Annual Departmental Reviews
Each year in the department of Curriculum and Instruction, faculty are expected to meet with the Department Chair to review their year and assess their progress toward review, tenure, and promotion.
At the end of 2009-2010, I met with Dr. Michael Jacobson at which time we reviewed my course evaluations and discussed my research agenda and activity. At that time, my evaluations were fair. Students from my Fall 2009 class had only complained about the textbook that was too difficult and inaccessible for them. I explained to him that I had made changes during the course to address those complaints and he agreed I had overall high evaluations, particularly for a first year professor. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the letter or evaluation that he wrote me at the time. I did not realize at that time that I would need to keep those, and there is not a copy of it in the department office files, paper or electronic.
At the end of 2010-2011, my meeting with Dr. Jacobson revealed indicated a "strong performance in most areas of the traditional triad: teaching, research, and service." In his review of my evaluations he stated that students felt I was knowledgeable, clear in my explanation, and able to create an open atmosphere where students felt they could express themselves freely. One thing he noted was that I genuinely care about my students--both academically and as people. In terms of research, he noted that I had a scholarly publication in the North Carolina Middle School Journal as well as manuscripts submitted for publication. He listed my attendance at AERA and S-STEP conferences, both of which were international in scope. My service record, as stated my the chair, was "excellent" at all levels. He noted my service to the International Alternative Service trip to the Dominican Republic and the Professional Advisory Council of the Middle Grades Program. He also noted that I was part of the team that was recognized by the National Professors of Middle Level Education as the Outstanding Middle Level Teacher Education Program that year. Overall, his comments were positive and helpful.
In the 2011-2012 year, I met with Dr. Jacobson as part of my third year review and he counted that as my annual review. At that time, he stated that I needed more publications, which was exactly the case. He reviewed my teaching evaluations and peer evaluations, which were overall positive. He questions one class that had some negative feedback, at which point I explained that it had been the Spring of 2011 when the weather was so terrible and I did not yet have the knowledge, skill, or resources to hold classes online. Students in those evaluations expressed frustration with the record number of snow days. While in some ways, I felt those comments were unfair, I also made immediate moves to attend workshops to improve my ability to utilize the course management tools that we had available campus-wide. The web-conferencing tool was particularly helpful, and in the Spring of 2012 I used it often when inclement weather was an issue, particularly for off-campus teaching assignments. Dr. Jacobson, at that time, felt my service was still excellent and his overall assessment was that I was on track for promotion and tenure. His advice was to just keep doing what I was doing. Unfortunately, there is no record of this, other than the letter that stated I had been reviewed and accepted to continue forward.
In the wake of the 2012-2013 school year, Dr. Jacobson stepped down as the chair. He was out of town most of the summer and it was impossible for us to meet to review my year prior to school beginning again. He did write me a letter after reviewing evaluations, my updated curriculum vita, and a list of my service activities. He noted that "student evaluations indicate excellent performance in both the undergraduate and graduate courses assigned to you." He recognized that students found me to be responsive, caring, accessible, and knowledgeable. He acknowledged my two publications from that year as well as the numerous papers and manuscripts at various stages of completion. In terms of service, one major change was my switch to becoming the Program Director (at that point, Coordinator), which is a huge service commitment to the department. Additionally, he noted the work I was doing with the Collegiate Middle Level Association, as that was the year we really began to do significant service, fundraising, and professional development as a student organization. In closing, he reminded me that I would need to do everything in my power to make sure the manuscripts submitted "bear fruit" to ensure my promotion and tenure eligibility. I definitely appreciated his honesty and did exactly that as a result.
In the 2013 school year, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction had Interim Chair, Dr. Susan Colby. Under her leadership, a team of faculty leaders worked to revamp the annual review process. With the potential for all faculty to contribute to this effort, we met regularly, discussed and developed a rubric to streamline the process and make it more transparent. As part of the new process, faculty themselves are tasked with making a self-assessment of their progress; also, the review is for the calendar year rather than the academic year. This seems a better way to fully assess each individual and shares the workload of the Chair. For 2013, I compiled a report of my progress in teaching, scholarship, and service. The report is rather extensive and much more detailed than in years past with room for the Chair to then also assess based on our self-assessment reports and curriculum vita. After meeting with Dr. Colby, she wrote up her assessment, which you can see on the final document linked below. Because there is so much detail in that report, I will be brief here and encourage you to take a look at the new process. Overall, Dr. Colby found that I met expectations for teaching and had engaged in activities that strengthened my teaching. In scholarship, I also met expectations. In 2013, I had no publications, but many submissions came to "bear fruit" (three in January of 2014 alone). In terms of service, in 2013 I exceeded expectations. My service record was exemplary and I made "significant contributions) at all levels. She noted in particular my service to Middle Grades Program as "outstanding" and expressed gratitude for the amount of time I invest in the program and its students. She also noted the Outstanding Service Award I received in 2014 based on my service record. In conclusion, Dr. Colby felt that I was making significant progress toward promotion and tenure which was outstanding in all three areas.
I hope the summaries of my Annual Reviews are helpful in contextualizing my progress toward promotion and tenure. I apologize for the lack of official reports, but think the three here are representative of my overall academic record and commitment to my teaching, research, and service.
