Department
of Fine Arts
Governance Document
Adopted April 27, 1995
Table of
Contents
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Visual Arts is a collegial body represented by its chair.
All departmental bylaws, policies, procedures, and decisions are formulated
by a consensus or by the vote of the full time faculty members subject
to the dictates of campus and Indiana University policy and procedures.
The department expects full participation in all matters that pertain
directly to the departmental academic mission.
All reappointment recommendations, tenure recommendations, and faculty
evaluations made by the chair shall be communicated to the faculty member
two working days before being forwarded to the Dean in order to permit
discussions or preparation of a statement to be appended when deemed necessary.
Reappointment decisions regarding associate faculty shall come before
the full time faculty before being finalized.
The material that follows is based on department and other university
legislation and on current Visual Art practice.
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1 GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
1.1 Executive Structure
1.1.1 Upon the recommendation of the department's faculty (see policy),
the chair is (re)appointed biennially by the Dean of College of Visual and
Performing Arts
1.1.2 Assistant chair (re)appointed annually by the chair.
1.1.3 Coordinator of Foundations, (re)appointed annually.
1.1.4 Coordinator of Two Dimensional Studies, (re)appointed annually.
1.1.5 Coordinator of Three Dimensional Studies, (re)appointed annually.
1.1.6 Coordinator of Commercial Art Studies, (re)appointed annually.
1.1.7 Coordinator of Art History and Associated Studies, (re)appointed
annually.
1.1.8 Coordinator of Senior Project, (re)appointed annually.
1.2 Standing Committees
With the exception of the Committee on Committees and the Promotion/Tenure/Sabbatical
Leaves Committee, standing committees are appointed by the chair on the
recommendation of the Committee on Committees. Committee assignments are
rotated regularly, with attention given to faculty preferences and the
need to represent the department's diverse interests and composition. Unless
otherwise indicated, the chairs of standing committees are elected by the
committee members at their organizational meeting.
Committees report their actions to the department and the department
chair on a timely basis. In addition, committees also provide the chair
with a brief summary of their activities and actions during the year for
distribution to the faculty at the end of the spring semester.
1.2.1 Committee on Committees: Consists of three faculty members
(excluding visiting and non-tenure-track faculty) elected for one-year
terms by secret ballot, the terms to run from 1 July to 30 June, with elections
to be held before 15 April. The department chair is an ex-officio
member without vote. The chair of the committee is the one receiving the
most votes; in the case of a tie, a coin flip decides.
The Committee on Committees canvasses the faculty for committee
preferences, holds meetings for faculty comments if it wishes, but ultimately
exercises its best judgment on committee assignments. It then advises the
department chair on the recommended committee structure of the department
and committee membership, based on the principles of faculty interest and
rotation.
1.2.2 Promotion/Tenure/Sabbatical Leave Committee: Consists of all tenured
resident faculty except the department chair and faculty under consideration
for promotion, tenure, or sabbatical leave during the current year.
1.2.3 Faculty Review Committee: Consists of all full-time faculty members
(excluding the department chair and visiting and nontenure-track faculty).
This committee advises the department and the department chair concerning
faculty matters not subject to review by other standing committees. It
conducts annual reviews of all nontenured, tenure-track faculty and voluntary
reviews of tenured faculty. It also makes recommendations to the chair
concerning the reappointment of untenured faculty. In addition, the committee
receives grievances from members of the department and establishes a grievance
board as provided by department policy.
The department chair may, if mutually acceptable, meet with the committee
for exchange of views and information, but the chair may not participate
in its work--specifically, may not vote, assist in the drafting of recommendations
in individual cases, or argue cases before the committee.
1.2.4 Coordinating Committee: Consists of the chair of the Faculty Review
Committee, the chair of the Committee on Committees, and the chair of the
department, who also serves as committee chair.
This committee coordinates committee activity within the department
and advises the department concerning jurisdictional matters involving
committees and the department. It serves, if needed, as mediator during
the preparation of proposed schedules of classes.
1.2.5 External Affairs Committee: Consists of at least three faculty
members and one student (recommended by the committee). This committee
plans and supervises presentations by visiting artists or speakers, social
events for Visual Art students, prizes and awards to students, and matters
relating to alumni and development. This committee recommends allocation
and dispersement of annual departmental travel funds.
1.2.6 Library Committee: Consists of at least three faculty members.
This committee develops recommendations to and administers policies adopted
by the department's faculty relative to the allocation of library funds.
When necessary, it functions as a liaison between the department and the
library.
1.2.7 Effective Teaching Committee: Consists of at least three faculty
members. This committee develops, recommends, and administers methods to
assess teaching and program effectiveness and student learning. When deemed
necessary it recommends peer reviews of teaching according to guidelines
adopted by the department.
1.2.8 Grade Appeals Committee: Consists of three regular faculty. This
committee reviews student grade appeals and makes recommendations to the
appellant, the instructor, the chair of the department, and the dean of
students.
1.3 Ad Hoc Committees
In consultation with the Committee on Committees, the chair establishes
ad hoc committees when he/she or the department believe them necessary
or useful.
By tradition, separate search and screen committees are appointed for
each full-time position the department has been authorized to fill. These
committees are composed of no fewer than three and no more than five full-time
faculty. Membership is generally representative of the department as a
whole. Search and screen committees assist the chair in publicizing the
job opening, screen applicants to determine those who will be brought on
campus for interviews, supervise the interview process, solicit faculty
responses, and provide the chair with a prioritized list of candidates.
If mutually agreeable, the chair may participate in the deliberations of
the committee.
