Faculty Evaluation at Mason Korea

Term Faculty Evaluation at Mason Korea

Updated December 12, 2023

Purpose

Mason Korea is committed to supporting faculty excellence in the classroom and providing faculty with a path toward multi-year reappointment and merit-based promotion. With these development goals in mind, this document describes the process for reappointment and performance evaluation at Mason Korea.

Performance Evaluation Overview

Faculty on 4-4 teaching loads will be evaluated primarily on their teaching; evidence of professional development activities related to teaching may also be submitted for consideration. For these faculty, the evaluation will be weighted at 80% teaching and 20% service. Faculty who receive release time for research or additional service or administrative work will be evaluated as well on those activities, according to percentages established in advance (e.g., 60% teaching, 20% research, 20% service) with the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs.

Full-time faculty performance in yearly evaluations will be judged either Outstanding, Excellent, Good or Unsatisfactory.  Faculty evaluated as unsatisfactory will develop a Performance Development Plan and will not be eligible for annual raises.

Faculty evaluation is performed by the Annual Review Committee, a standing committee of the Mason Korea Faculty Assembly that makes recommendations to the Campus Dean. The Mason Korea Annual Evaluation Guidelines and Mason Korea Faculty Handbook also has more information about criteria and procedures for evaluation and can be found here.

Portfolios for evaluation are due on January 31 of each calendar year. The requirements for portfolios and evaluation criteria are listed on the Mason Korea Annual Review Guidelines

Teaching

Effective teaching is demonstrated through a combination of course and curricular materials, learning outcomes, assignments, and assessments designed to promote student learning; through review of those materials, outcomes, assignments, and assessments by knowledgeable peers and colleagues; through student evaluations of their learning experiences; and through engaging in professional/teaching development activities. Evaluation of effective teaching never relies on student evaluations alone. 

Research and Scholarship

Scholarly achievement is demonstrated by original contributions to the advancement of the discipline/field of study, or to the integration of the discipline with other fields, or by the application of discipline- or field-based knowledge to the practice of a profession.   

Service

Service, which may include leadership responsibilities, is demonstrated by MK faculty participation in governance, and operational or development activities at Mason Korea, the University, or the profession. Required service at Mason Korea includes, but is not limited to, such activity as attendance at MK faculty assembly meetings and program coordinators meetings. Other examples of service are described in the Mason Korea Annual Evaluation Guidelines, but include student advising, developing or supporting co-curricular experiences for students, and mentoring colleagues.

Professional service is demonstrated by contributions to recognized societies and associations that promote research and scholarship and by consultancies and cooperative projects that make the MK faculty member's discipline or field-based knowledge and skills available to individuals, groups or agencies outside the University.  

Full-time Faculty Evaluation at Mason Korea

Faculty will be reappointed based on teaching performance, curricular need and enrollment demand.  Though research and service can bear weight in promotion decisions (see below), for the purposes of reappointment no amount of strong research or service can substitute for the failure to achieve at least satisfactory teaching (“Good” or above). Faculty members who fail to meet the standard of satisfactory in any annual review will be required to create a Performance Development Plan (PDP) to support their teaching performance to the satisfactory level.

Contracts for Mason Korea full-time faculty will be provided according to the following schedule: three single-year appointments, followed by multi-year appointment. Full term professors may be reappointed to contracts of up to five years. Mason Korea’s approach to teaching evaluation is developmental. If a faculty member has one unsatisfactory review, they will be reappointed, unless the teaching record fails to demonstrate basic learning, responsibility, ethics, or safety in the classroom. The faculty member will complete a Performance Development Plan (PDP) and will be provided with information and support to improve the areas of concern in the teaching. 

If a faculty member has a second unsatisfactory review following the first, they will not be reappointed.  Faculty on one-year contracts who have three unsatisfactory reviews out of five in a five-year period will not be reappointed, even if those unsatisfactory reviews are not consecutive. A faculty member on a three-year or five-year contract whose teaching is unsatisfactory two or more times during the length of the contract will not be reappointed.

Following the first unsatisfactory review, the faculty member will be provided with information and support to improve the areas of concern in the teaching. One unsatisfactory review during the length of 3-year or 5-year contracts will result in the faculty member being put on a single-year contract at the time of reappointment. Faculty will be returned to their multi-year contract (either 3 or 5-year, depending on the contract the faculty member was previously on) according to the requirements for new faculty on single-year contracts, above. Satisfactory years of teaching on the previous three or five-year contracts count toward this requirement.  For example, a faculty member who has an unsatisfactory rating in year one of his or her three-year contract would receive a one-year contract at the end of the three-year appointment.  However, after another satisfactory year, this faculty member would be eligible for a multi-year appointment (two satisfactory years on the three-year contract plus a satisfactory year on the one-year contract equals three consecutive satisfactory years).

Note that while these schedules are meant to provide probationary or developmental periods for faculty members, Mason Korea never has the obligation to reappoint a faculty member if the teaching record fails to demonstrate basic learning, responsible or ethical behavior or safety in the classroom.

In addition, even where teaching meets the standard of satisfactory or above for teaching, a faculty may not be reappointed if enrollment demand and curricular needs do not warrant the reappointment.

Full-time Faculty from George Mason University (US Campus)

Full-time members of the George Mason University faculty who are temporarily appointed to Mason Korea are evaluated by their Local Academic Unit (LAU) at the original/home/Korea campus using the established LAU procedure.

Classroom Observation

Classroom observations may be conducted by the Program Coordinator or a designee for the Coordinator approved by the Coordinator and the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, or a member of the Fairfax faculty approved by the Associate Dean and the Program Coordinator.  The Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs will conduct the classroom observation for full-time faculty in their first semester at Mason Korea. The class observer submits a written report.  

