Section III.A.8: Review Policies for Adjunct and Visiting Faculty - College of Arts and Sciences
Schedule
All teaching at Lewis & Clark is subject to review. For visitors and adjuncts teaching at the College for the first time, that review should normally take place after the first term or year of teaching, whichever is latest. Administrators or other College employees who teach occasionally should follow this same cycle.
The procedure described below should be followed by those who want to be considered for future teaching at the College or who might like a future reference. For adjuncts or visitors who elect to not participate in this review process, the department chair, program director or surrogate should send the Director of Operations and Finance a brief letter (normally no more than 500 words) assessing the quality of the teaching, especially commenting on any problems. Please include the statistical summary sheet from the relevant course or courses.
In circumstances when a contract renewal is under consideration for the following year, this review may take place after only one semester of teaching at the college, and will inform the decision to rehire. In circumstances in which the instructor begins teaching at the college during the spring semester, however, a new contract will be issued only after the completion of the review process in May.
Reviews will take place after the first semester or year of teaching, and then after every two subsequent years in which any teaching takes place. So for instance, if a faculty member teaches one course every spring, they should expect a review after the first spring, and again two years later. At a minimum, however, intermittent visitors should expect to be reviewed every five calendar years.
Procedure
The faculty member prepares a file consisting of all course evaluations for the review period, the statistical summary sheet, a c.v., syllabi, and a brief cover letter (less than 500 words). This letter should also contain the faculty member’s own evaluation of the course or courses taught at Lewis & Clark. Faculty members may also want to respond to and contextualize student comments in this letter. Such files should be completed within two weeks of the receipt of evaluations. (Please consult the chairs’ or academic calendar for suggested dates for all the following steps.)
Those teaching in two programs (e.g. the CORE and a regular department) should report to both program chairs or directors, supplying relevant evaluations for each. Faculty members may choose to use the same letter for both purposes as long as it addresses both sets of courses.
The file is presented to the relevant department chair, program director or surrogate, who completes a brief letter of evaluation (less than 500 words), to be completed within two weeks of receipt of the file. A copy of the letter is shared with the faculty member, who may respond in writing if he or she wishes. (The faculty member has a week for any such response.)
The entire file, along with the summary sheet from the evaluations (omitting the evaluations themselves), is initially sent to the Director of Operations and Finance. After review, it is forwarded to the office of the dean of the college, where it will remain on file. (Evaluations themselves should be retained by the faculty member, and should be available for future consultation if needed.) This file may be used to inform decisions about future teaching, and/or letters of reference when requested by the faculty member. Files should arrive at the dean’s office as soon as is practicable, but no later than five weeks after the receipt of the evaluations.
In circumstances when the review is taking place during the spring term (as described above), the faculty member’s letter may reflect on current teaching, as well as that of the preceding term. The chair’s letter should include an assessment of the ongoing spring teaching as well. This assessment should be informed by a class visit and/or mid-semester student evaluations, at the discretion of the chair.