1.4 Procedures
for Appointment of Department Chair
The Committee on Committees initiates the following procedures in the
third week in October of the academic year at the end of which the department
chair's two year term expires, or at the resignation of the Chair.
1.4.1 Reappointment of Incumbent Chair
1.4.1.1 The committee obtains a statement indicating the incumbent's
willingness to serve for another term.
1.4.1.2 If the incumbent indicates willingness to serve, the
committee circulates his/her statement to the full-time faculty along with
a mail ballot on the question, containing the simple alternatives YES and
NO.
1.4.1.3 If a simple majority of those eligible to vote, vote
to reappoint the incumbent, the committee informs the dean of the School
of Visual and Performing Arts that the department recommends the incumbent's
reappointment.
1.4.1.4 If the person recommended is unacceptable to the administration,
the committee initiates the procedures below for appointment of a new chair.
1.4.2 Appointment of a New Chair
1.4.2.1 The Committee on Committees implements these procedures
if (1)_the incumbent chair succumbs, resigns, or is unwilling to serve
an additional term; (2) the incumbent's reappointment is not recommended
by a simple majority of the department; or (3) the reappointment of the
incumbent is denied by the dean.
1.4.2.2 The committee asks the members of the full-time faculty if
they are willing to serve as chair.
1.4.2.3 Having established a list of those willing to serve as chair,
the committee prepares a mail ballot on which each full-time faculty member
has the opportunity to nominate up to three names from the list.
1.4.2.4 The final candidates for chair are the larger of the
following two groups: the three persons receiving the most nominations
or all persons receiving nominations from one-third of those faculty voting.
1.4.2.5 The committee arranges an interview with each final candidate
at a time and place convenient to the faculty.
1.4.2.6 Using mail ballots, the committee conducts such elections
(including run-offs) as result in one candidate's receiving a majority
of the votes of those eligible to vote. Ballots shall include the option
"None of the Above."
1.4.2.7 The committee forwards the name of this candidate to
the dean.
1.4.2.8 If the administration finds this candidate unacceptable,
steps 6 and 7 are reiterated with this candidate's name eliminated.
1.4.2.9 If this process fails to settle upon a final choice acceptable
to the department and the administration, the committee shall recommend
to the dean that an outside search be conducted.
1.4.3 Outside Search for Department Chair
1.4.3.1 If permission is granted for an outside search, the Committee
on Committees conducts an election for a five-member Search and Screen
Committee.
1.4.3.2 The Search and Screen Committee follows established procedures
for appointments to faculty positions, being especially careful to make
the interview process open and convenient.
1.5 Department Meetings
1.5.1 Meetings are called by the chair on a regular basis and on special
occasions when required.
1.5.2 The agenda is prepared by the chair on the basis of carry-over
business and new business. Any faculty member may request that any matter
be put on the agenda, although more commonly business comes to the department
from standing or ad hoc committees. The agenda is distributed approximately
a week prior to the meeting.
1.5.3 Meetings are structured by adherence to Robert's Rules of
Order, Newly Revised article V. Debate and Decorum 34-37.
1.5.4 Meetings require as a quorum the presence of a simple majority
of full-time resident faculty members. If faculty members on leave attend
the meeting, the quorum requirement is adjusted to include them.
1.5.5 Minutes of meetings (announcements and acts) are taken and distributed
prior to the next meeting, where they may be corrected or amended.
1.5.6 Meetings are open to associate faculty, but only full-time faculty
may vote. (See Faculty Governance Document for specific voting privileges.)
1.5.7 In meetings, a decision is made by a simple majority of those
voting. The chair votes only to break or make a tie. This decision is final
unless three full-time faculty members request, at that time, that
a mail ballot be conducted.
1.5.8 Mail balloting is conducted by the Committee on Committees. The
committee prepares a ballot stating the proposition in full and containing
the options YES or NO. Ballots are signed or submitted in signed envelopes.
The committee gives ample time for faculty members, including, if feasible,
those on leave, to vote. It then publishes the results. A decision is made
by simple majority of those voting. This decision is final, unless at a
subsequent meeting a two-thirds majority vote to take the matter up again.
1.5.9 Meetings normally adjourn seventy-five minutes after the scheduled
beginning time, unless a two-thirds majority vote to continue.
1.6 Faculty Governance Roles
1.6.1 Definitions
1.6.1.1 Resident Faculty: All persons holding full-time teaching
or research appointments in the Department of Visual Arts, who have either
permanent tenure or expectation of renewed appointment leading to permanent
tenure, who are not on extended unpaid or medical leave of absence, and
who are not retired from active service.
1.6.1.2 Emeritus Faculty: All persons holding emeritus appointments
in the Department of Visual Art.
1.6.1.3 Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: All persons holding full-time
teaching or research appointments in the Department of Visual Art, of whatever
academic rank, including Visiting Faculty, who do not have permanent tenure
or expectation of renewed appointment leading to permanent tenure.
1.6.1.4 Associate Faculty: All persons, including Associate
Instructors, holding part-time teaching, research, or professional service
appointments in the Department of Visual Art.
1.6.2 Governance Roles
1.6.2.1 Resident Faculty shall have full rights and responsibilities
of governance, including but not limited to voting in any elections conducted
by the department, and eligibility to serve on all department committees.
1.6.2.2 The governance rights of Emeritus Faculty shall be limited
to attendance at and speaking in department meetings.
1.6.2.3 The governance rights of Non-Tenure-Track and Visiting Faculty
shall be identical to those of Resident Faculty, except that Non-Tenure-Track
and Visiting Faculty shall not serve on the Committee on Committees or
the Faculty Review Committee.
