Evaluation of Scholarship

Scholarly accomplishments in the areas of research, teaching, and community outreach all enter into the evaluation of faculty performance. Scholarly profiles will vary depending on individual faculty members' areas of emphasis. The weight to be given factors relevant to the determination of promotion, tenure, and merit necessarily varies with the individual faculty member's assigned role and from one academic field to another. However, one should recognize that research, teaching, and community outreach often overlap. For example, a service learning project may reflect both teaching and community outreach. Some research projects may involve both research and community outreach. Pedagogical research may involve both research and teaching. When a faculty member evaluates his or her individual intellectual, aesthetic, or creative accomplishments, it is more important to focus on the general criteria of the quality and significance of the work than to categorize the work. Peers also should focus on the quality and significance of work rather than on categories of work when evaluating an individual's achievements.

The following discussion is intended to assist faculty in formative planning of a scholarly agenda and to provide examples of the characteristics to consider when evaluating scholarly accomplishments.

Documentation

The accomplishments of a candidate for promotion or tenure must be documented in order to be evaluated. Documentation and evaluation of scholarship should focus on the quality and significance of scholarship rather than on a recitation of tasks and projects. Each department should judge the quality and significance of scholarly contributions to knowledge as well as the quantity.

In addition to contributions to knowledge, the effectiveness of teaching, research, or community outreach must meet an acceptable standard when it is part of a faculty member's responsibilities. Documentation should be sufficient to outline a faculty member's agreed-upon responsibilities and to support an evaluation of effectiveness.

Documentation for promotion and tenure normally includes:

  • Self-appraisal of scholarly agenda and accomplishments. A self-appraisal should include:
    • a discussion of the scholarly agenda that describes the long-term goals and purposes of a scholarly line of work, explains how the agenda fits into a larger endeavor and field of work, and demonstrates how scholarly accomplishments to date have advanced the agenda.
    • a description of how the agenda relates to the departmental academic mission, within the context of the University mission and the discipline as a whole.
    • an evaluation of the quality and significance of scholarly work.
    • an evaluation of the effectiveness of teaching, research, or community outreach when it is part of a faculty member's responsibilities
  • A curriculum vitae including a comprehensive list of significant accomplishments.
  • A representative sample of an individual's most scholarly work rather than an exhaustive portfolio. However, a department may establish guidelines requiring review of all scholarly activities that are central to a faculty member's scholarly agenda over a recent period of time.
  • Evaluations of accomplishments by peers and other multiple and credible sources (e.g., students, community participants, and subject matter experts). Peers include authoritative representatives from the candidate's scholarly field(s).

Research and Other Creative Activities (Research)

A significant factor in determining a faculty member's merit for promotion is the individual's accomplishments in research and published contributions to knowledge in the appropriate field(s) and other professional or creative activities that are consistent with the faculty member's responsibilities. Contributions to knowledge in the area of research and other creative activities should be evaluated using the criteria for quality and significance of scholarship (see II.D). It is strongly recommended that the following items be considered in evaluating research and other creative activities:

