18.1 The evaluation of the professional activities of all employees in a public institution of higher education is essential to the maintenance of academic and professional standards of excellence. The purpose of professional evaluations shall be to encourage the improvement of individual professional performance and to provide a basis for decisions on reappointment, tenure and promotions. An evaluation of professional activities shall be based on total professional performance. Written evaluation shall be on file for all employees.
18.2 (a) Evaluation of a member of the teaching faculty shall be based on total academic performance, with special attention to teaching effectiveness, including, but not limited to, such elements as:
1. Classroom instruction and related activities;
2. Administrative assignments;
3. Research;11
4. Scholarly writing;
5. Departmental, college and university assignments;
6. Student guidance;
7. Course and curricula development;
8. Creative works in individual’s discipline;
9. Public and professional activities in field of specialty.
(b) Teaching observation, as described below, is one factor in total evaluation of academic performance of the teaching staff.
1. Regardless of the mode of instruction, at least once during each academic semester, non‑tenured and non‑certificated members of the teaching staff shall be observed for a full classroom period. One observation shall take place during any scheduled class, except as specified below in Article 18.2(b) 3 for classes conducted wholly or in part through online technology, during the first ten weeks of a semester. Except as otherwise provided, the employee shall be given no less than 24 hours of prior notice of observation.
Tenured and certificated members of the teaching staff may be observed once each semester.
2. (a) Each department P & B committee shall designate a panel, the size to be specified by the chairperson, of department observers (which shall include members of the P & B committee). The department chairperson shall schedule the members of this panel to conduct observations as necessary. Each observer shall submit, through the department chairperson, a written observation report to the department P & B committee within one week of the observation. These observation reports shall be considered by the committee in its total evaluation of the employee.
(b) The department chairperson shall schedule the post‑observation conference for the employee within two weeks after receipt of the written observation report. The post‑observation conference shall include the employee and the observer. Either a member of the P & B committee or a member of the department with the rank of tenured Associate Professor or tenured Professor may be assigned by the chairperson to attend the post-observation conference at the request of the employee or the observer.
(c) Following the post‑observation conference, the assigned P & B representative or the assigned senior faculty member shall prepare a record of the discussion in memorandum form for submission to the chairperson. If the post‑observation conference includes only the observer and the employee, then the observer shall prepare the record of the discussion in memorandum form. The original conference memorandum shall be placed in the employee’s personal file. The employee may have a copy of this document provided a signed receipt is tendered. The observation report shall be placed in the personal file.
(d) In the event that the observation or post‑observation conference is not held within the time stipulated herein, the employee shall, within ten (10) working days thereafter, file a request for an observation and/or conference with the chairperson. A copy of the request shall be sent to the appropriate dean and the Office of the President. Failure of the employee to file the request within the stipulated time shall bar the employee from subsequent complaint regarding such non‑compliance with Article 18.2(b), 2b) or c). Upon the receipt of the request, the college shall cause appropriate remedial action to be taken, including, if necessary, scheduling of an observation and/or observation conference by the dean or President or their designee.
(e) After ten (10) semesters of service teaching observation for adjunct personnel shall be held at the request of the chairperson or the adjunct.
Effective the Fall 2008 semester, where an adjunct’s continuous appointments are immediately followed by an appointment to a Substitute full-time position on the instructional staff with no break in service, and the period of Substitute service is immediately followed by continuous appointment to an adjunct title with no break in service, the period of adjunct service immediately preceding the Substitute appointment will be added to the continuous adjunct service immediately following the Substitute service, as though there were no break in adjunct service, for the purpose of determining eligibility for teaching observation at the request of the chairperson or the adjunct.
3. Teaching Observations for Online Courses
(a) For teaching observations of online or partially online courses, the parties intend to replicate as closely as possible the longstanding teaching observation practices established pursuant to this Agreement. Therefore, the provisions of Article 18.2(b) 2 shall apply except as specifically modified herein.
(b) In a fully online synchronous course (that is, a course that meets online for 100% of the semester’s class meetings with a regularly scheduled class period during which students and the instructor are online at the same time), the designated observer shall be given limited access to the course platform, usually defined as “student” or “guest” access but in no event “instructor” or “administrator” access, only for the scheduled class period to be observed. Via the method for announcements normally employed by the instructor in the course, the instructor shall inform the students that the teaching observation is occurring. In no event shall the classroom teaching observation memorandum refer to the conduct of course activities outside of the observation period.
(c) In a fully online asynchronous course (that is, a course conducted entirely online without a scheduled class period), the designated observer shall be given limited access to the course platform, usually defined as “student” or “guest” access but in no event “instructor” or “administrator” access, for no more than a 48-hour period that will commence at a specified time not earlier than seven calendar days after the notice of the teaching observation has been given to the instructor. Within 48 hours of receiving notice of the observation, the instructor shall inform the students of the teaching observation and its beginning and end time via the method for announcements normally employed by the instructor in the course.
(d) In a fully online mixed course (that is, a course conducted entirely online using both synchronous and asynchronous instruction), the teaching observation shall take place according to the procedures for a fully online synchronous course, as specified above. At the request of the instructor, and with the consent of the Department Chairperson, the teaching observation may be conducted as it would be for a fully online asynchronous course, as specified above.
(e) In a hybrid or blended course (that is, a course in which some face-to-face classroom periods are replaced by online instruction or any other modality that is not face-to-face), the following rules apply:
(i) If at least 50% of the class sessions are conducted in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting, the observation shall normally take place during a face-to-face classroom period as set forth in Article 18.2(b). At the request of the instructor, and with the consent of the Department Chairperson, the observation may be conducted during an online class session. In such cases, the observation shall be conducted according to the procedures for a fully online synchronous course or a fully online asynchronous course, as applicable.