1.6.2.4 The governance rights of Associate Faculty shall be limited
to attendance at department meetings, eligibility to serve on any subsidiary
committees dealing with the art program, and to addressing the department
meeting by arrangement with the presiding officer.
1.6.2.5 Persons on Leave
Resident Faculty on sabbatical leave, and on unpaid or medical leave
of not more than one academic year, shall not have their governance rights
abridged. Resident faculty on any other types of leave, definite or indefinite,
shall have the governance rights of Emeritus Faculty and Administrators.
1.6.2.6 Change in Status
For the purpose of determining an individual's governance rights, changes
in status from one category of faculty to another, except those due to
resignation or other termination, shall become effective at the conclusion
of the semester prior to the one in which the new terms of appointment
become effective. In cases of resignation or other termination, changes
in status shall become effective on the actual date of termination.
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2 FACULTY REVIEW
2.1 Tenure and Promotion
Criteria
(Research Appointments)
Candidates are referred to the current Indiana University Academic
Handbook, the Academic Vice Chancellor's Memorandum on Tenure and Promotion
Procedures, and relevant Indiana University Faculty Council, Fort Wayne
Senate, and School documents.
Candidates for tenure and promotion are evaluated in three areas of
professional competence: research, teaching, and service. It is recognized
that these areas overlap. Research is a prerequisite of effective teaching
and may also underlie service to the university, community, or profession.
Similarly, course preparation may lead to or support scholarly or creative
activity. Hence, the three areas of evaluation do not imply three discrete
modes of endeavor, but rather the possibilities of emphasis within a candidate's
total performance.
2.1.1 Candidates for tenure must demonstrate competence in all three
areas. Candidates for promotion must excel in at least one of the three
and demonstrate competence in the others. While tenure and promotion decisions
are based on many of the same criteria, there is a significant difference
in the import of the two decisions. A recommendation for promotion acknowledges
the candidate's particular excellence and general competence; a recommendation
for tenure entails the department's trust in the continuity of the candidate's
competence and belief in his or her potential for development.
Tenure decisions are normally made in the candidate's sixth year of
probationary service. In cases of unusual distinction, a candidate may
be considered for tenure in an earlier year. Normally, a candidate will
be considered for promotion no earlier than the fourth year in rank.
2.1.2 Research includes both creative and scholarly activities. Creative
works include works of art, creative commissions, and any such statements
of creative endeavor. Scholarly publications include books, essays, notes,
review articles, editions, and papers delivered before professional organizations.
Quality and quantity are both factors in the evaluation of research, but
quality is the more important. Research should demonstrate a candidate's
concerns as a professor of Visual Art. Scholarly work should be useful to
other members of the profession, either in making available important materials
or in making an original contribution to Visual Art. Evidence of quality
includes the standing of the gallery, competitions, exhibitions, or journals
or presses that publish, reproduce, or review the candidate's work or the
judgment of evaluators distinguished in the candidate's field of creative
or scholarly activity.
2.1.2.1 Competence in research is most readily demonstrated by the
quality of work created, published or accepted for publication and by evidence
of the candidate's commitment to an ongoing and promising program of research.
2.1.2.2 Excellence in research entails the completion and publication
(or acceptance for publication) of a major project. Acceptance into major
juried exhibitions (as defined in Department P&T Document). The work
should have been completed in rank--that is, the minimum requirement for
promotion to professor on the basis of research would be the requirements
for competence plus those for excellence. In addition, evidence of the
candidate's standing in the profession would further substantiate the case
for promotion. Such evidence might include reviews of the candidate's writing
or a record of service to the profession linked to his or her scholarly
or creative achievement.
2.1.3 Teaching is admittedly difficult to evaluate. Evidence of
successful teaching is either second-hand or derived under circumstances--peer
review, in-class student ratings--that may themselves color the evaluation.
Hence, it is important that the candidate's teaching be assessed by several
different methods. These may include student evaluations (administered
in class or subsequently); peer reviews; syllabi, examinations, and other
classroom materials; the record of new course preparations, contributions
to curriculum development, publications concerning preparation of instructional
media, experimentation in instructional methods, or assessment of student
learning and accomplishments.
2.1.3.1 Competence in teaching means effective teaching. The measure
of an effective teacher is what his or her students learn and what they
are inspired to go on to learn. Such an instructor establishes an intellectual
rapport with students. He or she both conveys information to them and awakens
their desire for further knowledge. An effective teacher is engaged in
an ongoing study of the subject matter and the teaching methods appropriate
to it. This study may evidence itself in pedagogical or curricular development
or in a general enrichment of student learning.
2.1.3.2 Excellence in teaching means highly effective teaching. By
definition, only teachers markedly above the standard of competence could
qualify for this designation. Evidence of excellence in teaching might
include documented research concerning instructional media and methods.
As a criterion of promotion to professor, excellence in teaching should
have been demonstrated over an extended period.
2.1.4 Service to the department and university includes participation
in committee and nonteaching functions such as student advising or program
administration. Service to the community refers to activities in which
the candidate is a representative of the university. Service to the profession
includes holding office in professional bodies, organizing conferences
or sessions, writing short reviews, refereeing books or articles, reviewing
promotion or tenure cases for other institutions, editing journals, and
engaging in comparable activities. It is unlikely that promotion would
be based on excellence in this area.
2.1.4.1 Competence in service entails working constructively with one's
colleagues and the timely, intelligent performance of assigned responsibilities.
