Nine-month faculty are expected to attend the campus-orientation sessions (in person or virtual) five working days prior to the first day of classes for each academic term, and they are released from duties incidental to their assigned courses no later than five working days after the last day of final examinations. When classes are not in session during the school year (e.g., fall break, the break between semesters, spring break), faculty are not expected to be working unless their particular role requires such. The nine-month individual appointment contract period for faculty unit members will extend from August to May which will vary each year as the academic calendar varies. Pay periods, however, are set from August 22 to May 21.
The Board of Regents annually sets the priorities for salaries to address institutional priorities. The president of the university may apply institutional priorities to a specific area of concentration, so long as it is a portion of the total salary pool. When applying performance-based salary adjustments, the adjustment provided to faculty will be based on their annual performance evaluation (in accordance with BOR Policy 4.4.4). Faculty who fail to meet expectations are not eligible to receive a performance-based salary adjustment. Compensation adjustments distributed in accordance with this policy that do not meet the criteria identified in BOR Policy 1.1.5 (4.2), which require board approval, may be approved at the institutional level. See BOR Policy 4:5.
Faculty may be assigned overload or summer courses, in addition to a faculty member’s base course load. Faculty who accept overloads and summer-term assignments will be compensated at the rate of eight percent of their base salary for each three-hour course taught. The rate may be increased by up to two percent to address exceptional circumstances.
Faculty members holding professional rank who, while employed by DSU on a tenure track or tenure contract, earn a terminal degree appropriate for their assigned teaching or research responsibilities will be awarded a salary adjustment. Faculty members who are promoted or granted a change in rank will receive an increment based on the faculty member’s current academic year base salary. See BOR Policy 4:5.
All faculty members will be significantly active in the broad areas of teaching, scholarship, and service as assigned by their institution. Within each area of professional responsibility, faculty members will be expected to achieve levels of service that are consistent with national standards for excellence. The quantitative expectations for activity in each area depend broadly on the mission of the university, the faculty member’s discipline and its role within the university, and on specific past and present role assignments of individual faculty responsibility. Given the relationship between the expectations for individual activity and the mission of a person’s university, department, discipline, and assignments, a variety of activities may warrant recognition in each area.
Although institutions inform faculty members of the activities to be reviewed when evaluating performance, the assessment of faculty performance cannot be reduced to a mere inventory of activities by kind and quantity. The institution shall evaluate not merely the kind and quantity of actions, but also the quality of the results achieved or services provided.
Quality of performance in teaching, advising, research, scholarship and creative activity and service is to be distinguished from quantity and not equated. For example, advising a large number of students does not speak to how well students are advised. Similarly, publishing several articles does not speak to the quality of the publications. Consequently, there must be evidence of quality performance in addition to the breadth and intensity of participation in workload activities and contribution to the profession. Furthermore, performance indicators are not intended to be used as a checklist in which faculty check off various indicators after completing a task or activity. In the absence of quality, the mere number of performance indicators met or exceeded does not ensure the grant of promotion, tenure or performance-based salary increases. If a faculty member or department head is not sure how to assess the quality of performance, several indicators that could be considered are outlined in BOR Policy 4.4.3.
Annual performance evaluations are done to promote positive communication between faculty and administration. They are also intended to increase awareness of institutional objectives and needs, to provide information for decisions on professional training, staff improvement programs, and those conditions that promote quality performance. They further provide basic information for personnel decisions such as discipline, contract renewal, salary and pay matters, tenure, and promotion, and they assess a faculty member’s performance relative to institutional standards that implement BOR Policy 4.4.3 and BOR Policy 4.4.4 . DSU’s annual evaluation process and evaluation form may be found on the Faculty Resources web page.
DSU’s standards for promotion and tenure follow the policies of the Board of Regents. DSU strives for excellence through accomplishment of its mission and strategic initiatives, and the institution’s faculty contribute to the university’s success through their specific assignments and accomplishments. DSU’s Standards Document is intended to define the university’s expectations for faculty. The standards take into consideration the university’s mission, the faculty member’s discipline, and the faculty member’s rank and role within the university. See also BOR Policy 4.4.6.
Faculty members can request consideration for prior service at another institution at anytime. Although prior-service credit toward tenure or continuing appointments may be awarded at any time, the Board of Regents strongly suggests that faculty members submit requests only after the faculty member has assembled a complete portfolio for tenure review. See BOR Policy 4.4.7.
Requests for prior service credit should be submitted on a Request for Prior Service Credit form found on section 6 on the AAC guidelines. The Board of Regents has the power to grant prior credit, but applications must be submitted to the dean, then approved by the provost and the president.
Faculty members at DSU are expected to fulfill certain responsibilities under the broad categories of instruction, service, and research. These are assigned specific workload units, the details of which may be found in the university’s workload guidelines. See also BOR Policy 4.3.3
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