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Department of Educational Technology
Personnel Committee Policies
Approved by Faculty on December 15, 2003

I - Guiding principles governing the conduct of the Department Personnel Committee

The purpose of the Department Personnel Committee is to review as objectively as possible, and in accordance with College of Education and SDSU policies, a candidate’s Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) materials that describe contributions in teaching, professional growth, and service for the university as this record is represented in the candidate’s Personnel Data Summary (PDS) and One-of-a-Kind (OAK). In addition, the Committee may seek and obtain information in the candidate’s Working Personnel Action File (WPAF) when appropriate and obtain other information that is required in but missing from the PDS and OAK.

The Committee shall be responsible for making reasonable attempts to verify all items cited in the PDS and OAK, including items listed in the candidate’s vita, and shall keep the integrity of a candidate’s RTP materials intact during the review process.

The committee shall make a record of the date and time of each meeting, committee members present, and the agenda for the meeting, including the names and ranks of faculty under consideration in each meeting. This record shall be kept in the department office.

The Committee’s deliberations shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed to any other parties without prior approval of the candidate except when compelled by legal necessity. The review process may provide constructive guidance to help improve performance, but shall not be used to intimidate, harass, or coerce faculty. At the request of the candidate or the Committee Chair, the Committee may meet in person with candidates to discuss “off the record” issues or concerns. The content of such discussions shall be considered confidential as well and shall not be shared with other faculty or administrators without prior approval of the candidate, except when compelled by legal necessity.

The review process shall ignore information, or opinions that are not present in the PDS and OAK, as well as considerations such as life style, philosophical outlook, divergent beliefs, or collegiality if they cannot be documented as affecting quality or quantity of performance.

Following the Committee’s review of materials and related deliberations, the Committee chair shall forward a letter to the College Personnel Committee that summarizes the candidate’s notable accomplishments, identifies areas for continued improvement, and recommends appropriate personnel action(s) for consideration by other levels of review. The letter may also provide constructive guidance to help improve future performance. In general the tone of the letter shall be dignified, factual, collegial, and respectful. Faculty shall be provided a copy of the letter forwarded to the College Personnel Committee.

II- Committee Structure, Procedures and Responsibilities
Membership

  1. The Personnel Committee shall consist of three members. When there are not enough eligible members to serve due to attrition, sabbatical leaves, or other similar reasons, the chair of the department, in consultation with eligible members, shall invite a faculty member from another department in the College of Education to serve on the committee.
  2. An outside faculty member can be invited if there are not enough eligible members within the department to serve on the Personnel Committee.
  3. An outside faculty member may also be invited to review a particular case upon the request of a candidate, the department chair, or a member of the committee.

Eligibility

  1. Committee members are eligible to review the work of and participate in decision-making on the cases of other faculty of the same or lower rank, but not of those holding higher rank

Nomination

  1. All eligible faculty are automatically nominated to serve, unless they recuse themselves from serving

Election

  1. All faculty are entitled to participate in the election of the members of the Personnel Committee.

  2. Election is held in the faculty meeting. If there are more than three eligible members available, election shall be conducted by secret ballot.

Election of the Chair

  1. All members of the Personnel Committee are eligible to be elected as the chair unless they do not meet the condition in Section II-6, and II-2.

Term of service

  1. The committee shall be elected each year.

  2. Chairs of Personnel Committee shall serve for one year.
  3. Chairs of Personnel Committee shall not be eligible to run for election for the chair sooner than two consecutive years after expiration of their previous term in office as the chair unless there are no qualified faculty.

Responsibilities of members

  1. The primary responsibility of the members is to review the work of their colleagues objectively and impartially.

  2. The chair of the committee is responsible for the observance of deadlines, set by the college and the university.
  3. The chair of the committee is responsible for compliance with all policies related to the Personnel Committee.
  4. All members of the Personnel Committee have an equal right and responsibility to participate in the deliberation and proceedings of the committee.
  5. A quorum shall consist of three members of the committee for all personnel decisions.