2.1.4.2 Excellence in service entails extraordinary, significant expenditure
of time, effort, and initiative, rendering the achievement of excellence
in research or teaching difficult. Such service would normally involve
campus, university, community, or extra-university professional activities.
2.2 Tenure and Promotion
Procedures
Faculty who intend to be considered for promotion and/or tenure will
be asked to notify the department chair in March of the academic year before
their cases will be considered, in order that arrangements can be made
for outside evaluation. (See Outside Review of Promotion and Tenure Cases,
below.)
Promotion and tenure cases follow the outline prescribed by the current
Vice
Chancellor's Memorandum on Promotion and Tenure Case Format. A faculty
member preparing a promotion or tenure case should work closely with the
department chair or another designated senior faculty member to insure
that the case conforms to the standards expected by campus committees and
administrators. Consideration of cases begins at the beginning of the fall
semester, so the case should be completed no later than the last week in
August.
Cases for promotion and tenure pass through the following decision levels:
-
The Visual Arts Promotion/Tenure/Sabbatical Leave Committee
-
The Chair of Visual Art Department
-
The College of Visual and Performing Arts promotion and tenure committee
-
The Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts
-
The campus promotion and tenure committee
-
The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
-
The Chancellor of IPFW, who forwards his or her recommendation to the president
of Indiana or Purdue University for submission to the trustees.
The Chair's evaluation of a candidate for promotion or tenure must include
all annual evaluations of the candidate (if the candidate has not included
them in the case), along with responses to them, should such exist, since
the last promotion or, in tenure cases, since the initial appointment to
a tenure-track position.
Campus decisions on promotion and tenure are made near the end of the
fall semester in December.
2.3 Outside Review of Promotion
and Tenure Cases
By presidential mandate, tenure and promotion cases for Indiana University
faculty must include appraisals by six outside evaluators.
Outside evaluators are people not affiliated with IPFW. If outside evaluators
hold university rank, it should be at or above that sought by the candidate;
naturally, all evaluators should possess credentials appropriate for assessing
the candidate. Normally, this assessment will be limited to the candidate's
research or creative endeavor.
Because of the time required to solicit and receive outside evaluations,
the process must begin in the spring preceding the academic year in which
the tenure or promotion case will be reviewed. In March, the department
chair will request faculty to indicate their intention to be considered
for promotion or tenure in the following September. Those who do so will
be asked to provide a list of at least six potential evaluators. This list
should include the names, titles, and addresses of the evaluators, along
with a brief description of their credentials. If the candidate has had
a personal or professional relationship with anyone on his or her list
(e.g., roommate in college, thesis advisor, collaborator on research project),
that should also be indicated.
The chair will prepare a similar list of potential evaluators, from
which the candidate will be given the opportunity to strike up to three
names if he or she wishes. The candidate will also indicate if he or she
has had a personal relationship with any of these potential evaluators.
The chair will then prepare a third list composed of names from the first
two lists, including no more than two evaluators who have had close relationships
with the candidate. These will then be asked if they are willing to serve
as outside evaluators of the candidate's credentials. If fewer than six
agree to do so, the candidate and chair will follow a procedure similar
to that outlined above to develop a list of additional potential evaluators.
Those who agree to evaluate a candidate's case will be sent a packet
of materials prepared by the candidate in consultation with the chair.
This packet will contain the department's promotion and tenure criteria,
the candidate's curriculum vitae, and a sample of the candidate's research.
If unpublished or unreviewed material is a component in the candidate's
case, it should be represented in the sample. Candidates should be aware
that, by school policy, unpublished or published but unrefereed research
must be evaluated by outside reviewers if it is to be considered an element
of a tenure case.
The candidate will receive a sample of the letter inviting the evaluations,
the names of those supplying evaluations, and their responses, with indications
of authorship deleted. These should be included in the promotion or tenure
case.
Copies of the letters of evaluation will be forwarded to the dean.
2.4 Annual Review and Salary Increment
Recommendation
2.4.1 Each full-time faculty member submits an annual report in January,
describing his or her accomplishments during the previous calendar year.
(See "Materials for Annual Report" below for a description.) Materials
submitted with the report (copies of research, course syllabi, etc.) are
returned to the faculty member. The report itself is kept on file and used
as a basis for faculty reviews and for the department's own annual report.
Nota bene: The annual report and ancillary materials correspond roughly
in format and content to tenure and promotion cases, and to the bases for
reappointment recommendations for nontenured faculty. Maintaining a personal
file of annual reports makes preparing a tenure or promotion case relatively
simple.
2.4.2 All nontenured full-time faculty are reviewed annually (normally,
in February) by the Faculty Review Committee. Tenured faculty upon their
request are reviewed by the committee. Copies of these reviews are sent
to the faculty member and to the department chair.
After the committee completes its reviews, the department chair writes
an annual review of each full-time faculty member who holds a continuing
appointment. Copies of this review are supplied to the faculty member;
a copy is also sent, along with the Faculty Review Committee's reviews,
to the dean.
2.4.3 Salary increment recommendations originate with the chair late
in the spring semester. They do not become official until approved at all
higher administrative levels, including the board of trustees. Faculty
usually receive formal notification of their salary for the next academic
year in June.
Increment recommendations are based on merit in research, teaching,
and service as reflected in the faculty member's annual report. Gender
inequity and salary compression are also grounds for recommending special
increments.
2.5 Materials for Annual
Report
Your annual report should provide sufficient material to enable
the department chair and, if required, the Faculty Review Committee to
make an informed evaluation of your activities in research, teaching, and
service for the previous year.
Annual reports are due in January, no later than a deadline specified
by the department chair.
Reports should conform to the following outline.
