Faculty Review, Development, and Assessment

An annual review is conducted in the spring of each year for all faculty. The annual review provides the faculty member and the institution an ongoing assessment of the faculty member’s performance and an opportunity for setting goals and establishing a work plan for the year ahead. Annual reviews include faculty members’ own assessment of their performance. They are considered part of the preparation for major reviews and are included in a candidate’s files prepared for these reviews.

Faculty Annual Self-Evaluation [PDF]

Pre-tenure developmental reviews typically occur during the third year of service for tenure-rack associate professors and are designed to assist faculty members by providing both an evaluation of work already completed and suggesting areas that need further development. It is also intended to provide tenure-track faculty members with an assessment of their progress toward tenure.

Faculty members hired in a tenure-track position will normally be reviewed for promotion to associate professor with tenure during the sixth year of service. Eligibility for tenure review may be negotiated in the letter of appointment.

Complete details are available in section V.A.2 of the faculty handbook.

Tenures associate professors typically have their first post-tenure review in the third year after tenure is granted. The purpose of the first post-tenure review for associate professors is to provide feedback on the faculty member’s professional growth and contribution to the mission of the Graduate School since being awarded tenure, and to provide feedback on progress toward promotion of full professor.

Subsequent post-tenure reviews typically occur every third year after tenure is granted.

Faculty members shall normally be eligible for review for promotion to professor after six years at the associate professor rank. The promotion review serves to evaluate the faculty member’s performance for the purpose of promotion to the rank of professor in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and professional and institutional service.

Complete details are available in section V.A.3 of the faculty handbook.

Post-tenure reviews for professors are scheduled to occur every six years after the rank of professor is achieved.

Complete details are available in section V.A.4 of the faculty handbook.

Tenure-track junior faculty receive annual mentoring through the Promotion and Tenure Committee to discuss faculty expectations and the Graduate School, and undergo a developmental review in their third year. 

There are three types of review for clinical assistant professors: annual review, three-year review, and review for promotion to the rank of clinical associate professor. Clinical assistant professors must hold a terminal degree. Clinical assistant professors are not required to move toward promotion at either the clinical associate or clinical professor rank.

Complete details are available in section V.A.6 of the faculty handbook.

Types of review: There are three types of review for clinical associate professors: annual review, three-year review, and review for promotion to the rank of clinical professor. Complete details are available in section V.A.7 of the faculty handbook.

There are two types of review for clinical professors: annual review and six-year review.

Complete details are available in section V.A.8 of the faculty handbook.

There are three types of review for clinical instructors: annual review, three-year review, and review for promotion to the rank of clinical senior instructor.

Clinical instructors are clinical faculty who do not hold a terminal degree. Complete details are available in section V.A.9 of the faculty handbook.

In rare but important circumstances, academic programs benefit from the conversion of non-tenure track appointments to tenure-track appointments without the requirement of a national search. This procedure is designed to facilitate the conversion from non-tenure track to tenure-track in a fair and open manner, where all eligible faculty in the department/school with pertinent background and expertise are given the opportunity to apply. Complete details are available in section V.A.10 of the faculty handbook.

All students are asked to complete graduate school course evaluations during the last class meeting of the term for every course. Faculty members must leave the room while students are completing the their evaluations. The data from the evaluations is summarized and will be available to you and the chair of your department approximately seven days after the final grades have been submitted.

The Graduate School of Education and Counseling is committed to providing quality education and to assuring students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in their professions after they graduate. Assessments of student learning provide the information we need to make improvements in program structure, course content, and pedagogy. The assessment process requires the on-going collection of information from students at the classroom, department, and institution levels. In addition, graduates may also be asked to participate in focus groups and/or complete surveys assessing the quality of academic services/program satisfaction while enrolled. These activities, and the information they provide, help us determine the extent to which students and graduates demonstrate competency in their professional fields.

The assessment process for all programs contains the following common elements:

1. Student learning outcomes for graduate programs are clearly communicated and assessed using fair and unbiased instruments.
2. Faculty and others use assessment information for the purpose of program improvement.
3. Information about assessment systems and student learning outcomes are reported to designated stakeholders, including the Lewis & Clark College Board of Trustees, the Oregon Teachers and Standards Practice Commission, and appropriate national accreditation organizations.
4. Aggregate performance data will not include personally identifying information.

In recognition of the evolutionary nature of accountability and assessment processes, the Graduate School of Education and Counseling acknowledges that changes in the assessment system will occur over time. The Graduate School of Education and Counseling will make reasonable efforts to inform students and other stakeholders of these modifications. In no case will changes in the assessment system alter the institutions commitment to preserving the confidentiality of individual student performance data. The Graduate School of Education and Counseling and its departments conduct satisfaction and other types of surveys before and after students graduate. Students and alumni are strongly encouraged to respond to these surveys so that the information may be used to improve our programs and the education of our future students.