Committee procedures

  1. All eligible committee members shall review the work of each colleague presenting his or her papers to the committee.

  2. Personnel decisions shall be by two-thirds majority vote of the committee.
  3. The committee may assign one eligible committee member to draft a letter reflecting the collective deliberations of the committee. The committee shall decide what method to use to assign members to draft letters for specific candidates (e.g., randomly, by consensus, or by appointment of the committee chair) as it deems they deem appropriate.
  4. All eligible committee members shall review all draft letters. f. The committee chair or a committee member designated by the chair shall revise the letter in accordance with the committee's review. The letter shall reflect only the consensus of the committee, not the views of individual committee members. When appropriate, dissenting or divergent opinions shall be included in the letter issued by the committee.
  5. The Personnel Committee is responsible for the validation of the PDS and the WPAF. Members of the committee must ensure that the materials presented in the PDS, and all items in the WPAF, are authentic.
  6. The department shall maintain a list of each candidate's WPAF materials validated by Personnel Committee members, so that in successive processes, only new materials need be validated.
  7. The committee or the candidate may initiate an external review. Such a request shall document (1) the special circumstances which necessitate an outside reviewer, and (2) the nature of the materials needing the evaluation of an external reviewer. The request must be approved by the President with the concurrence of the faculty unit.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXTERNAL REVIEW PROCESS

External reviews are not a requirement for the performance review process, but if used must be approved by both the dean and candidate under review. The request for an external review may be initiated at any level, but normally occurs at the department level. (MOU 15.12d.)

Copies of all material related to the external review should be placed in the One-of-a-Kind File at the front of the file (see "Instructions for Organizing the One-of-a-Kind File" for suggested placement). The initial memo requesting approval to conduct the review and the external review returned by the reviewer and used as part of the evaluation process must also be placed in the One-of-a-Kind File.

The following refers to the sample memo:

a. The memo should be addressed to the dean of the college. The dean is the President's designee to approve or disapprove requests for external reviews at the department and college level.

b. The level of review initiating the external review, usually the department peer review committee, will forward the request. The memo must be signed by a representative of that committee, preferably the chair.

c. A clear statement should be made that this is a request for an external review, and the candidate's name should be listed.

d. The body of the letter shall document the special circumstances which necessitate an outside reviewer, as well as the nature of the materials needing an external review.

e. List the individuals who will be contacted to submit an external review of the candidate. If the individuals are unknown at this time, state that the candidate will be notified of this information when that determination is made.

f. Include an approval statement and place for signature and date by the candidate.

g. Include an approval statement and place for signature and date by the college dean.

Be sure to notify the external reviewer that the returned external review must be shared with the candidate and placed in the One-of-a-Kind File. It will not be kept confidential.

Copies of incoming external review letters should be made available to the candidate with notification of placement in the One-of-a-Kind File. (Copies are not to be placed in the Official Personnel Action File.) External reviews arriving after the closing date of the file (requested prior to the closing date) may be added to the file immediately and do not go through the late-add process. Previous levels of review should be copied

4/2003

September 18, 2003 SAMPLE


TO: (first name) (last name), Dean a
(college name)


FROM: (first name) (last name), Chair b
Peer Review Committee
(department name)


SUBJECT: Request for External Review for (candidate's name) c

d

As the chair of the department peer review committee, I am requesting an external review for (candidate's name). Letters of evaluation from scientists who are working in the same specific field of research as (candidate's name) are necessary to do a full, thorough, and fair evaluation of the professional growth of this candidate. The material submitted to the outside reviewers will be copies of (candidate's name) curriculum vitae and copies of (candidate's name) research publications.

The following individuals will be contacted to submit an external review regarding (candidate's name):

(name) (title)
(address)

(name) (title) e
(address)

I approve of submitting my curriculum vitae and research publications for outside review to the above mentioned persons. Upon receipt of the external reviews, copies will be made available to me, and the original external review document (or copy) will be placed in my One-of-a-Kind File for use in my performance review:

f
_______________________________________________ _______________
(candidate's name), (title/rank) (department) Date


I approve of submitting (candidate's name) curriculum vitae and research publications for outside review to the above mentioned persons:
g
_______________________________________________ _______________
(first name) (last name), Dean, (college name) Date

c: Candidate's One-of-a-Kind File

Other Department Policies
Admission Policy
Crashing Policy
Reappointment, Tenure & Promotion (RTP) Policy

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