(ii) If fewer than 50% of the class sessions are conducted in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting, the observation shall be conducted according to the procedures for a fully online synchronous course or a fully online asynchronous course, as applicable.
(iii) The Department Chairperson may decide that an instructor teaching a hybrid course who has been observed under this provision may have his or her next observation conducted in the other modality used for the course.
(f) For observations of other than a fully online synchronous course, the observer shall not review online activity that occurred more than seven calendar days prior to the 48-hour period of access to the course platform, nor shall the post-observation memorandum refer to any course activities that occurred more than seven calendar days prior to the 48-hour period of access.
(g) For a fully online course, the post-observation conference set forth in Article 18.2.b may be held, at the request of the instructor, in person, by telephone, or by video conference.
4. Classroom Teaching Observations by Other Departments or Programs
Effective with the start of the Fall 2019 semester, teaching members of the instructional staff who are assigned to teach a majority of their classes in any given semester in a department or program other than the one to which they are appointed may be observed by a member of the other department or program, if requested by the chairperson of the department to which the faculty member to be observed is appointed. Following such a request, if the faculty member to be observed does the majority of his/her teaching in another academic department, the chairperson of that department shall select the observer from that department’s panel of observers. If the faculty member to be observed does the majority of his/her teaching in a program, the observer will be designated by the chairperson of the faculty member’s appointing department, in consultation with the director of the program. The observer must be a teaching member of the instructional staff.
All other provisions of 18.2 (b) apply, and all references therein to “the department” shall be understood to mean the department in which the faculty member to be observed is appointed.
18.3 Annual Evaluations:
(a) Members of the teaching faculty: At least once each year, each employee other than tenured full professors shall have an evaluation conference with the department chairperson or a member of the departmental P & B committee to be assigned by the chairperson. Tenured full professors may be evaluated. At the conference, the employee’s total academic performance and professional progress for that year and cumulatively to date shall be reviewed. Following this conference, the chairperson or the assigned member of the P & B shall prepare a record of the discussion in memorandum form for inclusion in the employee’s personal file. Within ten (10) working days after the conference, a copy of the memorandum shall be given to the employee. If the overall evaluation is unsatisfactory, the memorandum shall so state. The employee in such case shall have the right to endorse on the memorandum a request to appear in person before the department P&B.
Effective with the 2019-2020 academic year, in evaluating members of the teaching instructional staff who, in a given academic year, teach the majority of their classes in a department or program other than the one to which they are appointed, their department chairperson or the members of the departmental P&B committee assigned by their chairperson to conduct the annual evaluations may consult with the director of the program or the chairperson of the other department in which the instructional staff members have taught the majority of their classes and may discuss the comments of the director of the program or the chairperson of the other department during the evaluation conference and reference the discussion in the evaluation memorandum.
(b) Members of the non‑teaching staff, including Librarians, CLTs, Counselors, Student Personnel Services staff, Registrar series, HEO series and other non‑teaching members of the Instructional Staff covered by this Agreement: Preferably once each semester, but at least once each year, each employee shall have an evaluation conference with the chairperson or supervisor to be designated by the appropriate dean or President. At the conference, the employee’s total performance and professional progress shall be reviewed. Following this conference, the designated official shall prepare a record of the evaluation discussion in memorandum form for inclusion in the employee’s personal file. A copy of the report shall be given to the employee within ten (10) working days following the conference.
(c) After four (4) semesters of service annual evaluation for adjunct personnel shall be held at the request of the chairperson or the adjunct, provided, however, that if such evaluations are conducted at the request of the adjunct, such evaluations may not be conducted more than once every four semesters.
(d) In the event that a date for yearly evaluation is not scheduled by March 1, the employee shall, within ten (10) working days thereafter, file a request for an observation and/or conference with the chairperson or supervisor. A copy of the request shall be sent to the appropriate dean and the Office of the President. Failure of the employee to file the request shall bar the employee from subsequent complaint regarding such non‑compliance with the above‑stated scheduling requirement. Upon receipt of the request, the dean or President shall cause appropriate remedial action to be taken to insure compliance with this provision.
(e) Effective with the start of the 2016-2017 academic year, in the event an evaluation conference is scheduled as provided for in subsections (a) or (b) above, and the employee fails to attend without reasonable cause, the conference shall be rescheduled. The employee shall be notified in writing of the date of the rescheduled conference. If the employee again fails to attend the evaluation conference without reasonable cause, the department chair/designated official may prepare an evaluation in memorandum form for inclusion in the employee’s personal file without holding a conference. A copy of the memorandum shall be sent to the employee within 10 working days from the scheduled date of the rescheduled conference by regular mail at his/her address on file and by email to his/her college email address.
18.4 In those institutions that operate on a basis other than semester (such as trimester or quarter system) the observation and evaluation provisions of this Article, where applicable, shall apply only to two of the three trimesters or two of the four quarters.
18.5 In the Hunter College Campus Schools, the respective Principals of the Elementary School and High School may, in addition to the teaching observation set forth in Article 18.2(b), conduct unscheduled observations of members of the instructional staff. If, following the observation, the principal wishes to prepare a record of the unscheduled observation, he/she shall within ten (10) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, from the date of the observation, conduct a post‑observation conference with the employee. Following the post‑observation conference, the principal shall within ten (10) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays, prepare a record of the discussion in memorandum form for inclusion in the employee’s personal personnel file.
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11It is understood that Lecturers and Teachers in the Hunter College Campus School shall not be required to have a research commitment.
