ELIGIBILITY
This College addendum to Penn State Policy AC40 applies to all non-tenure-line faculty in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences with teaching responsibilities. Non-tenure-line faculty with teaching responsibilities are defined for the purposes of these guidelines as full-time non-tenure-line faculty in the teaching or research faculty ranks who have teaching as part of their job description and/or have taught a minimum of six credits in each of the two academic years immediately prior to the five-year review. These guidelines do not apply to non-tenure-line faculty who teach occasionally for supplemental pay, or Dutton’s Learning Design faculty.
BACKGROUND
Non-tenure-line faculty with teaching responsibilities will participate in a robust peer review of teaching once every five years. The Non-Tenure-Line Faculty Performance Evaluation (NTLFPE) is intended to recognize accomplishments and foster the future planning of faculty members who are contributing to the teaching mission of the College and University and, in rare cases, to provide guidance to those not contributing meaningfully to the well-being of the College or University. The goal of the evaluation is as much to look towards the future as to review past progress. In particular, the NTLFPE is designed to encourage and assist those aspiring to increased impact or further excellence.
The NTLFPE is a method for assisting and supporting faculty members to maintain vigorous contributions to teaching throughout their careers. A substantive discussion of the faculty members’ readiness for promotion, where applicable, must accompany the review. See also the College’s “Guidelines for Promotion in the Non-Tenure-Line Faculty Ranks” at https://www.ems.psu.edu/resources-faculty-and-staff under ‘Faculty Promotion (and/or Tenure).’
Following a phase-in period (outlined on page five), the five-year interval will begin on January 1 after the year of hire or January 1 of the year after the most recent promotion decision, whichever is most recent (exceptions to this schedule for individual faculty members require approval by the Dean). Faculty members will be advised of their five-year timeline in early January which is one year in advance of the evaluation, so they can seek out information and resources from the Dutton and/or Schreyer Institutes if they wish. The five-year reviews must involve a meeting with the supervising administrator and, if requested by the faculty member, the Dean.
PROCEDURE GOVERNING THE EVALUATION
The NTLFPE process is intended to provide an opportunity to review and acknowledge past achievements in teaching, and particularly to provide an opportunity for planning future activities. To help achieve these objectives, the EMS faculty member will be notified one year in advance (in early January) of the deadline for submission of materials (and their sub-unit head will be copied on this notification). Then early the following November, the Dean’s Office will send a letter to the faculty member (copying the supervising administrator and the sub-unit head) requesting the submission of the following to their supervising administrator.
- A one-page document that (i) discusses current challenges and opportunities in the faculty member’s job responsibilities and (ii) summarizes key achievements over the last five years that provide building blocks to address these challenges and opportunities. Discussion of accomplishments should be restricted to the past five years.
- A one-page document that (i) describes objectives in teaching for the next year, (ii) details planned activities to achieve these objectives, and (iii) specifies milestones that can be used to assess progress.
- Copies of the most recent annual review and the four preceding annual reviews. If not already included in these annual reviews, SRTE and SEEQ quantitative and qualitative data must be included to provide the student perspective.
The Dean’s request to the faculty members will include a request to the supervising administrator or supervising administrator’s assistant to provide the following:
- At least one evaluation by a peer of a course taught within the review period. This course will be selected in agreement with the NTL faculty member and their supervisor. This review is to be completed in accordance with the College’s Peer Teaching Evaluations’ guidelines found at PeerTeachingEvaluations_EMSGuidelinesFinal2.4.25-ACC.docx
- A statement from the Department Head outlining the faculty member’s expectations and contributions to teaching during the review period.
Once the packet is assembled, the supervising administrator will meet with the faculty member to review the packet and provide them with the opportunity to formally respond and/or update the packet. The finalized packet should be submitted to the supervising administrator on or before January 15.
The supervising administrator will write a review of the faculty member’s teaching performance and future teaching plans. The full package will be submitted by the supervising administrator to the Dean’s Office. One copy of all materials in an electronic format should be submitted. Outside letters will not be solicited nor considered as part of the review.
The College Non-Tenure-Line Faculty Performance Evaluation Committee (hereinafter called the NTLFPE Committee) will review the materials and prepare a written summary and assessment following this standard review process:
A committee member who is not from the reviewed faculty member’s subunit will write the first draft of the Committee’s review statement. This statement should be no more than one page in length. NTLFPE committee members should expect to be responsible for preparing one or more reviews.
Another committee member, preferably from the reviewed faculty members’ subunit (unless there are noted conflicts of interest), should provide detailed comments on the first draft.
The final draft will be prepared by the assigned NTLFPE member after considering comments from the whole committee.
The NTLFPE Committee Chair will produce the final versions of all evaluations for consistency and completeness.
The NTLFPE Committee’s statement should reflect both the consensus and the breadth of opinion within the committee. The written comments of the NTLFPE committee should focus on accomplishment and future goals in teaching, in accordance with college expectations. The evaluation should include a realistic appraisal of the candidate’s ability to achieve the proposed goals. The NTLFPE Committee can include recommendations for action in support of a faculty member’s career goals. The file and accompanying letter will be forwarded to the supervising administrator with a copy to the Dean.
Before the packet is submitted to the Dean, faculty members may request to meet with the NTLFPE Committee Chair as part of the evaluation. Such requests should be made through the Dean’s office in late January, after the supervising administrator has prepared their review. The NTLFPE Committee may request a meeting with a faculty member or their supervising administrator to discuss the evaluation.
