Procedures | Professional Oversight Committee | Charge of the Professional Oversight Committee | Professional Assessment Subcommittee | Duties of the Professional Assessment Subcommittee | Department Chairs | Teaching Assessment Guide | Scholarly Activity Guide | PAC Calendar 2000-2001 |

The Department of Teaching faculty is a unique professional group within the University community. The work of the faculty is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. Faculty efforts focus broadly across curricula as well as narrowly within disciplines. Consequently, the scholarly pursuits of the faculty are as diverse as the education profession itself, and at the same time, represent specific discipline limitations.

Faculty members should expect to be assessed in accordance with the university model of teaching/supervision, research/scholarly activity, and professional service. It should be noted that the professional activities of a faculty member in the Department of Teaching may be somewhat different from those of faculty members in other more traditional academic departments. The work of a faculty member may be conducted from the base of a particular discipline or from the base of an educational generalist focusing on curriculum, instruction, supervision, measurement, structure and administration or other subset areas.

Although assessment of a faculty member in the Department of Teaching shall be based on teaching/supervision, research/scholarly activity, and professional service, due consideration shall be given to the special assignment of each faculty member.

In this document, three groups shall be identified: the Professional Assessment Committee (PAC), the professional Assessment Oversight Committee, the temporary PAC Subcommittees.

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1. PAC Membership and Function
1. Membership
   The PAC shall consist of all tenured faculty members in the Department of Teaching except the department head, the director of Price Laboratory School, elementary and secondary principals, and the administrative associates.
2. Function
   The function of PAC is to provide assessment of the teaching/supervision, research/scholarly activity, and professional service of term appointees and of faculty members who are being considered for continued probation, tenure, promotion or termination. This assessment shall be conducted by the Professional Assessment Committee. The membership, election procedure, terms of members, officers, and charge to the PAC Oversight Committee are described in Section II.

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2. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee
   1. Membership
      The following representatives shall be elected to the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee:
   1. One faculty member from the Office of Student Field Experience division
   2. One elementary faculty member
   3. One secondary faculty member
   4. One faculty member whose responsibilities cross traditional elementary and secondary appointments
   5. One at-large member
   2. Terms
      Elections to the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall be for three years, with the terms staggered so that ordinarily no more than two members are elected each year.
   3. Elections
      Elections by secret ballot will be conducted each spring by the chair of the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee and the results will be reported to the entire PAC before the end of the school year. Nominations are made from the total PAC membership in each category. Nominees are elected by the total PAC membership.
   4. Officers
      The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee will meet before the end of each school year, after the results of the election are known, and will elect a chair from its members. The chair will be responsible for seeing that the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee's charge is fulfilled.

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   5. The Charge of the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee
   1. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee will oversee the assessment of faculty by the PAC at the request of the department head, or as required by university policy.
   2. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee will take those actions necessary to provide professional oversight for a valid assessment of the appropriate elements in each of the following categories:
   1. Teaching/Supervision
   1. Instruction in the Laboratory School student program (including coaching, directing or supervising student activities) or coordination of student teaching or other forms of supervision.
   2. Instruction, supervision, and advisement of university students (on-campus and off-campus, graduate and undergraduate, in the Department of Teaching or in other departments).
   3. Curriculum development associated with excellence in teaching and learning.
   4. Other activities (if requested by the department head or Professional Assessment Oversight Committee).

   2. Research/Scholarly Activity
   1. Presentations at professional meetings
   2. Innovation and experimentation
   3. Curriculum development
   4. Research activities: action, applied, experimental
   5. Writing and publication
   6. Other creative professional activities

   3. Professional Service
   1. Within the department, college, and university
   2. Offices and committees in professional associations, agencies, and organizations
   3. Consultative services to local, area, state, and national education agencies
   4. Professional services to education agencies and professional organizations
   5. Other notable professional contributions, services, and recognitions

   3. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee may nominate a member of the department for promotion and/or tenure. A department member may self nominate or be nominated by the department head. Any form of nomination must occur by the deadline set by the department head in conjunction with the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee, or by master contract stipulation.
   4. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall follow yearly deadlines which will be set jointly with the department head by September 30 of each year.
   5. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall have access to the following materials: the candidate's evaluation file, a current vita, university student assessments, and a summary of activities and accomplishments in teaching/supervision, university service, research and scholarly work, work with colleagues, and professional growth during the preceding twelve-month period. Those credentials which carry a legal statement of confidentiality are excluded. Confidential materials will be found in a special envelope in the file and recognized by the term "confidential," along with the faculty member's signature across this word. Previous reports will be accessible except for those stipulated "Confidential." (See #6.)
   6. The Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall have access to reports/student evaluations of classroom teaching/supervision, research/scholarly activity and professional service performance.
   7. The assessment letter from the Professional Assessment Subcommittee, along with a cover sheet representing the collective judgment of the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall be transmitted to the faculty member, the appropriate principal, the department head, the director, and the dean, and shall be entered in the evaluation file prior to winter break. Minority letters from members of the Oversight Committee or the Subcommittee may also be included.

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3. Professional Assessment Subcommittee
1. Rationale for the Subcommittee
   In circumstances that require a large amount of concentrated time to be spent in assessing an individual, the chair of the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee shall be empowered to appoint a Subcommittee to assess the individual.
2. Composition of the PAC Subcommittee
   A PAC Subcommittee shall consist of two or three members of the Professional Assessment Committee appointed by the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee chair with the approval of the other members of the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee. One of the three PAC Subcommittee members shall be nominated by the person to be assessed and when possible shall include a faculty member with a similar assignment.

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3. Duties of the PAC Subcommittee
   
   1. The PAC Subcommittee, like the PAC Oversight Committee shall have access to those materials established in II.E.5 above (the candidate's evaluation file, a current vita, university student assessments, and a summary of activities and accomplishments in teaching/supervision, university service, research and scholarly work, work with colleagues, and professional growth during the preceding twelve-month period) for the expressed purpose of writing and submitting a report of the teaching/supervision, research/scholarly activity and professional service of the assessee.
   2. The PAC Subcommittee will visit the location of the professional assignment of the individual being considered and in appropriate ways assess the work of the individual.
   3. The PAC Subcommittee will review the candidate's evaluation file, a current vita, university student assessments, and a summary of activities and accomplishments in teaching/supervision, university service, research and scholarly work, work with colleagues, and professional growth during the preceding twelve-month period. They will collect current information from the individual and submit a written report to the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee which will assess the completeness and appropriateness of the report.
   4. The written report, along with any concurring or minority report(s) from members of the PAC shall be transmitted by the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee to the faculty member, the appropriate principal, the department head, and the dean, and shall be entered in the evaluation file prior to winter break. The final version of the report will be sent to the department head, with copies sent to the faculty member, the PAC Oversight Committee chair, to either or both school principals, and to the director of the Laboratory School as appropriate.

4. Inservice for the Subcommittee
   At the beginning of each school year, the Professional Assessment Oversight Committee will meet with the PAC to provide inservice and discussion time on the PAC Assessment Procedures. The entire faculty may be invited to attend the meeting.

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4. Department Chairs
   

   Secondary and elementary chairs may be asked by the Department ofTeaching Head or Professional Assessment Oversight Committee to assess the performance of faculty members in their respective departments.