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PPM 8-28, Annual Faculty Performance Review Documents |
Responsible Office: Academic Affairs |
1.0 PURPOSE
This policy outlines annual faculty performance reviews for all full-time faculty.
2.0 REFERENCES
2.1 PPM 9-3, Faculty Responsibilities, Ethics, and Standards of Behavior
2.2 PPM 9-4, Faculty Responsibilities to Self and Profession
2.3 PPM 9-5, Faculty Responsibilities to Students
2.4 PPM 9-6, Faculty Responsibilities to Colleagues
2.5 PPM 9-7, Faculty Responsibilities to Institution
2.6 PPM 9-8, Faculty Responsibilities to the Community
3.0 POLICY
3.1 Annual Faculty Performance Review Guidelines
Annual faculty performance reviews (AFPR) shall be conducted for all full-time faculty on an annual basis. This includes instructors, tenure-track faculty, and tenured faculty. These reviews serve as one indication of an individual faculty’s performance over the previous year and must be considered when making decisions regarding merit pay. However, these performance reviews are not a measure of faculty’s progress and should not be treated as such. The AFPR will also be included in post-tenure reviews and performance compensation plans.
Each college will formulate a written policy statement, the college AFPR document, containing the criteria to be used in annual faculty performance reviews. Review criteria in college AFPR documents may be further specified in written department AFPR documents. In that case, each department's AFPR document will be considered part of the college AFPR document. The approval process for new or revised department documents needs to be specified in the college AFPR document. Department AFPR documents shall be used in conjunction with the college AFPR document when reviewing and evaluating a faculty member’s annual performance. Acknowledging that some faculty members take an integrated approach to teaching, scholarship, and service, it may be appropriate to recognize contributions in more than one category (teaching, scholarship, and/or service) for a particular activity if evidence in a candidate's professional file demonstrates how the activity applies to multiple categories. In addition, all AFPR documents should follow the best practices outlined below:
Faculty expectations vary between tenure-track, tenured faculty, and instructors. This policy recognizes differences across disciplines and career changes.
For annual faculty performance reviews, only teaching, scholarship/creative works, and service are included in the evaluation. Faculty are also expected to meet (met vs. not met) their responsibilities to the institution (PPM 9-3 through 9-8) to meet the college’s minimum standard for annual faculty performance reviews and this should be noted in the performance review.
3.2 Criteria for Annual Faculty Performance Reviews:
Colleges will be transparent about criteria for the annual faculty performance evaluations. Colleges may choose to accept a previously completed review document (interim, tenure, post-tenure, instructor reviews, performance compensation plans) in lieu of the annual review. However, colleges will have different criteria and levels of performance expected for annual performance evaluations (e.g., does not meet expectations, meets expectations, exceeds expectations) than for tenure and promotion. A positive annual review does not guarantee a positive review in other subsequent evaluations, such as tenure or promotion.
3.3 Format of the Annual Faculty Performance Report Form:
The specific format of the reporting is decided by individual colleges and departments and specified in the college and department AFPR documents respectively. The data collection process should be simple through a streamlined AFPR document that captures major activities. For colleges that value narrative for context and descriptions of impact, the narrative requirements should be brief.
3.4 Role of the Department Chair:
3.4.1 Collect and review the AFPR for each faculty member in the department as appropriate.
3.4.2 In consultation with the Dean, assign and communicate evaluation results to each faculty member.
3.4.3 Allow faculty to accept/sign off on the evaluation (similar to staff evaluations) with an opportunity to discuss/contest the results.
3.5 Role of the Dean:
3.5.1 Lead the process to develop a college AFPR document (and department AFPR documents if applicable) following the process stated above.
3.5.2 Establish comparable practices of review/rating across all departments within the college.
3.6 Role of the Provost:
3.6.1 Establish comparable practices of review/rating across all colleges.
3.7 New AFPR Documents and Changes to AFPR Documents
Any substantive change in the college AFPR document must be submitted through the dean to the Provost. Colleges that wish to change these documents must submit their documents in writing to their full-time faculty for comments and a vote. The outcome of the vote shall be reported to the Provost and the college. These steps must also be followed for any AFPR documents that have not previously been approved through this process.
Upon approval by the Provost, the new or changed college AFPR document will be considered adopted. The date of the final approval of the college AFPR will be affixed to the policy statement, and that date will be considered the effective date. Thereafter, the approved and dated college AFPR document will apply until any revision is channeled through the steps outlined herein and a new effective date is affixed. Copies of the approved revised college AFPR document will be on file in the offices of the department chair, the dean, and the Provost and will be accessible online at the Provost’s website.
Following the adoption of a new or updated College or Department AFPR, faculty will have 1 year to transition between forms. Faculty may elect to use either the newly adopted form or the previous form for reviews occurring during this transition period.
3.8 Suggested Timeline for the AFPR Process
The following suggested timeline is established for use in the AFPR processes each year. When a date listed below falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or University holiday, the due date shall be moved to the following business day. The timeline identifies when the AFPR documents should be submitted to each respective department chair.
Dec. 1 Faculty are provided with a copy of the updated AFPR document that was approved through the process outlined above in PPM 8-28 (or at least 60 days prior to the date that faculty must submit the completed document to their department chair).
Jan. 31 Completed AFPR documents are submitted to each faculty member’s department chair. (Departments and Colleges may adjust this timeline as needed.)
Mar. 1 In consultation with the Dean, the department chair will assign and communicate results to each faculty member.
May 31 The Dean will communicate salary changes, if any, to the faculty.
3.9 Merit Pay
When merit pay is available, the AFPR reviews must be used as a component for deciding the level/amount of merit pay awarded to a faculty member. Merit pay decisions can factor in multiple years of AFPRs, because merit pay is not always available every year. Each college will formulate the criteria to be used in merit pay decisions. Faculty are expected to meet (met vs. not met) their responsibilities to the institution (PPM 9-3 through 9-8), to qualify for merit pay. Colleges will be transparent about minimum criteria or channels for merit pay eligibility. Only faculty who have completed the AFPR document are eligible for merit pay. In consultation with the chair, the dean will determine the amount of salary increase for faculty members, if applicable, and inform them of their salary increase and the rationale for the decision. The Provost will communicate with deans and department chairs regarding data on existing salary structure.
Revision History:
Creation Date: 03.18.2026
Amended: