University at Buffalo (UB)
Faculty members should be regularly evaluated in three areas: teaching, research or creative activity, and service. Instead of traditional teaching, library faculty should be evaluated on the performance of the basic function of the librarian. Some member s of the faculty will excel at one or two of these areas, others will excel at all three. A balanced evaluation of a prospective faculty member will consider these differences and will also recognize the value of cross-disciplinary scholarly activity. However, certain minimal standards must be met.
Excellence in teaching/librarianship is to be valued; it cannot, however, counterbalance a lack of research or creative achievement. Similarly, excellence in research or creative activity is to be valued and recognized but will not counterbalance failure in teaching/librarianship. Service to the university and its community is also important but cannot be a full substitute for growth and achievement as a teacher/librarian and researcher or creator.
Given the complexity and variety of the university, four further general comments with regard to the evaluation of teaching/librarianship and research or creative activity are needed.
First, creative activity has been linked very closely with research here to emphasize that the creation of works of art (that phrase taken in the broadest sense) is an integral component of scholarship in a university. Creative activity in performance includes both the development of new forms or techniques, e.g., music composition, and the performance of work, for example, in theater. Since performance is part of the research and creative activity expected in these areas, its activity should be evaluated appropriately, and review bodies must look for and expect to find the same level of peer review as that expected for published research.
Second, research and creative activity may be carried out across disciplinary boundaries, and it may involve the scholarly contributions of more than one individual. In each case the activities deserve to be appraised with the same diligence as activities that are carried out within traditional disciplines or those achieved by individual faculty members. Care should be taken to recognize and evaluate the unique contributions of each researcher or creator.
Third, competence and instruction in clinical areas and librarianship are major concerns of the university. In some areas, evaluation of teaching must be an evaluation of the extent to which clinical skills are imparted. Evaluation of research and creative activity in clinical areas and librarianship must include evaluation of the development of new techniques and practices, just as evaluation in the performance areas must include that of superior or different interpretations of works in literature or the performing arts.
Fourth, creative contributions through independent effort, or through professional organizations, to the advancement of theory and practice in a field must also be evaluated.
A balanced evaluation of a faculty member must consider the performance expected in relation to the responsibilities assigned to the candidate. Thus, unusual university service may be considered in determining promotions in rank. Such service alone, however, should never be the basis for promotion. The importance, value, and quality of the candidate's research or creative activity, and the promise of continuing first-rank performance in this area, are primary considerations. One of the most important factors in distinguishing university faculty from faculty at other levels of higher education is the continual willingness to place one's ideas and works before peers for their critical judgment. Independent evaluations by scholars in the appropriate discipline(s), and public reviews, discussions, and citations of the research or works of art are appropriate for evaluation in this area.
The assessment of teaching effectiveness, whether in classroom, bedside, dental chair, library, laboratory, seminar, or tutorial, should rest upon solid evidence. This may be provided by systematic surveys of students in the classes taught by the faculty member under review, classroom observation, and assessments of theses and dissertations directed. In addition, the evaluation should consider the faculty member's involvement in undergraduate and graduate advisement, and on thesis and dissertation committees. University faculty are expected to be highly competent teachers.
Although some of the measures mentioned in the preceding paragraphs may also apply, the assessment of the quality of librarianship should be subject to a critical analysis by those persons who can best evaluate it. The relevance of library collections to academic programs, and the effectiveness of reference and information delivery, can be judged by library colleagues, professorial colleagues, and clientele. The quality of bibliographic control over the collections, and the imagination and skill with which complex problems are solved or approaches utilized, are less publicly visible, and must be judged principally by library colleagues. However, excellence in performance generally results in wide visibility.