The example evaluation form provided below may be used by evaluators for their report.   The form, however, is not required and can be modified or not used, as the evaluator finds appropriate.  Once the faculty member receives the class observation report (which should be within two weeks of the observation), the faculty member is free to respond to the report in an addendum letter. The report (along with any response) will become part of the material for evaluation, as discussed above. 

Wherever possible, classroom observations will be conducted face-to-face but may be conducted remotely in the absence of a suitable local option. Faculty are encouraged to provide the faculty observer with administrator access to the class LMS site as part of the observation process.  

Faculty must also consider that class observation will be required in their promotion review materials. A minimum of three peer evaluations is required for promotion dossiers, including one completed by the administrative head of the home department or local academic unit, or a designated faculty member.  Those observations should be of different classes across multiple semesters/years and by different people whenever possible. 

Class Observation Schedule 

All full-time faculty must be observed in both the first and second semesters of teaching at Mason Korea. Faculty under single-year appointment must be observed annually (selecting either spring or fall semester). Faculty with three-year appointment must be observed twice during the contract period. Faculty with five-year appointment must be observed three times during the contract period. 

Mason Korea reserves the right to conduct additional classroom observations if the need arises.  

Procedures for Observing Teaching

  1. The observer will get in touch with the person to be observed and work out a mutually agreeable time for the class visit. The faculty member should give the observer a copy of the course syllabus and copies of any handouts relevant to the day’s activities.  The observer and the faculty member should briefly discuss (whether in person or over email) the faculty member’s plans and objectives for that day before the observer attends the class. 
  2. After the class visit, the observer and faculty member briefly discuss their reactions to the class: what were the perceptions of each about how the class went? This is also an opportunity for the observer to ask any questions about class activities. 
  3. The observer then writes a report on the class. A copy of the report should be sent to the faculty member and the original submitted to the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs to be placed in the faculty member’s file. 
  4. The faculty member has the opportunity to write a response letter, also to be included in the file, if they disagree with the letter or thinks that additional information is needed. 

(Sample) Classroom Observation Form

Spring Classroom Observation due date: Last day of April

Fall Classroom Observation due date: Last day of October

Classroom Recording Guideline

Adjunct Faculty Evaluation at Mason Korea 

Contracts for adjunct faculty appointments will be determined based on teaching performance, curricular need, and enrollment demand.  

New adjunct faculty members shall be evaluated during their first semester of teaching at Mason Korea. Following their initial evaluation, all adjunct faculty members shall be evaluated annually. This evaluation shall occur whether or not the individual teaches in consecutive semesters during the academic year.  

Evaluation dossiers must include student course evaluations for all academic courses taught during the semester, syllabi and other course material, and a classroom observation (see above for observation process). Dossiers must be submitted no later than one month after the conclusion of the semester to be evaluated.  

Only adjunct faculty members with satisfactory evaluations will be offered contracts for subsequent teaching opportunities. 

One-Semester Appointments 

Faculty on terminal one-semester appointments may opt out of evaluation but will not be reappointed without evaluation of teaching as described above.  Though not required, Mason Korea recommends that such faculty do participate in the evaluation process, both for the inherent value in the process and also so that there will be an evaluation available in case there were interest in teaching past one semester. 

 


 

Guidance for Term Faculty Promotion

In accordance with section 2.7.3.1 of the Faculty Handbook, Term Faculty member may be considered for promotion, normally after five years of service in the current rank. Term faculty who meet the LAU criteria for promotion may be considered early; however, typical candidates for promotion have a minimum of three years teaching, research, or clinical work at George Mason University. Promotion may occur within the period of a multi-year contract. 

Processes and deadlines for submitting promotion materials to the Office of the Provost are found on the Office of the Provost website. The Provost will act on the recommendation for promotion. The Term Faculty member will be notified in writing of the decision. Term faculty who are promoted will be announced to the Board of Visitors. 

Tier 1 Promotion (from Assistant to Associate, or from Instructor to Senior Instructor) 

Candidates for Tier 1 promotion must demonstrate at least high competence in teaching (defined below and described in detail on the University Provost’s website). In cases where term faculty members have other contractual or defined responsibilities and or who receive release time for research, practice and scholarship or administrative responsibilities, this work will be considered in the promotion decision and will be evaluated according to percentages established in advance (e.g., 60% teaching, 20% research, practice and scholarship, 20% administrative responsibilities).   
 

Tier 2 Promotion (from Associate to Professor, or from Senior Instructor to Master Instructor)  

Candidates for Tier 2 promotion must demonstrate genuine excellence in teaching (defined below and described in detail on the University Provost’s website). In cases where term instructional faculty members have other contractual or defined responsibilities and who receive release time for research, practice, and scholarship, funding/grants, or administration service, this work will be considered in the promotion decision and will be evaluated according to percentages established in advance (e.g., 60% teaching, 20% research, 20% administrative responsibilities).  

For faculty hired at the associate or senior instructor level or at the time of Tier 1 promotion and ongoing from that point, there should be a clear written understanding in advance between the faculty member and the Mason Korea administration on the weight that will be given, if any, to research, practice and scholarship, and administration responsibilities in promotion decisions. This understanding should be documented in writing and maintained by the office of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, the home department or LAU, and by the term faculty member.   

Click here to see Office of the Provost Guidance for Genuine Excellence in Teaching for Term Faculty.

For additional information, please visit Supporting Efforts to Document and Assess Teaching and Learning