1. The Departmental Performance Review Committee
October 25, 2016
Presented by:
Mónica Sánchez-Flores – PRC Coordinator

2. The Performance Review
Evaluation of performance under Article 7 is summative; the results are shared with the Dean
Performance reviews are conducted in the following cases:
To determine Right of First Refusal for sessional faculty [Article ] and LTC faculty [Article 7.1.3]—mandatory
Review for renewal of tenure-track appointment [5.2.2]— mandatory
Faculty member request (e.g. for tenure/promotion)-- voluntary
For Dean direct request (when request approved by the PRC after examining the factual evidence)

3. PRC Membership 7.3 Performance Review Committee
In each Department, a Departmental Performance Review Committee (PRC) shall be formed consisting of: a minimum of three elected members; one Faculty Association representative (non-voting); and the department Chair (non-voting)
Both genders shall be included wherever possible. At least one member of the committee must be representative of the appointment type (i.e. bipartite or tripartite) of the member(s) being evaluated. If a representative from one of the appointment types is not available, the committee shall choose such a representative from a cognate Department

4. Electing PRC Members
TRUFA advises a formal, secret ballot election by all department faculty be held to choose three normally tenured PRC members
Ideally, the PRC members’ terms (3 years is ideal) should be staggered to allow for mentoring and continuity
Department Chair normally chairs the PRC, unless the Chair is being evaluated or is in a conflict situation
PRC members should be reminded that all discussion and recommendations are to be held in confidence

5. PRC Procedures
Once the PRC committee is formed, the chair must identify departmental faculty for whom an evaluation is mandatory and send them a letter informing them that their performance will be evaluated
TRUFA has developed a template letter for this purpose, available in the TRUFA website
For all except sessional faculty, the PRC chair will request that each faculty member submit their most recent APAR
Both those required to be assessed or doing so voluntarily

6. PRC Procedures The chair then must establish a schedule for:
Classroom visits and assessment by colleagues
A member being evaluated may choose any colleague to conduct the assessment, not just members of the PRC
Student opinion surveys are now administrated by a third party: Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA) every course, every semester (see below)

7. Student Opinion Surveys
Now administrated by TRU’s Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA):
During the last 3 weeks of instruction for fall and winter semesters
During the last week of instruction of any summer session course
Student confidentiality:
Reports with fewer than 5 results are not distributed (consistent with the practice of BCStats and the BC Statistics Act)

8. Student Opinion Surveys
Memorandum of Settlement between TRU and TRUFA (July 21st 2015) to establish student evaluations every course, every semester
Moodle Course Evaluation process is no longer supported
The Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and IPA are not equipped to process the results and produce reports for Moodle evaluations anymore
TRUFA recommends that faculty get a colleague or staff member to administer course evaluations for them in this new process

9. PRC Meetings
Once the student survey results and colleague classroom visitation assessments have been submitted to the PRC chair, he/she shall schedule the first committee meeting
The meeting cannot take place without the TRUFA observer in attendance
PRC chairs should ensure that the TRUFA observer is included in meeting schedule planning

10. PRC Meetings Assessment of a member’s performance is based on
APAR (for tenured/tenure-track/LTC faculty only)
Student Opinion Surveys
Classroom Visitation Report
Any other relevant information provided by the member
The PRC assessment and recommendation are guided by
Article guidelines for teaching, service and scholarship (if applicable)
Department-determined standards for satisfactory performance in teaching, service and research (if applicable)

11. PRC Meetings The PRC should give consideration to the following:
(a) Individual consideration of each Member’s case
(b) Comparative consideration of the assessment of all Members in the Department(s) or discipline area
(c) The Member’s assigned workload in the Department/Discipline
(d) The appropriateness of the facilities and resources available for the Member’s teaching and scholarship; and
(e) Normally increasing expectations of performance as a Member progresses from rank to rank

12. PRC Meetings
The member being evaluated is given the opportunity to meet with the PRC before the review is completed
The member has the choice to accept the invitation or not
Invitation to clarify or supplement information if the member under evaluation thinks that it is needed
This invitation is to be made no matter if the PRC thinks that the evaluations will be satisfactory or not

13. PRC Recommendations
The PRC, after the review is completed, shall recommend to the Dean one of the following:
The Member’s performance has met the required standard or
The Member’s performance has not met the required standard
The PRC writes a Review Report to the Dean with its recommendation using a standard template provided by TRUFA (see website)
Copy the TRUFA observer
The PRC report is sent to the Member, but only after all semester grades have been submitted

14. PRC Meetings for Sessionals
Right of first refusal (ROFR) is the right to “substantially the same Sessional work, as determined by the department,” when it “is available in the subsequent academic year”
Probationary ROFR:
Is automatically granted for one academic year, after having taught the course for the first time
Full ROFR is granted:
Upon completion of a successful PR evaluation as per article 7.1.3, (iv) PRC is formed for evaluation of sessional faculty members after the initial Sessional appointment to establish right of first refusal (ROFR), as per article
Automatically (no need to put a PRC together) after having taught in two work terms (semesters or summer sessions) without a PRC being conducted, as per article

15. Chair & Dean Identify Members Needing PRC
Dept. Elects PRC
Chair & Dean Identify Members Needing PRC
(during first two weeks of semester)
Notice of PR Sent to Member
(no later than third week of semester)
PRC Schedules Peer Class Visitation
(mid semester; i.e., week )
Chair Contacts PRC & TRUFA Rep to Schedule PR Meeting
PRC Invites Member to Meet with Committee
PRC Meets, Completes PR, Sends Review Report to Dean/Director with Recommendations

16. Questions?
If you have questions or need clarification on issues related to Performance Reviews, please contact Mónica Sánchez-Flores, TRUFA PRC Coordinator or Lloyd Bennett, TRUFA Vice-President, Salary & Working Conditions