Institute of Technology
Hiring and Evaluation of Part-time Instructors

Approved April 14, 2006.

This document reflects a philosophy that the Institute should structure its hiring process to ensure that only the most highly qualified faculty teach within the Institute. Once hired, faculty should find an environment that enables them to develop as teachers.

Hiring

Applicants to part-time instructor positions should provide the following material as part of the application packet:

Curriculum Vita
A Philosophy of Teaching statement along with documentation that both 1) provides evidence of teaching effectiveness, and 2) shows how the philosophy has been enacted in teaching in specific settings in the past, whether formal courses or informally. This document should not exceed three pages.
A minimum of two professional references addressing teaching or teaching promise. These should be sent to the Director of the Institute.

Applicant interviews will consist of:

A teaching demonstration of 30 minutes, followed by a 30 minute discussion on teaching with those attending.
Meetings with groups of faculty and/or individuals, especially those teaching the same or similar courses.
A meeting with the Director of the Institute.

Evaluation

The ultimate aim of any faculty evaluation process is to improve student learning. This leads to the following two concrete goals: 1) to help the faculty member develop as a teacher, and 2) to provide evaluative information for reappointment decisions. This section outlines a faculty evaluation process for part-time instructors hired in UWT's Institute of Technology on a part-time, per-term basis so as to meet these goals.

Material collection

The part-time instructor will provide to the Institute office the following material in hardcopy form each quarter in which the part-time instructor is employed:

one week prior to the start of the term: the course syllabus to be handed out to students, detailing course objectives, course topics and order, required text and readings, basis for assigning final grades, brief description of each of the graded student learning assessments used (labs, homeworks, exams, etc.).
at the time final grades are handed in: all assessments (homeworks, exams) given to students.

These items will be placed in the part-time instructor's personnel file. This material will only be used for evaluative purposes, and ownership of this material remains with the part-time instructor. This material, along with end-of-term student course evaluations, will be reviewed by voting faculty and the Director at the time of reappointment of the part-time instructor.

Mentorship

A mentor is assigned during the first 3 quarters in which a part-time instructor is hired. The 3 quarters need not be consecutive. The mentor (which need not but can be the same from quarter to quarter) will be appointed by the Director, with advice as to choice of mentor from the voting faculty when the faculty votes to hire the part-time instructor faculty member. Mentors will generally be chosen based on a match of subject matter knowledge with the part-time instructor.

The mentor's role is to help the part-time instructor integrate into the program and the local academic culture. The mentor's responsibilitiies are 1) to meet with the part-time instructor prior to the start of the term to discuss the syllabus and request changes to it as appropriate, and answer any questions the part-time instructor might have, and 2) to be available for consultation by the part-time instructor during the term. At the pre-quarter meeting during the second and third terms in which the part-time instructor is hired, the part-time instructor and mentor should also include a retrospective discussion on the previous quarter's teaching and, if the same course is being taught, changes that the part-time instructor will make to the course to incorporate lessons learned. All discussions between the mentor and part-time instructor are confidential, and are not to be used for evaluation purposes.

Part-Time Instructor Cooperation

In order to increase an part-time instructor's cooperation in this process, the following should be conditions of employment, and included in the appointment letter: