C. Guidelines for Appropriate Use of SPOT
Results
1. Data from individual faculty gathered
through the use of SPOT shall be treated with confidentiality and with
recognition of the need for continued study of the meaning and validity of these
data. The data shall not be released by anyone other than the faculty
member to anyone who is not directly involved with evaluation for the purpose of
reappointment, promotion, tenure, or annual departmental review, or to anyone
who is not directly involved with the development of norms, without the written
permission of the faculty member. Each department shall use a release form
that will enable instructors to designate other individuals or groups who may
have access to evaluation information. In addition, quantitative data
shall not be released from the department, or comparable administrative unit,
without an accompanying written interpretation of the data by the appropriate
evaluating officer and, if he/she chooses, by the faculty member. The
evaluating officer's interpretation shall explain how an instructor's scores
compare with peers in the same department, discipline, or course assignment, as
appropriate. Because numerous studies have indicated that both peer and
student evaluations are necessary for the equitable evaluation of teaching
effectiveness, it is strongly suggested that peer and student evaluations be
given similar emphasis in personnel recommendations.
2. The Evaluation Committee of the Faculty Senate is charged
with regularly reviewing both student and peer evaluation procedures, and with
reporting and making recommendations for improvement to the Senate.
3. Instructors shall be given no access to individual response
forms prior to submission of grades and completion of processing by OCIS.
4. In the case of a formal appeal of a reappointment, promotion,
or tenure recommendation, all parties involved directly in the appeal process
shall be allowed access to the archived data pertinent to that case.
5. Individual SPOT results, when combined with qualitative
interpretation by the department chairperson and with peer evaluations of
teaching, can contribute to measuring an individual's teaching effectiveness and
to identification of areas of strength and areas where improvement is
possible. Under those conditions, SPOT results are appropriately used for
annual merit evaluation summaries, consideration for salary raises and RPT
decisions.
Taken from Faculty Handbook, Appendix J