School of Engineering Professor of Practice Evaluation Plan, Electric Engineering and Computer Science

 

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science uses the faculty evaluation process to enhance the goals of the Department; including curriculum development, research opportunities, and service to the community, state, nation, and profession.

 

The faculty of the EECS Department will place this document on the agenda of the first faculty meeting in the fall semester every year. At that time, if any changes are made to the document, they must be approved by a vote of the faculty. The revised document will then be submitted to the Provost’s office. If no changes are approved, the document on file in the Provost’s office will serve as the governing plan for that academic year unless the faculty chooses to modify it during the year.

 

 

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as a department, espouses the goals of the School of Engineering to provide a balance between undergraduate teaching, graduate teaching, research, and service that does not emphasize one at the expense of another. To that end, we assign faculty to teach required undergraduate courses, undergraduate electives, and graduate courses. As a department, we strive to be recognized for quality teaching, strong research, and excellent service to the profession. We expect all of our undergraduate programs to be fully accredited, a recognized measure of quality. In an overall sense, our expectation is to educate graduates who are excellent technical professionals and who will excel in their chosen career path.

 

Professors of Practice in the department are expected to teach EECS and/or IT courses, advise students, mentor students, engage in scholarly activities, render professional service and maintaining professional credentials as appropriate, and/or other duties that the EECS department chair determines are consistent with this position. Professors of Practice in the department may contribute to course transformation efforts and assessment. The mix of activities and level of contributions to these areas will vary according to rank, be consistent with the interests of individual faculty member, and accomplish the goals of the department. The mix of activities will be negotiated between the faculty member and the Chair. The EECS department seeks, across the department, typically for Professors of Practice to contribute 65% to teaching, and 35% service including student advising and mentoring. Individual contributions will vary. Nominal EECS expectations for regular faculty are described below.

 

Teaching (65%): The nominal teaching load for Professors of Practice faculty is six courses per year. Professors of Practice are expected to hold scheduled office hours during the academic year. Scheduling of courses to meet department, school, and university requirements is the unilateral responsibility of the Chair. Professors of Practice are expected to meet all class sessions consistent with the responsible conduct of their assigned class. Faculty members have the latitude to reschedule classes due to research and service demands and other academic responsibilities. This privilege is not used to the detriment of students or the educational mission of the department, but for the enhancement of the education experience. Effective teaching is monitored by student evaluations, peer reviews, and alumni responses and surveys.

 

Service (35%): All Professors of Practice are expected to advise and mentor students. Professors of Practice are expected to perform service to the department’s constituent communities: the department, the School of Engineering, the University, the State, the Nation, and the profession.

Professors of Practice are expected to contribute to the department goals in the following ways:

 

Teaching: All Professors of Practice are expected to cover the material described in the ABET description of the EECS courses that they are assigned to teach for undergraduate and undergraduate courses and maintain an acceptable level of classroom performance as measured by student evaluations and/or other forms of course evaluations that are approved by the EECS faculty.

 

Service: All Professors of Practice are expected to advise and mentor students. Beyond advising activities minimal service at the local level is expected from assistant teaching professors. The associate Professors of Practice are expected to provide service to the department, school, university, and at the national level. Professors of Practice should be active in service to the department, school, and university; to the State of Kansas; and should be active on a professional and national/international level including demonstrated leadership. Professors of Practice are expected maintaining professional credentials as appropriate. Professors of Practice are expected to participate in professional development activities.

 

 

The EECS Department evaluates Professors of Practice on an annual basis. Professors of Practice faculty have a comprehensive evaluation every three years. In January, Professors of Practice prepare a Faculty Activity Report (FAR) describing their activities for the past calendar year. The FAR format and content is defined by the School of Engineering and may be supplemented by the department. Faculty may include additional information with their submission. The Chair reviews the FARs in February. Results of the review are discussed between the individual faculty member and the Chair.

 

Professors of Practice will have a comprehensive evaluation every three years of the appointment prior to another 3-year appointment.

 

The scope and objectives of annual evaluation are:

 

The Faculty Activity Report (FAR) is the primary instrument for collecting basic data. The FAR format is defined by the School of Engineering. In addition to the FAR, each faculty member submits a summary of the student feedback forms for each class, and a copy of their curriculum vitae. The FAR submitted for the purpose of the annual evaluation and distribution of merit salary increases includes the following: courses taught, advising activity, awards, grants, proposals, publications, presentations, department/school/university committee service, professional service, community outreach, and honors and awards.

 

Based on the data provided, the Chair evaluates each faculty member’s performance. Among other items of review, the Chair will indicate in writing the overall performance level of the faculty member and state of his/her performance level. The evaluation is discussed between the individual faculty member and the Chair. The performance levels are defined as follows:

 

The annual evaluation is used to guide the department toward attainment of its established goals and an instrument to facilitate faculty member’s attaining their career goals.

 

The EECS Chair may recommend the faculty member engage in multiple opportunities for teaching. The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science conducts an annual, daylong retreat at the beginning of the academic year to discuss issues relating to the future of the department. The retreat is an opportunity to discuss future curriculum development, future research opportunities for faculty, outreach/service opportunities, and long-term departmental goals.

 

The EECS Department encourages faculty to take advantage of faculty development initiatives at the school and university level, including summer research grants related to classroom teaching, and to pursue opportunities provided by professional organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

 

The Chair determines the individual will not be reappointed if the Chair determines that performance is classified as fails to meet academic responsibilities.

 

Professors of Practice may be dismissed for poor performance, misconduct, budgetary reasons, program changes, enrollment declines, or because a unit determines that the position would be better filled by another individual. The termination of employment may occur prior to the end date of the limited term appointment. As non-tenure track, limited term faculty appointments, the University and Board of Regents regulations on advance notice of non-reappointment do not apply and the non-reappointment or dismissal is not appealable. Professor of Practice positions that are funded either partially or fully by external sources such as grants and contracts will be designated as contingent on funding and will end immediately upon loss of external funding. Regardless of funding source, the appointment may be subject to furlough and/or salary may be reduced during budgetary constraints.