A second edition of Nancy Chism’s Peer Review of Teaching is, in my opinion, the definitive resource on peer review. Besides providing excellent summaries of relevant research and translating those findings into concrete guidelines, the book is packed with resources including checklists, review questions, and instruments relevant to the assessment of multiple aspects of teaching from course materials to classroom instruction (be it in a lab, studio, clinical setting, or online) to advising to course and teaching portfolios.

If you’re on a semester calendar, this academic year is winding down. As courses come to a close, it’s time for those end-of-course ratings which many of us administer with some cynicism.

Department chairs and deans face many challenges in their roles. One of the most difficult is the evaluation of faculty regarding teaching effectiveness. This is particularly challenging for two reasons: (1) lack of formal preparation for instructors concerning teaching, and (2) limited choice of evaluation tools. One tool, classroom observation, can help address both of these issues and provide an objective measure of teaching effectiveness.

Personnel review binders used for retention, promotion, and tenure decisions may go the way of the typewriter as electronic portfolio systems continue to gain ground as effective, paperless solutions. For the past three years, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse used electronic faculty portfolios for all retention, promotion, and instructional academic staff rehiring decisions. The web-based system has not only simplified the process for faculty, but committee members find the system more convenient and efficient.

If evaluation sounds good in theory but feels bad in practice, it may be that you or others are operating under some common misconceptions.

Hiring, promotion, and tenure activities are full of risk and potential landmines. Poor hiring decisions are not only costly, but the hiring process itself opens the institution up to litigation if everyone on the hiring committee is not trained properly.

Unless they have a real problem with how the course was run, most students fill out end-of-course evaluations so quickly there's often very little valuable information in them. Here are two ways that Wayne Hall, psychology professor at San Jacinto College in Texas, elicits helpful feedback on his courses:

I had an email last week asking if I’d recommend sharing “really bad” rating results with students. The note came in response to last week’s blog post, which identified several benefits gained from sharing and discussing rating feedback with students.

What obligations do faculty members have to their institutions beyond their disciplines and departments? It’s a question that is sure to get a lot of play as higher education institutions deal with the pressures brought about by increased scrutiny from outside constituents and other factors such as changing student demographics and a shift from a faculty-focused to a learner-focused orientation.