Evaluation and Promotion of NTT Faculty

Procedures for the evaluation and promotion of non-tenure track faculty

Non-tenure track faculty in the unit are expected to engage primarily in teaching activities and service activities related to teaching. Within the unit, non-tenure track faculty can serve on all unit committees except those concerned with progress towards promotion reviews of tenured and tenure track faculty.  In addition, the unit encourages non-tenured track faculty to engage in research, creative, and real world activities related to their areas of expertise. 

Promotion to Senior Lecturer: Criteria

As specified in the Media School tenure and promotion guidelines, lecturers are evaluated for promotion on the basis of teaching. According to the Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs (VPFAA):

For Lecturers/Senior Lecturers/Teaching Professors, Teaching is the only category considered in evaluation for promotion. Service or Research in support of Teaching consistent with appointments may be included as part of the teaching dossier.

Lecturers (including Clinical Lecturers) who seek promotion to Senior Lecturer must have demonstrated Excellence in Teaching, based on performance in the classroom. Lecturers may be assigned service or research in support of teaching. If so, those accomplishments contribute to the evaluating of their teaching.

Lecturers can achieve excellence in teaching solely on the basis of their teaching efforts on the IU Bloomington campus; national impact is not a requirement. A four-option continuum is used to rate candidate performance in teaching: excellentt, very good, effective and ineffective.

Evidence of excellence includes (but is not limited to) the following:

1. A record of high quality teaching demonstrated by sustained excellence in classroom performance.
2. A trajectory of improved teaching skills as shown by various measures of teaching effectiveness, including, but not limited to, student evaluations.
3. Peer observations and evaluations of teaching effectiveness.
4. A record of successful teaching across the undergraduate curriculum within an area of expertise and, when applicable, in different teaching environments (e.g., large and small class sizes, introductory and advanced courses).
5. Unsolicited letters from students as well as letters solicited by the unit or school.
6. Undergraduate and graduate student advising/mentoring activities.
7. Teaching awards and other recognition of pedagogical excellence.
8. Participation in course and curriculum development and innovation.
9. Evidence of leadership/participation in the Media School’s instructional goals and objectives.
10. Development of new teaching materials such as textbooks, cases, instructor manuals, student guides, websites, and videos.
11. Participation in teaching and learning activities within the Media School, IUB or peer professional groups.
12. Published peer-reviewed, non peer-reviewed, and invited articles related to teaching.
13. Presentations at local, statewide or national/international conferences about teaching.
14. Supervision of independent study students.
15. Evidence of continued practice in the areas of teaching expertise.
16. Committee membership for IMP students.

Teaching Observations

The Unit Director will work with the candidate to schedule 1 to 2 peer teaching observations each year of the probationary period. It is expected that the observing faculty member will write a report of their observation and meet with the candidate to discuss that report by providing insights into the candidate’s strengths and suggestions for areas of improvement.

Service in support of teaching includes (but is not limited to):

1. Membership on graduate student MA/MS committees.
2. Supervision and mentorship of AIs with significant instructional responsibilities.
3. Involvement in student groups/clubs that support student learning and professional development.
4. Development of service-learning components to the Media School’s curriculum.
5. Internal or external service awards and grants that contribute to teaching.
6. Participation or leadership in unit, Media School, and campus committees related to teaching.
7. Participation in Media School and IUB activities in support of the teaching mission (e.g., attending commencement, supporting activities related to student scholarship and professional development).
8. Development of educational programs, workshops, and other training ventures for Media School constituencies.
9. Public service to the community that calls upon professional expertise as a teacher, pedagogical scholar, or practitioner.
10. Leadership in service activities of professional organizations.

Annual evaluations of progress towards promotion

As required by the Media School tenure and promotion policy, the Unit Director serves as the lecturer’s official mentor during their first year or appoints a mentor for the first year. Lecturers are evaluated on their progress towards promotion each year in the spring semester. Annual reviews are completed by CS tenured faculty, senior lecturers, teaching professors, and professors of practice who have passed their major performance review. The Unit Director must meet in-person with the lecturer to discuss the annual review.

In Communication Science it is expected that the lecturer will work with the Director to create a mini annual review dossier by March 15^th of each year. Included in the mini-Dossier must be:

1. A brief statement of teaching philosophy
2. A description of courses taught that year and how they were designed, updated, or any other pertinent information.
3. Syllabi of courses taught that year.
4. A summary of teaching evaluations for the year.
5. A list of service activities related to teaching for the year.

