GUIDELINES FOR PEER REVIEW OF TEACHING
PURPOSE
The purpose of the peer review of teaching is to assist the individual faculty member in identifying strengths and weaknesses in teaching in an environment that is supportive and constructive. Peer review of teaching along with student evaluations of teaching provides a documented record of performance and contributions in teaching.
WHO
Each full-time, teaching, faculty member of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is peer reviewed by a peer review committee established for the individual.
The Department Chairs will be excluded from membership on the peer review committee of faculty within their departments. However Department Chairs may serve on peer review committees of faculty in other departments. The peer review committee for each individual is coordinated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs with input from the Department Chairs and is comprised of the following two faculty members:
A full-time faculty member with at least 3 years of teaching experience, from the individual's department, and holding an academic rank equal or higher to the individual. This person will serve as chair of the peer review committee;
One full-time faculty member with at least 3 years of teaching experience. This reviewer may be a member of the individual's department, or a member of another academic department of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, or a member of another College/School of Mercer University.
For review of Department Chairs, the peer review committee will be selected by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The chair of the peer review committee must be a full-time faculty member with at least 3 years of teaching experience, hold an academic rank equal to or higher than the Department Chair, and be a member of another academic department of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The second reviewer must have at least 3 years of teaching experience and must be a member of either another academic department of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences or a member of another college/School of Mercer University.
WHEN
Peer review of classroom and clerkship teaching will begin in academic year 1995-96.
At the end of academic year 1995-96, the Academic Executive Committee will meet to evaluate these guidelines and make recommendations for modifications if necessary.
HOW
At the beginning of each academic year, each individual who will be peer reviewed will be informed of the peer review committee's membership.
At the beginning of each semester, the faculty member will provide the peer review committee with the syllabi for the courses in which he is teaching, marking dates in which he is teaching.
Each member of the peer review committee will personally attend one class of the faculty being reviewed. The reviews should be made within a reasonable period of time (approximately 2 weeks of each other) so that recall will be sufficient when the two reviewers meet jointly to develop suggestions as described below. The Peer Review Chair should coordinate this.
In the case of clerkship teaching, both members of the peer review committee will visit the clerkship site for review. The individual faculty member being reviewed will be informed of the date of the review (site visit) one week in advance.
In the case of classroom teaching each member of the peer review committee will inform the individual faculty member being reviewed of the date of a review one day in advance. Following a review, the faculty member should submit to the reviewer any applicable materials the reviewer may not have received during the class period including objectives, test questions, and handouts.
After the two members of the peer review team have completed their evaluations, the two will meet and share their individual reviews to prepare a joint report summarizing the findings of the two reviews and offering suggestions for development. The Peer Review Chair will coordinate this. Timeliness is important.
The completed joint report will be given to the Department Chair to keep on file. A copy of the joint report will be given to the individual by the Department Chair upon receipt.
The report will be discussed with the individual during the next regularly scheduled MBO meeting or earlier if necessary. Plans for development will be made accordingly.
Faculty have the option of requesting any lecture be videotaped. This is encouraged for development purposes. Interested faculty can contact Educational Media to arrange videotaping.
Approved by faculty vote 3/16/95
