Faculty Evaluation Manual

The Manual for Faculty Evaluation is a collaborative effort involving the Faculty Senate Faculty Affairs Committee, the Office of the Provost, the Faculty Ombudsperson, the Council of Deans, and the Office of the General Counsel. The provisions of this manual are meant to be read in conjunction with the Faculty Handbook and the published policies of The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. If any provision of the manual conflicts with any provision of the handbook or board policy, the Faculty Handbook and The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees’ Policy control. This manual contains material that applies to all faculty members in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faculty in the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and faculty at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

In this manual, the term “department” is used to designate the smallest academic unit of the University. In some cases, this unit may be denominated a school or college rather than a department. “Department head” refers to the department’s highest ranking academic administrator and includes administrators with other titles, such as director or dean, who perform the duties of a unit administrator. Accordingly, the responsibilities of the department head may be executed by directors, deans, or other academic administrators. The term “bylaws” is used in this manual to designate the unit’s core procedures and policies that have been ratified by the majority of the tenured and tenure-track faculty of the unit.  Although certain academic units do not refer to their core procedures and policies as “bylaws,” the term is nevertheless intended to reference those procedures and policies, however denominated. Colleges not organized into departments or with a small number of departments are encouraged to work with the Office of the Provost to adapt the procedures in this manual.

The Faculty Evaluation Calendar is published at the beginning of each academic year on the Provost’s web site. This calendar contains the timelines and reporting deadlines for all the review and evaluation processes described in this manual.

Many of the procedures in this manual require affirmative action or participation by the faculty member who is being reviewed, evaluated, or considered for promotion or tenure. The manual contemplates a good faith effort on the part of the faculty member in complying with the provisions of the manual. A lack of a good faith effort may be properly taken into consideration in the retention review, annual evaluation, cumulative review, or tenure and promotion process.

Faculty and administrators are encouraged to participate in the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan for International and Intercultural Awareness, now called Ready for the World. This initiative provides that discussion of the importance of international/intercultural expertise and experience should be incorporated into tenure, promotion, and annual review statements.

The appeal process available to faculty members is described in chapter 5 of the Faculty Handbook. A faculty member may initiate an appeal after receiving notice of a final administrative decision concerning any of the evaluation processes in this manual.

Revisions to the Manual for Faculty Evaluation are made in consultation with and the approval of the Faculty Senate Faculty Affairs Committee and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for final approval by the full Faculty Senate.