CLAS Peer Review

  • Who: Tenured faculty.
  • When: Every three years.
  • What: University budgets $50,000 for “development plans” under this article.

Process and deadlines alike are spelled out in Article 16 of the AAUP-PSU Contract. A capsule summary:

Date Event
Dec. 1 Peer review committee is to notify chair that a professional development plan is forthcoming.
Jan. 15 Faculty under review gives his/her review committee a development plan.
Feb. 15 Committee reports to chair.
Mar. 1 Peer recommendations from chair to CLAS.
Mar. 15 Recommendations forwarded to OAA from CLAS.
Apr. 1 Faculty member to be notified of outcome (whether support will be forthcoming).

Note: In practice awards are sometimes announced as late as June.

First, determine who should be reviewed this year. Technically, peer review committees need to be set up well in advance of December 1 in order to complete activities specified in 16.3.a and 16.3.b. But if you have not formed peer review committees by this date, form them as soon as you can. The most important date to worry about is February 15.

In practice, peer review is almost always positive in its impact. The process gives the highly productive faculty member the resources to be even more productive. For the faculty member who may be temporarily stalled, it provides an opportunity to set priorities for new projects, and some support to get started on those new projects (a computer, travel, book purchases, etc.).