I. Mission and Responsibilities
The mission of the Teaching and Mentoring Committee (TEAM) is to promote faculty excellence in teaching. To that end, it will be responsible for overseeing formal and informal peer reviews of teaching, scheduling and promoting teaching education opportunities, and serving as a resource for all matters related to teaching. The TEAM has several responsibilities, described as follows:
- It will choose from among eligible faculty to create peer review committees, as described in the current “Division of Education, Human Development, and Social Sciences Guidelines for Peer Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness and the Second Form of Student Evaluation” document.
- It will be available to answer questions throughout the peer review process, including with peer review committees to identify suitable evaluation tools and for discussion with the faculty member under review after the review process is complete.
- It will maintain records of committee compositions to help avoid creating committees in which there is substantial overlap within review levels and across review cycles.
- It will conduct regular and replacement elections.
II. Composition of the TEAM
Size: The TEAM will consist of three (3) members.
Eligibility: Full-time faculty members within the Division of Education, Human Development, and Social Sciences who have three or more continuous years of university teaching experience are eligible.
Term Length: Members will typically serve a term of 3 years, with usual exceptions made for temporary absences (e.g., sabbaticals). An additional exception will be made for the first TEAM. To stagger terms, and thus preserve continuity from year to year, the first committee will have members with terms of 1, 2, and 3 years. Thereafter, terms will be for three years. Replacements for temporary absences will determined by regular faculty vote.
III. Procedure for Establishing the TEAM
The Division will hold elections to fill empty seats. It is the responsibility of the existing TEAM to conduct the election. The exception is for the first election that establishes the TEAM, for which the Division Head will be responsible.
Elections should be conducted in the semester immediately preceding an impending vacancy. Candidates are encouraged to provide a brief statement regarding their qualifications for the position. All balloting will be conducted using approval voting, where voters are allowed to vote or as few or as many nominees as they want. The candidate with the most votes is the winner of the election. In the event of a tie, a coin flip will determine the winner. For the first election only, the top three vote getters will be elected with the top vote getter receiving the 3-year term, the runner-up receiving the 2-year term, and the second runner-up receiving the 1-yr term.
Generally, the existing committee will receive the results and announce the election winner(s). The exception is the first election, for which the Division Head will be responsible for publicizing the results.
Approved by Division (4/15/14)