Teaching Evaluation Policy - UTDPP1006

Policy Statement

In this Policy, the term "faculty" includes all instructors of record with classroom or class-laboratory responsibilities. Graduate teaching assistants not serving as Instructor of Record should be evaluated by the faculty member supervising their work. The Office of Institutional Success and Decision Support - Web Applications and Technology Team (WAT) evaluation tool is available online.

1. Because pedagogy varies by discipline, teaching loads differ across programs, and schools handle advising duties and program administration in different ways, individual schools shall develop teaching evaluation procedures appropriate to their circumstances to ensure that the program and individual course learning outcomes are achieved.
2. In the development and utilization of systematic teaching evaluation procedures, each school shall have at least one committee responsible for developing a teaching evaluation process, compiling information on individual faculty members' teaching performance, providing teaching performance feedback to the Dean and individual faculty, and identifying individual faculty deserving recognition and needing improvement.
3. Each school committee will recommend procedures for approval to the Dean who will make recommendations to the Chief Academic Officer. Teaching evaluation procedures in each school must consider factors beyond The University of Texas at Dallas Student Assessment of the Learning Experience (formerly the Universal Evaluation System, or UES).
   1. Teaching evaluation procedures may include assessments of teaching load, diversity of courses taught, course development, program development and administration, undergraduate research supervision, and graduate thesis and dissertation supervision, and a compilation of student ratings of their learning experience.
   2. The evaluation procedure should include periodic classroom visits by designated faculty to gather direct observation information that supplements information taken from other sources (see the Center for Teaching and Learning document "Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness.") The frequency of these visits may vary with faculty rank, considerations for promotion, and other factors.
4. In addition to identifying the procedures for evaluating teaching performance, the school committees also must specify what constitutes acceptable, exceptional, and substandard performance in each area. Whatever the standards, there should be a clearly defined and written set of expectations for teaching performance. Teaching Evaluation Procedures must be consistent with UT Dallas' mission and this policy. It also is required that schools implement a mechanism for faculty to comment on their evaluations and provide information they feel is pertinent to the teaching evaluation process
5. Where a school's procedures do not conform with this policy, the Dean of the School shall appoint a faculty committee charged with establishing procedures that conform. In instances where a school's faculty cannot produce a satisfactory evaluation procedure, the Provost may appoint a committee of faculty from other schools to develop minimal procedures.