At the end of 2009-2010, I met with Dr. Michael Jacobson at which time we reviewed my course evaluations and discussed my research agenda and activity. At that time, my evaluations were fair. Students from my Fall 2009 class had only complained about the textbook that was too difficult and inaccessible for them. I explained to him that I had made changes during the course to address those complaints and he agreed I had overall high evaluations, particularly for a first year professor. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the letter or evaluation that he wrote me at the time. I did not realize at that time that I would need to keep those, and there is not a copy of it in the department office files, paper or electronic.
At the end of 2010-2011, my meeting with Dr. Jacobson revealed indicated a "strong performance in most areas of the traditional triad: teaching, research, and service." In his review of my evaluations he stated that students felt I was knowledgeable, clear in my explanation, and able to create an open atmosphere where students felt they could express themselves freely. One thing he noted was that I genuinely care about my students--both academically and as people. In terms of research, he noted that I had a scholarly publication in the North Carolina Middle School Journal as well as manuscripts submitted for publication. He listed my attendance at AERA and S-STEP conferences, both of which were international in scope. My service record, as stated my the chair, was "excellent" at all levels. He noted my service to the International Alternative Service trip to the Dominican Republic and the Professional Advisory Council of the Middle Grades Program. He also noted that I was part of the team that was recognized by the National Professors of Middle Level Education as the Outstanding Middle Level Teacher Education Program that year. Overall, his comments were positive and helpful.
In the 2011-2012 year, I met with Dr. Jacobson as part of my third year review and he counted that as my annual review. At that time, he stated that I needed more publications, which was exactly the case. He reviewed my teaching evaluations and peer evaluations, which were overall positive. He questions one class that had some negative feedback, at which point I explained that it had been the Spring of 2011 when the weather was so terrible and I did not yet have the knowledge, skill, or resources to hold classes online. Students in those evaluations expressed frustration with the record number of snow days. While in some ways, I felt those comments were unfair, I also made immediate moves to attend workshops to improve my ability to utilize the course management tools that we had available campus-wide. The web-conferencing tool was particularly helpful, and in the Spring of 2012 I used it often when inclement weather was an issue, particularly for off-campus teaching assignments. Dr. Jacobson, at that time, felt my service was still excellent and his overall assessment was that I was on track for promotion and tenure. His advice was to just keep doing what I was doing. Unfortunately, there is no record of this, other than the letter that stated I had been reviewed and accepted to continue forward.
In the wake of the 2012-2013 school year, Dr. Jacobson stepped down as the chair. He was out of town most of the summer and it was impossible for us to meet to review my year prior to school beginning again. He did write me a letter after reviewing evaluations, my updated curriculum vita, and a list of my service activities. He noted that "student evaluations indicate excellent performance in both the undergraduate and graduate courses assigned to you." He recognized that students found me to be responsive, caring, accessible, and knowledgeable. He acknowledged my two publications from that year as well as the numerous papers and manuscripts at various stages of completion. In terms of service, one major change was my switch to becoming the Program Director (at that point, Coordinator), which is a huge service commitment to the department. Additionally, he noted the work I was doing with the Collegiate Middle Level Association, as that was the year we really began to do significant service, fundraising, and professional development as a student organization. In closing, he reminded me that I would need to do everything in my power to make sure the manuscripts submitted "bear fruit" to ensure my promotion and tenure eligibility. I definitely appreciated his honesty and did exactly that as a result.
In the 2013 school year, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction had Interim Chair, Dr. Susan Colby. Under her leadership, a team of faculty leaders worked to revamp the annual review process. With the potential for all faculty to contribute to this effort, we met regularly, discussed and developed a rubric to streamline the process and make it more transparent. As part of the new process, faculty themselves are tasked with making a self-assessment of their progress; also, the review is for the calendar year rather than the academic year. This seems a better way to fully assess each individual and shares the workload of the Chair. For 2013, I compiled a report of my progress in teaching, scholarship, and service. The report is rather extensive and much more detailed than in years past with room for the Chair to then also assess based on our self-assessment reports and curriculum vita. After meeting with Dr. Colby, she wrote up her assessment, which you can see on the final document linked below. Because there is so much detail in that report, I will be brief here and encourage you to take a look at the new process. Overall, Dr. Colby found that I met expectations for teaching and had engaged in activities that strengthened my teaching. In scholarship, I also met expectations. In 2013, I had no publications, but many submissions came to "bear fruit" (three in January of 2014 alone). In terms of service, in 2013 I exceeded expectations. My service record was exemplary and I made "significant contributions) at all levels. She noted in particular my service to Middle Grades Program as "outstanding" and expressed gratitude for the amount of time I invest in the program and its students. She also noted the Outstanding Service Award I received in 2014 based on my service record. In conclusion, Dr. Colby felt that I was making significant progress toward promotion and tenure which was outstanding in all three areas.
I hope the summaries of my Annual Reviews are helpful in contextualizing my progress toward promotion and tenure. I apologize for the lack of official reports, but think the three here are representative of my overall academic record and commitment to my teaching, research, and service.