2.5.1 Creative Works
2.5.1.1 Works Created
a. Title, medium, size, date completed.
2.5.1.2 Works Exhibited
a. Title of exhibit, type (group or solo, juried or open, invitational),
gallery, number of works, sponsor, location, date.
2.5.1.3 Commissions
a. Title, size, media, commissioner, location, date.
2.5.1.4 Works Reviewed
a. Title, author, publication, volume number, pages, date.
2.5.1.5 Works reproduced
a. Publication, page, date.
2.5.1.6 Awards for research
2.5.1.7 Other Scholarly Activity
a. Description, location, date.
2.5.2 Scholarly Works
2.5.2.1 Books
a. Title, publisher, city, date, number of pages.
2.5.2.2 Articles (by faculty, not about faculty)
a. Title, publication, volume, number, date,page.
2.5.2.3 Papers
a. Title, sponsoring organization or association, location, publication,
pages.
2.5.3 Courses Taught: List courses taught by academic session, with
full title, subtitle (if any), and enrollment. Use an asterisk to designate
courses you taught for the first time at IPFW during the past year. If
on sabbatical or other leave during the period, so indicate.
2.5.4 Teaching
2.5.4.1 New programs, curricula, courses: This refers to programs,
etc., new to IPFW for the development of which you are solely or in part
responsible.
2.5.4.2 Instructional development: List activities that have led
to the improvement of your own or your colleagues' teaching. Do not include
routine activities associated with preparing to teach a course.
2.5.4.3 Continuing education and other outreach: List courses taught,
programs participated in.
2.5.4.4 Student research: List student research projects of special
merit with which you had a part. Include any projects that result in grants,
papers, or publications.
2.5.4.5 Instructional grants
2.5.4.6 Awards or honors for teaching
2.5.4.7 Other
2.5.5 Service
2.5.5.1 University service: If chair of a committee, so indicate;
otherwise only committee membership is assumed.
a. System level
b. IPFW level
c. School level
d. Department level
e. Student counseling and advising
f. Alumni activities
g. Other
2.5.5.2 Professional service
a. Offices held in professional organizations: Include duties at
conferences, etc., appropriately designated "professional service."
b. Journal editing: Include acting as an outside reader of manuscripts.
c. Reviews of publications or creative works: Refers to published
reviews.
d. Reviews of grant proposals
e. Evaluations of promotion or tenure cases for other universities.
f. Jurying exhibitions
g. Curating shows or exhibitions
h. Other
2.5.5.3 Public service: Include only service related to your position
as a university faculty member.
a. Presentations to groups
b. Memberships in community organizations
c. Judging competitions
d. Consultation
e. Other
2.5.5.4 Awards or honors for service
2.5.5.5 Other
2.5.6 Awards and Honors
2.5.6.1 Sabbaticals awarded
2.5.6.2 Summer fellowships awarded
2.5.6.3 Research Grants
2.5.6.4 Other
2.6 Student Evaluation of Teaching
(for tenure and promotion cases)
The evidence for effective teaching is most persuasive, especially at
stages of review beyond the department and the unit, when it is clear that
students had full freedom to respond and that a representative survey of
student opinion had been made. Furthermore, the case is best presented,
not with a great deal of unstructured evidence, but, rather, with valid
summaries and compilations.
I. In-Class Student Evaluations
A. Freedom of student response is best demonstrated when the process
has these characteristics:
1. The candidate is absent from the class during the evaluation
2. The evaluation form provides for student anonymity
3. A student, selected beforehand, delivers the evaluations directly
to the department secretary or to the department via campus mail
4. The results are returned to the instructor after final grades are
in.
B. The results of many evaluations should be compiled by the candidate's
department as concisely as possible and by type of class. The candidate
or the department chair should explain in writing how the results were
obtained and compiled.
C. While no particular form for in-class student evaluations is mandated,
a reliable statistical base is desirable. It is the responsibility of the
candidate to explain the significance of the evaluation results.
D. The representativeness of in-class evaluations is best demonstrated
when it is shown that students from each type of class the candidate teaches
have been surveyed over a number of years. Four or five sections of each
type spread over three or four years may be considered a reliable minimum
range of response. The candidate should describe the range of evaluations
involved in the evidence.
II. Other than In-Class Student Evaluations
A. Candidates may request that mail solicitations of representative
groups, such as graduating majors or the candidate's past students, be
conducted by the department chair. The chair should contact students in
the group, or a representative sample of students chosen at random, or
students from representative classes, or a combination of all these (over
a range of classes such as given in I.D. above). If the anonymity of all
responses is not provided for, the respondents shall be assured that their
names will remain confidential from the candidate if they so request.
B. The candidate and the chair shall agree on the types of students
contacted, on the form that the chair's letter will take, and on the time
of the survey and the deadlines involved.
C. After the survey is completed, the candidate shall be given copies
of all letters received (with the names blocked out in the case of students
who requested anonymity). If there are a great number of letters, the candidate
may request the chair to write a summary of responses (as stated in the
headnote, it is an advantage not to burden the reviewers with a great deal
of unstructured evidence). The chair should attach a signed form certifying
the manner in which the survey was conducted and the number of letters
that were received. If the candidate uses such letters in the case, the
certification should be present. If it is not present, the candidate should
explain the manner in which the survey was conducted and the manner in
which the candidate is using the letters.
2.7 Peer Review of Teaching
1. The department encourages its faculty to have colleagues assess
their teaching and offer suggestions for improvement. In addition to their
contribution to the development of effective teaching, evaluations may
also be useful in summative decisions, such as reappointments, annual reviews,
and promotion and tenure recommendations. However, faculty who so desire
may receive peer comments on their teaching with the assurance that the
evaluation will not be used for these summative purposes. Individuals may
arrange for such peer evaluations or have the Effective Teaching Committee
arrange them.
