Career Progression

Department Chairs' Information for IAS Career Progression

NOTE: NO TAI forms for IAS Career Progression.

FROM A GUIDE TO INSTRUCTIONAL ACADEMIC STAFF CAREER PROGRESSION AND PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT AT UW-LA CROSSE:

5.2. Departmental Materials

5.2.1 Department IAS Promotion Committee Report

This section of the report justifies the departmental promotion committee’s decision that, in the context of the department, the candidate’s record warrants career progression. This section consists of separate statements on teaching, professional development/creative activity/scholarship, and/or service. The vote of the committee is reported on the transmittal form and a signature page, signed by all members of the committee, is to be appended to this section of the report. A sample signature page is included at the end of this document. Once the deadline for transmittal of the portfolio to the Dean’s office has passed, the portfolio is closed and cannot be modified.

5.2.1.1 Teaching
A candidate’s departmental colleagues are in the best position to make accurate judgments as to the quality of instruction in that discipline. The CPC assumes that a candidate recommended for career progression by a department is regarded as a good teacher within that department. Nonetheless, the CPC asks the department to evaluate the quality of teaching both in terms of content and method and to provide specific evidence in support of the candidate’s success in securing student interest, effort, and progress.

Examples of such evidence include reports of classroom observation by tenured faculty or senior IAS, comparative results on common or standardized tests, outcomes of departmental assessment activities, and performances or exhibitions by the candidate’s students. Simple testimony that a candidate is believed to be a good teacher, whether from the department chair, chair of the department’s IAS promotion committee, or a mentor, is likely to be greatly discounted without specific corroborating evidence. Classroom visit reports on their own carry less weight than an analysis of the reports that places the observations in context and draws appropriate conclusions. Reports or letters resulting from classroom visits may be included in a hyperlink.

 

This section should put SEI information into context by including, for example: (1) an explanation of how the candidate’s SEI scores compare to others in the department, (2) a comparison of SEI scores for a course with those of department members who teach the same course, (3) an interpretation of the candidate’s SEI scores in general and for specific courses, and (4) an explanation of any trends in those scores.

5.2.1.2 Professional Development, Creative Activity and/or Scholarship
This section should include a statement on the significance of the professional development, creative activity or scholarship within the discipline and the department.  The statement should put this contribution in context of the amount of time devoted to professional development, creative activity and/or scholarship on the IAS Individual Development Plan  (or departmental equivalent).

If the IAS has participated in professional development activities, this section should describe the quality of these activities and how these activities have made a contribution to the advancing the IAS’ program and/or department.  The committee should discuss how the IAS professional development activities were evaluated. 

If the IAS produced scholarship, this section should discuss the contributions this scholarship has made to the discipline, program, and/or department in relationship to the department’s definition of scholarship.  In cases of multiple authorship, the promotion committee should address the candidate’s role in the performance and reporting of the scholarship.

If the IAS produced creative activity, the committee should discuss how these creative activities are evaluated by the discipline as well as accepted standards for documenting and reporting the results of creative efforts

5.2.1.3 Service
This section of the report should address the quality of service activities and their value to the department, college, university, and profession. Where service is external to the university this section should discuss the role of the candidate’s professional expertise in the success of the service activity.

5.2.2. OPTIONAL: Department Chair’s Recommendation Letter

This letter is optional. If provided it should summarize the candidate’s major accomplishments and include additional comments the department chair may wish to make, i.e., beyond what is contained in the IAS promotion committee report.

ITEMS TO INCLUDE IN THE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION LETTER (either department chair's letter or career progression committee letter):
1. Current activities occurring in your department that may affect the IAS candidate (e.g., restructuring, curriculum revisions, etc.)
2. Is there something special/different about your department/unit? (e.g., What is the ESL Institute? What is the Statistical Consulting Center and how is this individual involved?, etc.)
3. Does your department conduct annual merit reviews for instructional academic staff? If so, please discuss the procedure. If not, it is important to mention this in the department's report so the CPC Committee will know why merit review scores are missing from the candidate's file.
4. Any other information about your department/unit or about the IAS candidate that you feel may be useful to the CPC committee as they review the individual's portfolio.

5.2.3. Statistical Information
This section reflects statistical information on the candidate and is conveyed via the department chair. This includes SEI and merit information. Sample forms are included at the end of this document.

5.2.3.1 SEI Information.  The department provides the SEI average (across sections) and ranking for the candidate along with departmental data (such as ranges and averages) for each of the past six semesters. A copy of a blank student evaluation form used by the department should also be provided. If the candidate has been involved in the pilot work on a campus-wide SEI form (Fall 2006 on), information on all measures used should be provided. The method for calculating the reported SEI scores (e.g. whether it is a mean value, median value, fractional median value, etc.) should be described, as should the department’s procedures governing student evaluation of instruction (including the required frequency of evaluation and the proportion of the instructor’s class sections that must be surveyed). Click here to download SEI Information form.

5.2.3.2 Merit Information.  When available, the department provides the merit ranking (or categorization) for the candidate along with departmental data (such as ranges and averages). In addition, the department briefly describes the merit evaluation procedure used by the department. If applicable, the relative weighting of teaching, scholarship and service used in the merit process are included. Any weighting for determining merit scores is explained. Click here to download Merit Information form.

5.2.4 Department’s Statement on IAS Professional Development/Creative Activity/Scholarly Activity

5.2.5 Transmittal and Signature Form from the Department (scanned with original sent to the Dean) Click here to download Signature Form.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING THE ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO:

THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

  1. Uploads the career progression materials (in pdf format) to the department level. Department IAS Career Progression report includes the following:
    1. Department IAS Career Progression committee letter.
    2. Department Chair letter (optional).
    3. Scanned version of the candidate’s most recent IDP.
    4. Department’s Statement on Professional Development, Creative Activity and Scholarly Activity
    5. Description of Department’s SEI and Merit procedures.
    6. Scanned version of the transmittal form.
    7. Statistical Information on the Candidate – SEI and merit rankings vis a vis the department.
  2. Selects “IAS report-Departmental” under run report.
  3. Double-checks that the report contains the appropriate elements from the correct dates. Any materials hyperlinked to this IAS Departmental Report (e.g., Department IAS Career Progression Committee letter, IDP, etc.) should be attached in pdf format. The final IAS Departmental Report should then be saved as .html.
  4. Forwards departmental report (in html version), the candidate report, and the original transmittal form to the Dean (cc'd to candidate). The date of the email indicates the receipt of the portfolio.