Reviewers' Notebook: The Computer Science Curriculum: Faculty Expectations

From CSWiki

The College reviews faculty regularly for matters of retaining, promoting, and meriting faculty. Pre-tenure faculty are typically reviewed in their second year (Interim Review, for contract renewal), in their third year (Complete Review, for contract renewal and to judge trajectory toward tenure), and in their sixth year (Tenure Review, for promotion and tenure). After tenure, faculty are reviewed every three years to determine a merit score which is used in calculating raises. A Faculty Budget Committee assigns merit scores to post-tenure faculty (and non-tenure-track faculty after their sixth year). The Personnel Committee assigns merit scores to pre-tenure faculty.

At each stage of review, teaching is the primary consideration, followed by scholarship, followed by service. For merit evaluations, recent Faculty Budget Committees have assigned a weight of 50% to teaching, 30% to scholarship, and 20% to service. The Personnel committee uses similar weights, although it typically takes a more holistic approach.

Teaching is clearly the most important factor for tenure: Grinnell would be unlikely to tenure a stellar scholar who was a mediocre teacher. Grinnell evaluates teaching for Complete and Tenure reviews in a number of ways. Senior faculty visit a week's worth of classes and review course materials. A Student Education Policy Committee (SEPC) interviews all majors and provides a summary of student experiences. The Dean's office surveys a random sampling of 72 alumni who have taken courses from the faculty member under review. The institution also collects standard end-of-course evaluations, which have both quantitative and narrative components. Finally, each faculty member under review is asked to write a short statement about teaching.

Grinnell's scholarly expectations are appropriate for a top liberal arts college that prioritizes teaching: In order to obtain tenure, one or two strong peer-reviewed pieces often suffice. (The majority of candidates for tenure far exceed those scholarly expectations.) For tenure and promotion reviews, Grinnell sends two pieces of scholarly work and associated documentation (e.g., CV, research statement) to external reviewers.

All Grinnell faculty are expected to be active in service to the institution. (The number of committees is similar to the number of faculty.) Most faculty will have served on a major committee prior to tenure.