2. Upon request by faculty members, the Effective Teaching Committee
will arrange evaluation visits of their classes. Members of the committee
may, but will not necessarily, be the evaluators.
3. The instructor may submit the names of potential evaluators to the
Effective Teaching Committee and may request that a specified number of
evaluators visit the classes which the instructor wishes evaluated.
4. The instructor should provide the committee with copies of the syllabi
or current class schedules for all courses to be evaluated.
5. The instructor may indicate whether they wish to be informed in advance
of an evaluator's visit. Normally the evaluator will visit the class more
than once.
6. The evaluator's report should be detailed and based on the usual
criteria for evaluating effective teaching. The report should specify all
conditions pertaining to the evaluation (date of visits, announced or unannounced,
etc.).
7. The evaluator will send a letter summarizing their evaluation to
the instructor. If the instructor requests, the evaluator will also send
a copy of their letter to the department chair, for use in evaluations
of the instructor. The instructor will decide whether such a letter will
become part of a promotion or tenure case.
8. Faculty members who do not choose to use these procedures for peer
review will not be penalized for their choice. However, faculty are reminded
that the department's tenure and promotion criteria urge assessment of
teaching by several different methods. Moreover, under some circumstances,
the department chair or the Faculty Review Committee may recommend that
a faculty member provide peer reviews of their teaching.
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3 FACULTY GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
3.1 Matters subject to grievance procedure include concerns of
both Administration and Faculty. Faculty concerns include matters of compensation
and working conditions under the immediate administrative purview of the
department, including but not limited to: increments of salary and other
compensation; allotment of professional travel funds; office space assignments;
equipment allocations; course assignment; course load; annual and other
performance reviews; reprimands; and recommendations for promotion, tenure,
and sabbatical leave. Administrative concerns include but are not limited
to fulfillment of professional responsibilities in teaching, advising,
committee assignments, administrative assignments, and research.
3.2 Grievances may be submitted as follows:
a. By any individual full-time faculty member against the Chair, the
Faculty Review Committee, or the Promotion, Tenure, Sabbatical Leave Committee.
No individual faculty member may file a grievance against another individual
faculty member except as specified herein.
b. By any part-time faculty member against the Chair, or any designated
co-ordinator.
c. By the Chair against any full-time faculty member.
d. By the Chair against any part-time faculty member.
It is understood that certain persons are eligible to submit both administrative
and faculty grievances due to their retention of faculty status while in
administrative positions.
3.3 For each grievance to be resolved, an ad hoc committee
shall be constituted as follows:
a. The complainant shall file written notice of intent to submit a
grievance with the Chair of the Committee on Committees. In case that person
is a party to the grievance, the written notice shall be filed with a committee
member designated by the Committee Chair.
b. The written notice shall include the following: an explicit statement
of the complaint, the grounds for the complaint, and an outline of the
pertinent evidence to be submitted. If the complainant chooses to exercise
his/her right to counsel, the name of the counsel should also be included,
but failure to do so at this juncture does not constitute waiver of right
to counsel.
c. Ordinarily, notice of intent to submit a grievance shall be filed
within fourteen (14) days of the event which has given rise to the grievance,
excluding academic vacation periods but not weekends or holidays during
regular semesters.
d. The committee Chair (or his/her delegate) shall immediately forward
a copy of the notice of intent to the party or parties against whom the
grievance is being submitted.
e. With the assistance of the committee Chair (or delegate), a Grievance
Board shall be constituted of one department member nominated by the complainant,
one by the respondent(s), and one agreeable to both parties. Unless serious
conflict of interest can be shown, no department member should refuse to
serve on a Grievance Board to which he/she has been duly named.
3.4 Duties of the ad hoc Grievance Board:
a. The Board shall meet within seven (7) days of its constitution to
begin consideration of the complaint.
b. The Board shall notify both parties to the grievance of the date
of its first meeting, so that both complaint and response may be submitted
in time for consideration by the Board and both parties.
c. The Board shall determine whether hearings are necessary, or whether
the grievance may be resolved on the basis of information presented. The
Board may issue its decision on the basis of material submitted, may call
the parties together for a negotiated or compromise settlement, or may
determine that hearing of further evidence is necessary.
d. The Board shall make precise records of all its actions, and copies
of such records shall be given to all parties involved.
e. The Board's records shall include a statement of its findings and
the reasons thereof.
3.5 Hearing Procedure:
a. Either party to a grievance has the right to be represented by counsel
of his/her own choosing.
b. Hearings may be open only with written consent of both parties to
the grievance.
c. Both parties shall have the right to full presentation of their
cases.
d. The Grievance Board shall have the right to request any evidence,
written or oral, from either party, provided such evidence is within the
power of subpoena of the boards or committees which handle such matters
for the faculty of Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.
If, during a hearing procedure, such evidence is denied, the Board may
declare its inability to resolve the grievance and recommend that any further
action thereupon be undertaken through the grievance procedure established
within the University, and if the grievant wishes shall notify another
appropriate board or committee of its action and the reasons therefor.
e. Either party to a grievance shall have the right to request relevant
evidence as outlined above. The Board may regard refusal to provide such
evidence as sufficient grounds for finding in favor of the party to whom
evidence is denied, or it may declare its inability to resolve the grievance,
as outlined above.
f. In closed session after the hearings are completed, the Board shall
meet to make its decision.