Other types of evidence of excellence in teaching can also be included. Each year all the information collected for the mini-dossier will be saved in a shared secure server in preparation for the creation of the promotion dossier.

Third Year Review

During the third year, a more substantial review must be completed by the end of the spring semester. Lecturers are expected to prepare a dossier for this review. In addition to materials listed earlier as evidence for excellence in teaching, a personal statement on teaching and service contributions related to teaching at IU must be included. An effective narrative is likely to include broad goals, specific activities and contributions, and an assessment of growth and accomplishments.

For the Communication Science third year review the dossier must contain (at a minimum):

1. Teaching statement
2. List of courses taught
3. Syllabi of courses taught
4. Summary of teaching evaluations for all courses taught
5. List of service activities related to teaching

At the beginning of the spring semester, one or two members of the vote-eligible faculty, in consultation with the candidate, are appointed to serve as the promotion committee for the lecturer. They will work with the candidate to prepare the statements and dossier for the third year review and for the promotion dossier in year six.

This committee, along with the Unit Director, will then work with the candidate to expand this third year review dossier into the promotion dossier required by the first day of classes in the fall semester of the sixth year. 

The vote-eligible faculty will meet to evaluate the third year review dossier and vote on retention.

Standard annual reviews will be completed by the end of spring semester in the fourth and fifth years.

Promotion Procedures

In the sixth year, the candidate’s promotion committee will present the candidate’s dossier to the unit’s vote-eligible faculty for evaluation and voting after which they will finalize a report of the unit’s evaluation of the dossier. The Unit Director will then write a recommendation. The Unit Director will make sure that vote-eligible faculty have access to the candidate’s dossier and the committee’s draft of the unit evaluation report at least one week before the first day of classes. The Unit Director will schedule a dossier review meeting during the 2^nd week of September. The completed dossier must be sent by the Unit Director to the Media School deans by October 1 of the sixth year.

Additional details about year-to-year procedures, as well as VPFAA policy related to the hiring and promotion of NTT faculty, is outlined in the Media School tenure and promotion policy.

External reviewer letters

Indiana University-Bloomington requires six (6) letters for the dossier. The letter writers must be senior TT (tenured associate and full professors) and senior NTT faculty (senior lecturers, professors of practice who have passed their major performance review and teaching professors). The letters should come from two distinct and clearly labeled lists of potential reviewers, one proposed by the candidate and one proposed by the Unit Director. Letters in the dossier must include three from each list. Media School deans must approve the reviewers proposed in these lists before letters are solicited, and the letters must be requested and received by the Unit Director. Of the six letters, a maximum of two letters (one from the candidate’s list, the other from the unit’s list) may be solicited from faculty in the Media School’s units that are outside of the candidate’s home unit. The remaining letters must be solicited from outside the Media School with “outside” including (1) faculty at other schools and departments on the Bloomington campus and (2) faculty with appropriate qualifications and teaching expertise at off-campus peer institutions and prestigious colleges. For the school’s lecturer candidates who have a background in media industries/professions and teach skills courses, up to two of these outside letters (again, one from the candidate’s list, the other from the unit’s list) may be solicited from highly qualified media professionals who are able to evaluate how the candidate’s teaching and service work related to teaching prepare students for careers and leadership in media professions.

Vote-eligible faculty

After the review letters have arrived, typically in the early fall, vote-eligible faculty at the unit level (first) and then school levels meet to discuss the case, rate the candidate’s performance in teaching, and vote on the question of promotion. All full professors, associate professors, senior lecturers, professors of practice who have passed their major performance review, and teaching professors are eligible to vote. If a unit does not have sufficient number of vote-eligible faculty (at least four), an ad hoc committee will be created. Faculty are eligible to vote only if they have been “materially engaged” in the review process, as evidence (for example) by their familiarity with the dossier and attendance at meetings where the case is discussed. No proxy voting is allowed. 

Merit Review Procedures

In addition to progress reviews, lecturers also undergo merit reviews at the beginning of each spring semester. These merit reviews will assess the candidate’s teaching and service related to teaching over the last calendar year. In addition, creative, research and real world activities related to the candidate’s area(s) of expertise will be taken into account. Real world activities might include things like expert testimony and ex parte presentations or filings prepared for legal institutions in the process of evaluating or deciding matters of policy related to communication.

(Approved January 12, 2018)
(Amended 8/28/2020)
(Amended 11/14/2022)