  1. Research may be evaluated on the quality and significance of publication of scholarly books, monographs, articles, presentations, and reviews in journals, and grant proposals submissions and awards. An evaluation should consider whether the individual's contributions reflect continuous engagement in research and whether these contributions demonstrate future promise. Additionally, the evaluation should consider whether publications are refereed (an important form of peer review) as an important factor. In some fields, evidence of citation or use of the faculty member's research or creative contributions by other scholars is appropriate.
  2. The development and publication of software should be judged in the context of its involvement of state-of-the-art knowledge and its impact on peers and others.
  3. In certain fields such as writing, literature, performing arts, fine arts, architecture, graphic design, cinema, and broadcast media or related fields, distinguished creation should receive consideration equivalent to that accorded to distinction attained in scientific and technical research. In evaluating artistic creativity, an attempt should be made to define the candidate's merit in the light of such criteria as originality, scope, richness, and depth of creative expression. It should be recognized that in music and drama, distinguished performance, including conducting and directing, is evidence of a candidate's creativity. Creative works often are evaluated by the quality and significance of publication, exhibiting, and/or performance of original works, or by the direction or performance of significant works. Instruments that include external peer review should be used or developed to evaluate artistic creation and performance. Including critical reviews, where available, can augment the departmental evaluations. The evaluation should include a chronological list of creative works, exhibitions, or performances.
  4. Contributions to the development of collaborative, interdisciplinary, or interinstitutional research programs are highly valued. Mechanisms for evaluating such contributions may be employed. Evaluating collaborative research might involve addressing both individual contributions (e.g., quality of work, completion of assigned responsibilities) and contributions to the successful participation of others (e.g., skills in teamwork, group problem solving).
  5. Honors and awards represent recognition of stature in the field when they recognize active engagement in research or creative activities at regional, national, or international levels.
  6. Effective participation in disciplinary or interdisciplinary organizations' activities should be evaluated in the context of their involvement of state-of-the-art knowledge and impact on peers and others. For example, this participation might include serving as editor of journals or other learned publications, serving on an editorial board, chairing a program committee for a regional, national, or international meeting, or providing scholarly leadership as an officer of a major professional organization.

Teaching, Mentoring, and Curricular Activities (Teaching)

A significant factor in determining a faculty member's merit for promotion is the individual's accomplishments in teaching, mentoring, and curricular activities, consistent with the faculty member's responsibilities. Teaching activities are scholarly functions that directly serve learners within or outside the university. Scholars who teach must be intellectually engaged and must demonstrate mastery of the knowledge in their field(s). The ability to lecture and lead discussions, to create a variety of learning opportunities, to draw out students and arouse curiosity in beginners, to stimulate advanced students to engage in creative work, to organize logically, to evaluate critically the materials related to one's field of specialization, to assess student performance, and to excite students to extend learning beyond a particular course and understand its contribution to a body of knowledge are all recognized as essential to excellence in teaching.

Teaching scholars often study pedagogical methods that improve student learning. Evaluation of performance in this area thus should consider creative and effective use of innovative teaching methods, curricular innovations, and software development. Scholars who teach also should disseminate promising curricular innovations to appropriate audiences and subject their work to critical review. PSU encourages publishing in pedagogical journals or making educationally-focused presentations at disciplinary and interdisciplinary meetings that advance the scholarship of teaching and curricular innovations or practice.

Evaluation of teaching and curricular contributions should not be limited to classroom activities. It also should focus on a faculty member's contributions to larger curricular goals (for example, the role of a course in laying foundations for other courses and its contribution to majors, or contributions to broad aspects of general education or interdisciplinary components of the curriculum). In addition, PSU recognizes that student mentoring, academic advising, thesis advising, and dissertation advising are important departmental functions. Faculty may take on differential mentoring responsibilities as part of their personal scholarly agenda.

To ensure valid evaluations, departments should appoint a departmental committee to devise formal methods for evaluating teaching and curriculum-related performance. All members of the department should be involved in selecting these formal methods. The department chair4 has the responsibility for seeing that these methods for evaluation are implemented. Contributions to knowledge in the area of teaching, mentoring, and curricular activities should be evaluated using the criteria for quality and significance of scholarship (see II.D). It is strongly recommended that the following items be considered in the evaluation of teaching and curricular accomplishments:

