AA 2015-01

Article 15 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Board of Trustees of the California State University and the California Faculty Association (CFA) provides for the periodic evaluation of temporary faculty unit employees, probationary faculty unit employees, and tenured faculty unit employees.

This document outlines the procedures to be followed in carrying out the periodic evaluation of Temporary Faculty Unit Employees only.

Required evaluation

All lecturers with appointments for two or more semesters (regardless of a break in service) must be evaluated. A lecturer holding appointments in two or more departments must receive an evaluation in each department where an appointment is held.

Full and part-time lecturers holding three-year appointments are not required to be evaluated annually. However, the Collective Bargaining Agreement provides that all lecturers holding three-year appointments must be evaluated at least once during the term of their three-year appointment and may be evaluated more frequently upon the request of either the employee or the department chair.

All lecturers (full and part-time) eligible for an initial three-year appointment or a renewal of a subsequent three-year appointment must be evaluated in the academic year preceding the issuance of a three-year appointment. This periodic evaluation shall consider the faculty unit employee’s cumulative work performance during the entire qualifying period for the three-year appointment.

Optional evaluation

Lecturers who are appointed for only one semester (both full-time and part-time) shall be evaluated at the discretion of the department chair or dean OR upon the request of the lecturer. However, if they are appointed to a one-semester fall contract and they are subsequently appointed for the spring semester, they must also receive a periodic evaluation.

Evaluation of Full-Time Lecturers with Less Than a Three Year Appointment

Full-time lecturers with appointments for two or more semesters (regardless of a break in service) must be evaluated annually in accordance with Article 15.23 of the CSU-CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Both a peer review committee elected by the department and consisting of tenured faculty members and the dean must provide written evaluations. The chair may submit a separate recommendation to the dean if not serving as a member of the peer review committee.

Evaluation of Part-Time Lecturers with Less Than a Three Year Appointment

Periodic evaluations of part-time lecturers are to be completed by the department review committee, with opportunity provided for peer input in accordance with Article 15.2 of the CSU-CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement. The input must be written, signed, and included in the evaluation materials. Copies of the written input must be provided to the evaluators and the lecturer. The dean may provide an evaluation or may simply acknowledge having reviewed the department evaluation.

Evaluation of all lecturers (full and part-time) eligible for an initial three-year appointment or a renewal of a subsequent three-year appointment

All lecturers (full and part-time) eligible for an initial three-year appointment or a renewal of a subsequent three-year appointment must be evaluated in the academic year preceding the issuance of a three-year appointment. This evaluation shall include student evaluations of teaching performance for those with teaching duties, peer review by a committee of the department or equivalent unit, and evaluations by appropriate administrators. The evaluation shall rate the temporary faculty unit employee as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Satisfactory ratings may include narrative comments including constructive suggestions for development. This periodic evaluation shall consider the faculty unit employee’s cumulative work performance during the entire qualifying period for the three-year appointment.

Right to Rebut/Respond to Evaluation

Pursuant to Article 15.5 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, at all levels of review, before recommendations are forwarded to a subsequent review level, faculty unit employees shall be given a copy of the recommendation and the written reasons therefore. The faculty unit employee may submit a rebuttal statement or response in writing within ten (10) days following receipt of the recommendation. Responses or rebuttals are to be 1) placed in the evaluation file, 2) accompany the file to the next level(s) of review, and 3) sent to all previous levels of review.

All materials considered by the department shall be made available to the dean. At the conclusion of the review, the following materials are placed in the Personnel Action File (PAF): Completed evaluation and rebuttals (if any), curriculum vitae, reflective narrative, list of professional accomplishments and contributions, written peer evaluations. Any other supplemental documentation is returned to the lecturer.

Evaluation Criteria

Lecturer evaluations must be appropriate to the lecturer’s position description and actual work assignment.

Materials to be considered

The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that student evaluations of teaching must be considered in the periodic evaluation of lecturers. The use of student evaluations shall be in accordance with Article 15.15 and university policy.

Lecturers may be required by department evaluators to submit a current curriculum vita; copies of instructional materials such as course syllabi, representative assignments, and sample exams for all the courses evaluated; and/or a description of activities engaged in to remain current in their field (not to exceed one page). Lecturers may be asked by department evaluators to submit the materials from prior academic years if they have not already been reviewed due to a less than annual evaluation schedule pursuant to Article

15.26 or otherwise due to evaluation timelines.

Prior to the beginning of the review process, the faculty unit employee subject to review shall be responsible for the identification of materials s/he wishes to be considered and for the submission of such materials as may be accessible to him/her. Evaluating committees and administrators shall be responsible for identifying and providing materials relating to evaluation not provided by the employee.

Full-time lecturers must submit materials that illustrate their performance related to their duties identified in their position description and/or actual work assignment (i.e., teaching, professional development, and/or service).

Part-time lecturers may submit additional materials, including but not limited to materials that illustrate their performance related to their duties identified in their position description and/or actual work assignment (i.e., teaching, professional development, and/or service) such as a brief list of professional accomplishments or contributions over the past year, a reflective narrative, and/or a peer evaluation of teaching. If a lecturer submits additional documentation, it must be considered in the lecturer's periodic evaluation. Lecturers may submit materials from the previous semester if not yet reviewed due to evaluation timelines.

Please note: When evaluators request that a lecturer provide materials for consideration and the requested material(s) are not provided, this may have an adverse impact on the lecturer’s evaluation.

Classroom visits

Classroom visits may be a useful tool in the evaluation process and may be utilized at the discretion of the department evaluators/evaluation committee. Upon notification of evaluation to be conducted, lecturers may also request a classroom visit as a part of their evaluation. When classroom visits are determined to be necessary to aid in the evaluation process, the individual lecturer being evaluated shall be provided a notice of at least five (5) days that a classroom visit is to take place. There shall be consultation between the lecturer being evaluated and the individual who visits his/her class(es).