After the review is submitted to the Dean, the NTLFPE Committee may request a meeting with the Dean, or vice versa, to discuss a given case. The Dean may also consult with either or both the supervising administrator and/or the NTLFPE Committee prior to finalizing their letter.
COMPOSITION OF EVALUATION COMMITTEE
Five eligible non-tenure-line faculty members (see paragraph titled ‘Eligibility’ on page 1) drawn from the College’s five departments will be assigned to the NTLFPE Committee. If one or more departments are unable to provide a representative, then one or more of the College’s three institutes will be asked to provide a representative. If possible, only one representative from any subunit should be assigned to the committee. The eligible non-tenure-line faculty cohort of each subunit will establish and adopt its protocols for identifying its representative to the College NTLFPE Committee. If a member of the NTLFPE Committee is scheduled for a performance evaluation, the committee will convene without that member present to perform the evaluation.
Only eligible non-tenure-line faculty at the Associate Teaching Professor and Teaching Professor or equivalent ranks may serve on this committee. However, there should never be more than two Associate Teaching Professors on the committee. If more than two departments nominate Associate Teaching Professors to serve, then the decision about which two departments may have Associate Teaching Professors on this committee will be decided by 1) if both departments have eligible Teaching Professors, by drawing lots and the unsuccessful departments will be asked to nominate Teaching Professors instead; or 2) if only one department has eligible Teaching Professors, that department will provide that individual as their representative. The Committee Chair may be either a Teaching Professor or Associate Teaching Professor, as determined by committee vote. Committee members at the Associate Teaching Professor rank must recuse themselves from evaluating candidates at a higher rank.
CONCLUDING THE EVALUATION
The supervising administrator will conclude the evaluation by meeting with the faculty member and discussing the written evaluations. A copy of the written evaluations from the College NTLFPE Committee and the supervising administrator will be provided to the faculty member at the conclusion of the evaluation.
The supervising administrator will reserve time to meet with each faculty member to discuss the review. If requested by the faculty member or the Dean, a meeting will be arranged with the faculty member and the Dean to discuss the evaluation. A summary of the meeting with the Dean will be shared, in writing, with the faculty member’s supervising administrator.
If the faculty member disagrees with the evaluation, they have the opportunity to provide a written response to the review to the Dean. This response will be included in the final document.
The Dean, in conjunction with the supervising administrator, will be responsible for initiating action, if any, in response to the evaluation. For the vast majority of faculty who are effectively carrying out the College mission, the NTLFPE committee should make recommendations as to the appropriate recognition that could further enhance the quality of a faculty member’s work such as university-wide opportunities, programs, and awards.
The evaluation process may identify faculty who need redirection or revitalization. In these cases, a development plan (for the duration of the existing contract) should be formulated to help the faculty member improve their academic contribution. If appropriate, such faculty development plans will be accompanied by institutional resources and assistance necessary for their successful implementation. Any development plan should be constructive in nature, and again, if appropriate, supported by institutional resources for implementation. In cases where a plan is developed, follow-through to ensure its implementation is required.
PHASE IN SCHEDULE
*The performance of all non-tenure-line faculty with teaching responsibilities will begin to be evaluated, according to these guidelines, in January 2027. However, because this is a new process, it will take five years to evaluate all eligible non-tenure-line faculty. During this five-year ‘phase-in’ period approximately twenty percent of the eligible non-tenure-line faculty will be evaluated annually. A ‘phase-in’ roster for the process will be developed by the Dean’s Office and each faculty member will be advised of their individual timeline once the roster is finalized.
Notes:
Following the ‘phase-in’ period, the performance of all eligible non-tenure-line faculty members, regardless of rank, will normally be evaluated every five years, unless the faculty member underwent a promotion process, in which case the next review will be five years after the completion of that process, whether or not the promotion was awarded.
An NTLFPE review will not be required if the faculty member is on a phased retirement plan or has a confirmed departure date from Penn State that is within the next twelve months.
An NTLFPE review will also not be required if the faculty member is undergoing the promotion process in the same academic year as the NTLFPE packet is due.
TIMELINE
- Early January – The faculty member is given advance notice by the Dean’s Office that they will undergo a NTLFPE review the following January (i.e. in twelve months). The supervising administrator is copied, and the guidelines and timeline are included in the notification. No action is required at this time.
- Early November of the faculty member’s fifth year* (or five years since their last review) - The faculty member is sent confirmation by the Dean’s Office that they will undergo a NTLFPE review in the coming January (i.e. in two months). The supervising administrator is copied, and the guidelines and timeline are included in the confirmation.
- January 15 - The faculty member’s documents are due to the supervising administrator.
- January 30 - The complete package is submitted by the supervising administrator to the Dean’s Office.
- January 31 - The complete package is submitted by the Dean’s Office to the NTLFPE Committee.
- February (early) - The Dean will charge the NTLFPE Committee and provide a summary of the review procedure. Following this meeting the NTLFPE Committee will begin their meetings.
- April (early) – the NTLFPE Committee will complete their reports, and they will be forwarded to the Dean who will then provide a memo to be distributed to the relevant subunit heads.
REFERENCES
Policy AC40 Annual Evaluation of Faculty Performance (Formerly HR40)
https://policy.psu.edu/policies/ac40
REVISION HISTORY
Policy adopted: July 1, 2025