Do Tenured Professors Have Annual Performance Evaluations?

Yes, tenured professors do typically undergo annual performance evaluations, although the specifics can vary by institution. These evaluations are crucial for assessing various aspects of a professor's work, such as teaching effectiveness, research contributions, service to the university, and other professional activities. While tenured faculty members enjoy greater job security compared to non-tenured colleagues, their performance evaluations still hold significant influence over decisions regarding promotions, salary increases, and other professional development opportunities.

Annual Performance Evaluations: Process and Components

The evaluation process for tenured professors usually includes several components:

Self-Assessments: Tenured professors evaluate their own work, identifying successes, challenges, and areas for improvement. Peer Evaluations: Colleagues provide feedback on the professor's performance, often highlighting strengths and suggesting areas for development. Student Feedback: Evaluations may also include input from students, providing insights into teaching effectiveness.

This multifaceted approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of each professor's contributions and professional growth over the past year.

Post-Tenure Review: An Every-Three-Year Evaluation

Every year, tenured professors submit a report detailing their activities and achievements for inclusion in the overall department report. However, every three years, they face what is called a post-tenure review. This larger-scale evaluation is typically conducted by the college dean or a relevant committee. The primary reasons for these less frequent reviews include:

Why Every Three Years?

Long-Term Achievements: Major accomplishments, such as researching, writing, and publishing an academic book, often take longer than a single year to complete. Similarly, articles typically take up to a year and a half to research and publish. Capturing these significant milestones over a longer period provides a more accurate assessment. Insufficient Data in One Year: Professors often don't accumulate enough data related to teaching and service in a single year to allow for a meaningful evaluation. A three-year data set provides a more robust foundation for analysis. External Responsibilities: Professors may be involved in special duties, such as leading study abroad classes or being reassigned for projects. Frequent evaluations could introduce anomalies due to these transient responsibilities. Handling a large number of evaluations annually would create an overwhelming administrative burden. With around 700 faculty members, a yearly review process would be impractical and inefficient.

Conclusion: Balancing Rigor and Practicality

The annual submission of reports and the every-three-year post-tenure review strike a balance between the need for a comprehensive evaluation of a professor's contributions and the logistical challenges of frequent assessments. This system ensures that evaluations are both thorough and manageable, allowing universities to maintain high standards of academic performance while supporting the professional growth of tenured faculty.