the final summary and any attachments to the DEO.
  6. The DEO reviews the materials and forwards the approved review to the Dean’s Office with a cover memo.  A copy of all materials submitted to the Dean’s Office will be given to the faculty member.
  7. As required by the “Special Cases” provision of UI policy on Review of Tenured Faculty Members (OM III-10.7), the following applies.  If, after receiving the results of the five-year peer review, the dean, on advice of the peer review committee and in consultation with the DEO, concludes, on the basis of the peer review's findings, that the faculty member's performance has fallen for a significant period of time below the expected standard of performance for the faculty member's unit, then the dean may initiate discussions with the faculty member concerning the development of a plan to address problems uncovered in the review.  Such discussion may focus on the faculty member's individualized portfolio.  The plan will be put in writing, will contain a justification for its implementation, will provide a specific timetable for evaluation of acceptable progress (normally to occur at the faculty member's next five-year review), and will provide a description of possible consequences for not meeting expectations by the time of that evaluation.  The DEO and/or dean may monitor progress through the annual review and give feedback to the faculty member.
  8. The review is placed in the faculty member’s personnel file.  The outcome of this peer review is confidential and confined to the faculty member being reviewed, the review committee, the DEO, the dean, others directed by the faculty member, and in special circumstances the Provost.

Procedure for Peer Review of Jointly Appointed Faculty

The peer review of jointly appointed faculty members shall follow the procedures set forth in their letter of agreement at time of hire.  As needed, the DEO of a jointly appointed faculty member’s primary appointing unit will consult with the DEO of the other appointing department to determine how the review will be conducted.

(April 2012)