  • contributions to courses or curriculum development
  • outlines, syllabi, and other materials developed for use in courses
  • the results of creative approaches to teaching methods and techniques, including the development of software and other technologies that advance student learning,
  • the results of assessments of student learning
  • formal student evaluations
  • peer review of teaching, mentoring, and curricular activities
  • accessibility to students
  • ability to relate to a wide variety of students for purposes of advising
  • mentoring and guiding students toward the achievement of curricular goals
  • the results of supervision of student research or other creative activities including theses and field advising
  • the results of supervision of service learning experiences in the community
  • contributions to, and participation in, the achievement of departmental goals, such as achieving reasonable retention of students
  • contributions to the development and delivery of collaborative, interdisciplinary, university studies, extended studies, and interinstitutional educational programs
  • teaching and mentoring students and others in how to obtain access to information resources so as to further student, faculty, and community research and learning
  • grant proposals and grants for the development of curriculum or teaching methods and techniques
  • professional development as related to instruction, e.g., attendance at professional meetings related to a faculty member's areas of instructional expertise
  • honors and awards for teaching

Community Outreach

A significant factor in determining a faculty member's advancement is the individual's accomplishments in community outreach when such activities are part of a faculty member's responsibilities. Scholars can draw on their professional expertise to engage in a wide array of community outreach. Such activities can include defining or resolving relevant local, national, or international problems or issues. Community outreach also includes planning literary or artistic festivals or celebrations. PSU highly values quality community outreach as part of faculty roles and responsibilities.5

The setting of Portland State University affords faculty many opportunities to make their expertise useful to the community outside the University. Community based activities are those which are tied directly to one's special field of knowledge. Such activities may involve a cohesive series of activities contributing to the definition or resolution of problems or issues in society . These activities also include aesthetic and celebratory projects. Scholars who engage in community outreach also should disseminate promising innovations to appropriate audiences and subject their work to critical review.

Departments and individual faculty members can use the following guidelines when developing appropriate community outreach. Important community outreach can:

  • contribute to the definition or resolution of a relevant social problem or issue
  • use state-of-the-art knowledge to facilitate change in organizations or institutions
  • use disciplinary or interdisciplinary expertise to help groups organizations in conceptualizing and solving problems
  • set up intervention programs to prevent, ameliorate, or remediate persistent negative outcomes for individuals or groups or to optimize positive outcomes
  • contribute to the evaluation of existing practices or programs
  • make substantive contributions to public policy
  • create schedules and choose or hire participants in community events such as festivals
  • offer professional services such as consulting (consistent with the policy on outside employment), serving as an expert witness, providing clinical services, and participating on boards and commissions outside the university.

Faculty and departments should evaluate a faculty member's community outreach accomplishments creatively and thoughtfully. Contributions to knowledge developed through community outreach should be judged using the criteria for quality and significance of scholarship. It is strongly recommended that the evaluation consider the following indicators of quality and significance:

  • publication in journals or presentations at disciplinary or interdisciplinary meetings that advance the scholarship of community outreach
  • honors, awards, and other forms of special recognition received for community outreach
  • adoption of the faculty member's models for problem resolution, intervention programs, instruments, or processes by others who seek solutions to similar problems
  • substantial contributions to public policy or influence upon professional practice
  • models that enrich the artistic and cultural life of the community
  • evaluative statements from clients and peers regarding the quality and significance of documents or performances produced by the faculty member.

Governance and Other Professionally-Related Service

In addition to contributions to knowledge as a result of scholarly activities, each faculty member is expected to contribute to the governance and professionally-related service activities of the University. Governance and professionally-related service create an environment that supports scholarly excellence and the achievement of the University mission. Governance and professionally-related service actives include:

  1. Committee Service. Service on University, school or college, and department or program committees is an important part of running the University. Department chairs may request a committee chair to evaluate the value a faculty member's contributions to that committee. Such service also may include involvement in peer review of scholarly accomplishments.
  2. University Community. Faculty are expected to participate in activities devoted to enriching the artistic, cultural, and social life of the university, such as attending commencement or serving as adviser to student groups.
  3. Community or professional service. Faculty may engage in professionally-related service to a discipline or inter-disciplinary field, or to the external community, that does not engage an individual's scholarship. For example, a faculty member may serve the discipline by organizing facilities for a professional meeting or by serving as treasurer of an organization.