CU-Boulder Boulder Faculty Assembly Administrative Appraisal Program

Technical Support by Planning, Budget and Analysis

Overview of Policies and Processing

From BFA bylaws, section 10:

Administrator Appraisal Committee

Composition

  • The committee shall consist of five (5) members. The membership may not be comprised with one college/school. The members of the standing committee shall be elected by the Boulder faculty for staggered three-year terms. There shall be no more than three (3) members from any one school or college. One (1) of those five (5) members should be a BFA member. Any members who miss more than two (2) meetings shall be subject to replacement.
Functions
  • The committee shall:
    • oversee the evaluation of administrators during each spring semester;

    • update or modify the evaluation questions and procedures in accordance with the faculty and evaluees' feedback, and keep current the list of administrator evaluees;

    • assist the BFA Executive Committee in developing a report to the faculty and monitor the effect of the appraisal on the administration.

Committee policies, reviewed and approved April 1997 except as noted.

Timeline

  • Evaluations shall be collected annually at the start of the spring term, with results released in March or April.

Positions evaluated

  • Campus-wide: chancellor; vice chancellor and associate and assistant vice chancellors for academic affairs; dean and associate dean of the graduate school; dean of libraries
  • System-wide: president; vice president for academic affairs
  • Schools, colleges, and libraries: deans; associate and assistant deans; associate directors of libraries. Evaluated only by raters in the unit.
  • All positions are evaluated every year, with these exceptions:
    • if the position is vacant

    • by vote of the committee

    • if occupied by an acting administrator

    • in an administrator's first year in the position; exclusion in this case is by that individual's request (policy adopted 1996)

  • Positions are evaluated even if it is the administrator's known last year in the position
  • When an administrator has moved from one evaluated position to another within six months of the evaluation, the committee, in consultation with that individual, will determine in which position(s) (if any) the individual will be evaluated.
  • The chancellor shall be given the opportunity to review the list of positions and administrators to be evaluated each year. However, final authority for the list lies with the committee.
  • The College of Architecture and Planning (A&P) is part of the University of Colorado at Denver, but A&P undergraduate students are Boulder campus students, some A&P faculty are housed on the Boulder campus, and the A&P dean is part of the UCB Council of Deans. Accordingly, the BFA voted unanimously March 16, 1998 to include the A&P dean in the AAP.

Eligible raters

  • Individuals considered BFA members, except administrators who are being evaluated. Total 1200 to 1300 each year. Policy revised 12/2/97; text clarified 2/98.

    Eligible job titles

    • Regular faculty (job titles "professor," "associate professor," "assistant professor,"), including those in Museum and ROTC, including research faculty.

    • All senior instructors plus instructors with two or more years service (i.e., with starting appointment dates at least 2 years prior to September of the academic year in question)
    • Adjoint professors and associate professors; assistant, associate, and full attendant professors.

    • Directors of research institutes.

    • College of Architecture and Planning faculty based on the Boulder campus.

Notes

  • Adjunct; assistant and associate adjoint; visiting; lecturer; honorarium part-time; and clinical appointments do not meet the eligibility criteria.

  • Administrators who are themselves being evaluated are excluded. This eliminates the chance of self ratings. The committee considers all these individuals to have alternative means of expressing their opinions about any other administrator.

  • The rules correspond to rules for membership in the faculty senate except in the addition of institute directors.

  • The committee may make exceptions to these rules on a case by case basis in extraordinary circumstances.

  • Final authority for determining eligibility of raters lies with the committee.

What's provided to raters

  • A letter of invitation and instructions

  • A description of the program and policies, and of changes from the prior cycle

  • The name, position, and position description of each administrator to be evaluated

  • An opportunity to rate each administrator separately on each question

  • An opportunity to make comments on each administrator

  • An envelope for returning the ratings and comments

Position descriptions

  • PBA shall offer administrators the opportunity to review and revise on-file position descriptions annually

  • The highest-ranking administrator in each college, the library, the graduate school, academic affairs, the campus, and central administration shall have the opportunity to review and revise annually, descriptions of all positions in their units.

  • The committee shall resolve any differences between descriptions provided by the units and by the administrators themselves.

  • Administrators in positions with descriptions on file who do not send revised descriptions in subsequent years will not be contacted after the mailing.

Information collected from raters

  • An indication of familiarity with the administrator's performance in the position

  • Ratings on performance on selected dimensions and on one overall summary item. Ratings are generally made on an A-F "grade" scale.
  • Comments on each administrator.

  • Raters are not asked to identify themselves by name, rank, department, or any other means. Mailing labels on the envelopes are designed to peel off so that they cannot be used to identify raters.

Collection methods

  • Packets are sent by campus mail to all raters the same day

  • Requests to PBA or the committee for additional packets will be handled as follows:
    • If PBA determines that the individual is eligible and was not included in the general mailing, PBA will send a packet immediately.

    • If PBA determines that the individual is eligible and was sent a packet, PBA will send a duplicate packet only on receipt of written or e-mail confirmation from the rater or department/unit that the original packet was lost, discarded, or never received.

    • If PBA determines that the individual(s) are not normally eligible, the individual and the committee will be informed.

  • The letter to raters cites a deadline for return, which is one month after mail-out.

  • Raters are asked to send their ratings and comments to PBA via campus mail.

  • A reminder notice is published in the Silver and Gold two weeks after mail out.

  • Ratings and comments received more than 5 days after the published deadline are not processed.

Processing ratings and comments

  • Ratings will be scanned electronically and processed by PBA using standard statistical procedures.

  • All narrative comments are transcribed. They are not edited in any way, even to remove any rater self-identification. The form and letter to raters clearly state that transcribed comments will go directly to the administrator.

  • Comments will be handled only by PBA and scanning staff who can be relied upon to maintain confidentiality.

  • Rating forms and comments from one evaluation cycle will be kept by PBA for one year, then discarded.

Release of results

  • No results are released for administrators rated by fewer than five raters.

  • Summary-item averages and distributions for each administrator, plus response rates and selected highlight results, are posted to the Web and released to any newspapers for the Boulder campus only.

  • Faculty are notified of publication date and location.

  • At least one day prior to public release
    • Administrators receive their averages and distributions on each item, the public summary, some comparative information, and all transcribed comments.

    • Supervisors (deans for all associate and assistant deans) receive results for all administrators reporting to them, minus the comments.

    • The Web posting and packets for administrators and supervisors are reviewed by the committee and by the BFA chair prior to release.

    • Packets for administrators and supervisors all are hand delivered within a two hour period to ensure timeliness. The committee and/or BFA chair will deliver the president's and the chancellor's packets personally to them at least two days prior to this time.

  • Results are released as soon as analysis and review are complete, in March or April.

  • All ratings will be made public on request and may be posted on the Web.

  • Comments will be released only to the administrator to whom they refer.

Planning, Budget and Analysis' role

  • Implement committee decisions

  • Notify chancellor of policy changes and administrator list

  • Maintain list of positions to be evaluated; gather information on and from administrators

  • Revise, order, print, and distribute forms

  • Handle returned forms and arrange scanning and transcription

  • Maintain security of returned forms

  • Analyze and publish results

  • Advise the committee on psychometric and logistical issues

  • Maintain program policies

  • Consult with the committee on policy issues

  • Maintain the AAP continuing budget ($5,075 in 98-99), used for up to $3,000 in annual direct expenses (forms and other materials, printing, delivery, scanning, etc.) plus PBA staff time.

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jm -- l:\www\aap\policy.htm was last updated 6/25/99