3.6 Miscellaneous:
a. Decisions of an ad hoc Grievance Board may be appealed only through
the grievance procedures established within the University.
b. Members of an ad hoc Grievance Board may not discuss the complaint,
the hearing process, or the resolution with any person not involved in
the complaint, nor with parties to the complaint outside the formal hearing
process.
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4 TEACHING
4.1 Staff Assignment Policy
4.1.1 Teaching Load
4.1.1.1 The normal teaching load for full-time faculty is twenty-four
(24) credit hours an academic year.
4.1.1.2 The normal teaching load is eighteen (18) credit hours an academic
year for full-time faculty members who are currently engaged in research,
or are newly appointed and are on a tenure track.
4.1.1.3 Release Time
The Faculty Review Committee, in consultation with the Curriculum Committee,
will advise the Chair in the granting of four kinds of release time:
A. Research
1. The normal course load reduction as set forth in I.B. above.
2. Additional course load reductions granted for other proposals.
B. Departmental Program Development, special projects, or significant professional
service.
C. Departmental Office, including Chair, Assistant Chair.
D. Funded Activity Underwritten by Non-Departmental Budgets, including
research, service, extra-departmental teaching.
4.1.2 Responsibilities of the Department Chair
It is recognized that the policies relating to teaching assignments
(section III above) are at best firm guidelines along which the department
Chair must exercise discretion and judgment.
4.2 Course Level Guidelines
4.2.1 Courses should follow bulletin descriptions.
4.2.2. The choice of texts is usually up to the instructor. In a sequence
course where specific texts have been agreed upon by the staff of the sequence,
the faculty member should respect the agreement.
4.2.3. In 300- and 400-level courses, the work and standards should
be more demanding than those for 200-level courses.
4.2.4. If a course is listed as a seminar, it should be run as a seminar.
Normally seminars will require at least one class presentation for discussion
and critique and an extended research project.
4.3 Summer Teaching Policy
4.3.1 Summer teaching assignments shall be made so as to provide, as
nearly as possible, equal opportunity for all full-time department faculty
members to participate in the summer school program.
4.3.2 The decision to assign a specific faculty member to a specific
course is a matter of the judgment and discretion of the department Chair.
Every effort, however, should be made to effect a long-range fair distribution
of courses among members of the summer faculty.
4.4 Independent Study
Supervision of independent study courses may be treated as evidence
of teaching excellence; however, under current procedures, it constitutes
an uncompensated overload. For this reason, the department neither encourages
nor, in most instances, discourages supervision of these courses. Application
to supervise an independent study course should be made by means of the
departmental form available for that purpose. Approval by the department
Chair is required.
Applications for independent study are expected to contain a detailed,
explicit plan of work. Courses that duplicate regular courses offered in
the same or the next semester are discouraged.
4.5 Faculty Absence from Scheduled Classes
-
Instructors are expected to meet their classes on the day and time and
in the room designated in the Schedule of Classes. If temporary
room changes are made, they should be announced in advance both to the
students and to the department secretary. No permanent room changes should
be made without permission of the department Chair.
-
It is understood that the time scheduled for class meetings may be used
for a variety of alternative pedagogical purposes, such as conferences
with students, library exercises, and field trips. Because the department
is regularly called upon to locate faculty and students, all such activities
should be announced in advance to the department secretary.
-
From time to time faculty may be away from campus during the academic term
for professional purposes (e.g., presenting a conference paper, service
on a system committee). Since such absences from class are normally known
well in advance, faculty are expected to arrange for a substitute instructor
or alternative classroom activity and to notify the department chair of
the arrangements made.
-
Occasionally, the ravages of disease or the malevolence of nature may result
in an unexpected faculty absence from class. Under these circumstances,
the faculty member should notify the department chair or the department
secretary, who will attempt to find an emergency replacement or, if unsuccessful,
will post notices announcing the cancellation of the class.
If an emergency causes a faculty member to miss a class, secretarial
assistance is limited to announcing the cancellation, distributing hand-outs,
picking up class papers, and, if a test is scheduled, handing out the test
at the beginning of class and picking it up at the end. Secretaries may
not monitor the actual taking of quizzes or examinations.
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5 THE STUDENT
5.1 Student Advising
All tenured or tenure-track faculty members are assigned students to
advise on a regular basis. Faculty advisors should be familiar with the
university's academic regulations and with department and school requirements
for graduation. Faculty advisors sign student registration cards and other
materials related to course registration or withdrawal.
As a student advisor, you are not only a student's main source of information
about university requirements; you may also be his or her closest faculty
contact. Time spent in advising is an important element in a faculty member's
service to the university.
5.2 Grades
Faculty should familiarize themselves with the statements concerning
grades and grading policy in the IPFW Bulletin and the most recent
edition of the Indiana University Academic Handbook. The following
requirement should be noted:
Faculty members are expected to give each undergraduate a written evaluation
of performance as early as compatible with the nature of the course. This
evidence will normally consist of a letter grade, but it could also be
recorded in a different manner (e.g., written critique of a paper, written
evaluation of the student's total performance). In certain types of courses
the evaluation might be given orally.
Grade appeals (see below) most frequently occur when the instructor
has not clearly stated a grading policy or has changed the policy during
the semester. Faculty are urged to provide students with a written statement
(presumably on the course syllabus) detailing the factors that will determine
their final grades and to treat the statement as a contractual understanding
with the students, to be altered only with their knowledge and agreement.
