Appendix B

Merit Review Policy and Assessment Guidelines

To arrive at a grade out of 5 for each faculty member for each of the 3 fields (research, teaching, service) weighting:

• For assistant professors: research (50%): teaching (40%); service (10%).
• For associate and full professors: research (40%): teaching (40%); service (20%).

On a grade out of 5, 5 is outstanding; 4 is very good; 3 is adequate; 2 needs some improvement; 1 is inadequate.

We have arranged this list in something resembling a descending order, starting with items that typically receive greater weight to items that receive lower weight. Please note that this is not an exact science.

We also recognize that not all publications are the same, even within the same category. We trust reviewers’ experience and judgments in their ratings.

Research

• Refereed scholarly books and refereed scholarly articles (quality of journal and quality of press will matter)
• Edited books and/or journal issues based on original research (priority placed on original research rather than on a conference, or conference panel based publication) published during the year of assessment (points for consideration: journal prestige; quality of press; length of the book).
• Creative activity: a feature film directed/produced with distribution or other documentation of public exhibition as equivalent to a book or an edited volume; curated event; collaborative creative project; or manuscript written for a non-academic, general audience clearly connected to the author’s area of academic expertise and ideally based on original research.
• Book chapters in edited collections (quality of press will matter as will whether chapter author is also editor of the collection)
• Grants received during the year (large external grants valued over internal grants)
• Awards, prizes, and honors received during the year (major external recognitions valued over internal ones)
• Off-campus invited research talks at other venues, keynote and plenary talks
  Paper presentations, panel presentations, guest lectures, workshop participation at other campuses or at conferences.
• On-campus guest lectures in courses, talks, workshop participation, introduction of speakers/filmmakers
• Other non-refereed publications, public engagement
• Accepted refereed publications
• Work-in-progress towards publication with milestones identified (e.g. contract, archive visit, interviews conducted, revision and resubmit)

Notes

• A book generally weighs roughly 6X a refereed journal article
• A book chapter can be equal to a refereed article if peer reviewed (other than by editor) (if we can tell that), or equal to a non- refereed article
• An edited volume might be equivalent to 2 refereed articles/chapter
• Encyclopedia articles might be worth ¼ of a chapter (unless it’s an extensive piece). Book reviews, ¼ of an un-refereed article/chapter
• Individual blogs on hosted site maybe as much? Consistent blogs on own or shared site equivalent to a non-refereed chapter?
• We’re focused on “published” rather than either “accepted” or “submitted” but will pay more attention to those if the person otherwise has no or few publications

Teaching

• New courses
• Graduate student advising—Ph.D. adviser, MA /MS advisor, committee member
• Qualification Examination or Dissertation Defense participation
• Teaching publications—refereed articles and textbooks, teaching grants
• Major revision of courses, course improvements and course innovation
• Large courses, service-learning courses
• Independent studies—undergraduate and graduate
• Student achievements and honors
• Participation in teaching improvement activities
• Teaching presentations
• Mentoring others including graduate students on teaching

Service

• Service honors/recognition
• National/International Service—committees, chair committees, service to professional associations
• Media appearances including television, radio, podcasts, etc. clearly connected to the author’s area of academic expertise. Delineate between local, state, national, international platforms.
• Professional service: journal editor, book series editor, editorial and other types of boards (quality of journal and quality of press or organization will matter)
• External tenure/promotion reviews
• Unit/School/University committee chair and recognized leadership roles
• Manuscript reviewing for peer reviewed journals or book publication
• Fellowship and grant reviewing (e.g. ACLS, Ford, NEH)
• Service publications (again, consider refereed, non-refereed, book reviews and other essays published in scholarly journals and other major media outlets.
• School/University: member on committees, advising student clubs, and related activities.
• Community service clearly connected to the author’s area of academic expertise

Notes

Minimal expectation of service across 2 of 4 areas (department, university, profession, community), more recognition for more categories.

Revised January 12, 2024