Faculty Evaluation and COVID-19
Faculty Evaluation and COVID-19
UNCSA’s creative and dedicated faculty are making profound adjustments to their work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provost Sims is offering faculty members the option to develop a COVID Impact Statement, which can be added to the materials prepared for contract reappointment evaluation, rank promotion, and mid 10-year review (beginning with AY 2021-22 cycle) and annual evaluation (beginning with AY 2020-21 cycle) to help ensure that their efforts can be recognized. Please note that impact statements are not required.
The COVID Impact Statement is an opportunity for faculty to describe both positive and detrimental effects of the pandemic on the mix or balance of their work activities and the types of work outcomes that they were able to achieve. Evaluators are asked to consider these impacts as they apply departmental standards in faculty evaluation processes. Evaluators are also asked to recognize the individualized impacts of COVID and avoid universalizing these statements; for example, the same factor that presented an opportunity for one candidate may have presented a hardship for another.
For each realm of responsibility that has been affected, the faculty member may summarize changes in practice that affected productivity, including but not limited to:
- Opportunities to demonstrate innovation and creativity;
- Modifications or increases to workload, activities or approaches;
- Canceled or delayed events, activities or work products;
- Reduced access to facilities, locations, personnel or partners;
- Opportunities to address emergent issues related to the pandemic and/or
- “Invisible” service to sustain departmental or other operations or to support students.
Impacts should be discussed explicitly in the faculty member’s statement as well as in the dean’s assessments.
In addition, each faculty member at their discretion may elect to address personal circumstances that affected overall productivity (i.e. increased caregiving demands) as well as other observed effects on productivity that may fall outside of specific realms of responsibility. Adding information about personal circumstances is entirely optional.