Quality Indices for Faculty Evaluation

This paper investigates procedures and criteria for the evaluation of faculty in higher education. It first surveys the different indices currently in use for evaluating research, teaching and service activities. It then discusses the use of these criteria in view of the shifting framework of evaluation in the university from that based on promotion and tenure decisions to one which is based on institutional review. Finally, conditions for the success of faculty evaluation are outlined. These include evaluation procedures that are consultative in nature, the specification of criteria and standards, and an emphasis on the critical role of faculty in evaluation and in becoming evaluators themselves.