Review the set of Deans Evaluation standard questions
Review the AAAC Report on Dean Evaluation Mean Scores
The Academic
Affairs Advisory Committee (AAAC) and Senate Assembly members have developed a
process for the faculty members of each academic unit to evaluate and provide
useful feedback to the Dean of the unit and the Provost.
The purpose of
the evaluation process and questionnaire is to initiate the regular, ongoing and
constructive review of the Dean's performance by a unit's faculty.
A constructive evaluation of the Dean allows faculty members to have
input into the governance of the unit. It allows for the documenting of the
achievements and progress of the unit's administrators, or lack thereof.
The Senate
Assembly has developed a set of generic core questions to assist faculty in establishing their unit's
specific evaluation process. The Assembly's goal is to enhance faculty input
into the governance of their unit and that of the University.
The academic
environment of the University is the responsibility of its faculty, which should
hold each unit's administration accountable for its performance. To this end the
faculty of each unit of the University of Michigan are asked to review the
performance of the Dean of their unit by focusing on 1) Leadership 2) Faculty
and Program Development 3) Fairness and Ethics 4) Communication and 5)
Administration.
The main goals of
the evaluation process include the following:
A standard scan
sheet questionnaire was developed in 1993 by the Evaluation Subcommittee of the
Academic Affairs Advisory Committee. This instrument was then
modified with input from AAAC, SACUA, Senate Assembly, and the Institute for
Social Research. AAAC reviewed the instrument in 1999 and modifications
were adopted by Senate Assembly.
Each academic
unit designates one or more Unit Review Coordinators. In practice these
individuals have been Senate Assembly members. The Unit Review Coordinators work
with the Dean and other faculty members in developing several "unit-specific" questions. These unit specific questions are then added to the
survey. Each unit's faculty is
ultimately responsible for the number and form of questions used.
Each Dean has the
opportunity to add an introductory statement to the review. The review is
provided on-line for one month and access is limited to one-time-use by faculty
members of the unit. The responses
to the narrative portion are sent directly to the Dean and to the Provost by the
Faculty Senate Office.
The faculty
members complete their responses to the narrative portion on-line and the
Faculty Senate Office will provide all responses directly to the Dean and the
Provost. The questionnaire survey
is tabulated by the Office of Evaluations and Examinations (E&E) after the
response deadline. The tabulation of survey responses will be available on-line
for one year to the unit's faculty, the Dean, and the Provost's Office but
is confidential and will not be released outside the unit by the AAAC.
If any additional
follow-up instruments or processes are desired, it is the responsibility of the
unit's faculty.
Each Dean will be
evaluated in the winter semester of the third year of their five-year term and
in the year of a unit’s Formal Unit Review by the Provost. A unit's
faculty or Dean or the Provost can, at other times, trigger an evaluation and
the Faculty Senate Office will assist in compiling and distributing the
evaluation instrument. This
out-of-sequence review is triggered by request of the Dean, the Provost, or
through a petition request signed by at least 10 governing faculty in units
equal to or smaller than 100 governing faculty and by 10% or more governing
faculty in units larger than 100 governing faculty.
The Unit Review
Coordinators (URC) consist of two (three or more in the larger units) of the
unit's Senate Assembly members, and no more than one member (Dean or designate)
of the unit's administration.
E&E provides
a summary report of tabulated response frequencies for each item on the
questionnaire survey. Access to the
summary report will be provided on-line for one year for the unit’s faculty,
the Dean, and the Provost's Office.
The Faculty
Senate Office will maintain one copy of the tabulated responses from the survey
in a confidential file. These summaries will be preserved during the term of the
Dean or for a period of five years, whichever is longer, so the effectiveness
and consistency of the process can be evaluated.
As
a Faculty Member
The most
important element is full participation by all faculty members. Your careful and
objective response to all questionnaire items is extremely important. If you
want to be more involved you can contact your Senate Assembly members and offer
to assist them in developing the unit specific questions to help reflect the
concerns unique to your unit.
As
a Unit Review Coordinator
You will be contacted by AAAC or a Faculty Senate Office staff member regarding
the semester in which your Dean will be evaluated. The Dean may provide suggestions for items for both the
survey and the open-ended narrative questionnaire. In addition, the Dean may
prepare a cover letter to preface the evaluation. The most important element is
full participation by all faculty members. Please encourage all faculty members
to complete the questionnaire by the deadline.
November:
The Dean and Unit
Review Coordinators receive notification that the Dean's evaluation is scheduled
for the current academic year. A copy of the standard evaluation form is
provided and the Unit Review Coordinators, working jointly with the Dean, are
asked to develop from one to five unit specific questions. The Dean has the
opportunity to add an introductory statement to the evaluation.
December:
The Unit Review
Coordinator brings the evaluation process before the unit's faculty at a faculty
meeting for discussion.
January:
The Unit Review
Coordinator sends a copy of the revised questionnaire and the optional Dean's
statement to the Faculty Senate Office so that the survey can be prepared.
AAAC is notified of the progress of the evaluation process at each step.
February:
An email message,
with a link to the Dean's evaluation survey, is sent to all faculty of the
unit. Faculty members have 3-4 weeks in which to complete the survey.
March:
All survey
results are tabulated by E&E.
April:
The tabulation
summary (but not the narrative responses) will be available on-line for one year
to the unit's faculty, the Dean and the Provost's Office but are
confidential.