5.3 Cheating and/or Plagiarism
The Indiana
University Academic Handbook and IPFW's
own academic regulations (see the most recent version of Fort Wayne
Senate Document SD 89-28--IPFW Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities,
and Conduct--and the current IPFW Bulletin) define these terms and the
campus procedures appropriate for dealing with them.
Before charging a student
with plagiarism or cheating, the faculty person may wish to consult with
the department chair. Before imposing any penalty, the faculty person must
meet informally with the student, within ten days of discovering the alleged
misconduct, in order to allow the student to present a defense or explanation.
If the faculty person
chooses to notify the student by letter, he/she may wish to use the general
form suggested by the Indiana University Counsel:
| Dear Mr/Ms_____________:
I have a paper entitled
"____________" 1 test, submitted by you to me in partial fulfillment of
the requirements of (Course Number), section ______. I have read your paper/test,
and my present belief is that it is not entirely your own work, as required
by the standards of the course. Please make an appointment to see me immediately
so that we can discuss this situation. (Pending our discussion and a resolution
of the matter, I am recording an Incomplete as your grade in this course.)*
Very truly yours,
_______________
* If at semester's
end.
Please note that the
word "plagiarism" is not recommended for use. |
After discussing the
situation with the student, the faculty person may deem it proper to impose
a penalty. This may take several forms: (1) a lower or failing grade for
the assignment in connection with which misconduct occurred, (2) an injunction
to repeat or supplement the assignment, or (3) a lower or failing grade
for the course. After the faculty person determines the penalty, he/she
must write a complete report, with all particulars spelled out, including
the exact nature of the penalty. A copy of this report should go to the
student, to the chairperson of the Department of Visual Arts and of the student's
major department, to the Deans of the College of Visual and Performing Arts
and of the student's school or division, and to the Vice Chancellor for
Student Affairs. This report should inform the student that he/she may
appeal to the department chair and, subsequently, to higher administrators,
as outlined under "Grade Appeals" below, if dissatisfied with actions taken
at the departmental level.
5.4 Grade Appeals
The appeals process can be used by any undergraduate student
who has evidence or believes that evidence exists to show that a course
grade was assigned as a result of prejudice, caprice, or computational
error. In appealing, the student must support in writing the allegation
that an improper decision was made and must specify the remedy sought.
During an appeal, the burden of proof is on the student, except in cases
of alleged academic dishonesty, in which case the instructor must support
the allegation.
Timing of Appeals: An appeal must be initiated no later than
the fourth week of the fall or spring semester immediately following the
session in which the decision was made. Each successive step in the appeals
procedure must be initiated within three calendar weeks of the completion
of the prior step.
Steps in the Appeal Process:
1. Course instructor: The student makes an appointment with the instructor
to discuss the matter. (If the instructor is unavailable, the department
chair shall authorize an extension of time or allow the student to proceed
to step_2.)
2. Department: If the matter has not been resolved at step 1, the student
makes an appointment with the chair of the department, who will direct
the student procedurally in making an appeal to the department Grade Appeals
Committee (GAC).
3. Academic Appeals Subcommittee: If the matter has not been resolved
at step 2, the student makes an appointment with the Dean of the Faculty,
who will direct the student procedurally in submitting the case to the
campus Academic Appeals Subcommittee.
4. Department of Visual Arts Appeals Procedure (Step 2)
When necessary the department chair will, with the advice of the Committee
on Committees, appoint three regular members and two alternate members
to the Grade Appeals Committee (GAC). All members shall come from the instructional
staff (including associate faculty and graduate instructors) of the department.
Alternates shall serve when regular members are unavailable for service
due to absence or to involvement in assigning the grade under appeal.
If an appeal has not been satisfactorily resolved between the student
and the instructor (step 1), the student shall request the GAC to receive
evidence and make a recommendation.
After receiving written documents and oral testimony relevant to the
appeal, and after providing due process and complying with the time limits
described above, the GAC will vote on whether the appeal is valid and,
if so, on what remedy should be provided. A written statement of findings
and recommendations will be given to the appellant, the instructor, the
dean of students, and the chair of the department. At this point, the instructor
may change the appealed grade, the student may withdraw the appeal, or
the student may proceed to step 3. (Grades may be changed only by a university
authority upon the decision of the campus Academic Appeals Subcommittee
or by the instructor any time prior to the decision of the Academic Appeals
Subcommittee.)
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6 MISCELLANEOUS
University Travel
All full-time faculty are eligible for reimbursement of expenses (see
guidelines below) for attending professional conferences or other activities
which might further their teaching, research or creative ability. The maximum
amounts of reimbursement are determined annually and are based on the funds
for travel available in the department's budget.
Supplemental funding should always be sought when applicable.
Full-time faculty travelling to professional conferences may be reimbursed
for
a. transportation
b. lodging
c. subsistence
d. registration fees.
University regulations govern the amount reimbursable in some categories.
Consult the department secretary for current regulations.
All full- or part-time faculty who travel to professional meetings or
on other university business, whether or not they request reimbursement,
must complete the "Authority to Travel" form available in the department
office. (Completion of this form is necessary to activate the university's
liability coverage for faculty.) This form should be submitted to the department
secretary no later than two weeks prior to the commencement of travel.
After travel takes place, the faculty member provides the department
secretary with receipts for transportation, lodging, and registration.
(The university computes the amount for subsistence.) The passenger copy
of a transportation ticket, not a credit card receipt, should be submitted.
If a canceled check is the only evidence of a registration fee, some official
document indicating the amount of registration is necessary. Since these
receipts will not be returned to the faculty member, photocopies should
be retained if needed for further reference.
Reimbursement checks normally appear about three weeks after the submission
of receipts.
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