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 clock will start 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 a packet of documents 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 supervisor’s comments from the most recent annual review and the four preceding annual reviews.
- 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
- SRTE/SEEQ quantitative data from within the review period to provide the student perspective
- A statement from the sub-unit head outlining the faculty member’s teaching expectations and contributions to teaching during the review period.
The following information can also be included. Note that the inclusion of this information is optional and at the EMS faculty member’s discretion, However, if an external evaluator participates in the review (see Optional External Evaluator Review below) then this additional information MUST be included.
- Copies of the most recent annual review and the four preceding annual reviews,
- SRTE/SEEQ qualitative data from within the review period to provide additional student perspective
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.
If the faculty member chooses to have an external evaluator participate in the review, the assembled packet must be provided to the external evaluator on or before January 5 and their letter of evaluation must be provided to the supervising administrator on or before January 26.
The finalized packet should be submitted to the supervising administrator on or before January 26.
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, preferably in a single Adobe pdf document. Outside letters will not be solicited nor considered as part of the review.
OPTIONAL EXTERNAL EVALUATOR REVIEW
The faculty member may choose to request external feedback on their dossier in the form of an external evaluation. This external evaluator must be a member of the EMS faculty (at any rank) and must be invited to serve in this role by the faculty member by no later than January 5th of the year in which the package is due
If applicable, the external evaluator will review the materials and prepare a written summary and assessment focusing on accomplishments 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 letter will be forwarded to the supervising administrator for inclusion in the packet that will be forwarded to the Dean.
CONCLUDING THE EVALUATION
The supervising administrator will conclude the evaluation by meeting with the faculty member and discussing the written evaluation(s). A copy of the written evaluation from the external evaluator (if applicable) and the supervising administrator will be provided to the faculty member at the conclusion of the evaluation for them to keep for their records.
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 members’ 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 supervising administrator 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.
- OPTIONAL January 5 – the complete package is submitted to the external evaluator,
- OPTIONAL January 26 – the external evaluator’s letter is due to the supervising administrator
- January 26 - The faculty member’s documents are due to the supervising administrator.
- February 15 - The complete package is submitted by the supervising administrator to the Dean’s Office.
- March (early) – the Dean will review the package and is available for a meeting on request as outlined above.
REFERENCE
Policy AC40 Annual Evaluation of Faculty Performance (Formerly HR40) https://policy.psu.edu/policies/ac40
REVISION HISTORY
Policy adopted: July 1, 2025
Policy updated: March 25, 2026 (NTL FPE College Committee removed and optional external evaluator added)