C. The Fourth-Year Review

Overview: The fourth-year review is both formative and summative. It considers the same three areas of faculty performance as the second-year review, but is broader in scope in that all tenured faculty participating in the review provide a written assessment of a candidate. The fourth-year review is particularly crucial for determining the likelihood of success during the tenure review for a faculty member at the College. The fourth-year review is also done with attention given to the College’s needs for the position in the faculty member’s discipline.

Faculty housed in academic departments are evaluated at the fourth year by all tenured departmental faculty members. 

Faculty housed in interdisciplinary programs are evaluated by a committee of senior faculty constituted in the first year by the Vice President for Academic Affairs in consultation with the program Chair and specified in the PRS. Normally, this committee will include the program Chair and two senior faculty involved in the candidate’s second-year review, and possibly other senior faculty with appropriate expertise. When possible, this review committee will stay in place through the candidate’s sixth-year in order to ensure continuity of observation and feedback.

Faculty housed in departments but engaged in significant interdisciplinary scholarship or have significant and regular teaching commitments to interdisciplinary programs will be evaluated by all tenured departmental faculty members, but in these cases the review will normally include the Chair of the relevant interdisciplinary program and/or other tenured program faculty with relevant scholarship and/or teaching expertise. The decision to expand the review beyond the department will be made by the Vice President for Academic Affairs in consultation with the department Chair, the program Chair, and the candidate and will be specified in the PRS. Normally this decision will be made in the first year, and when possible, the department and program faculty for the fourth-year review will remain in place through the tenure review in order to ensure continuity of observation and feedback.

The fourth-year review takes place in the fall semester of the candidate’s fourth year of service to the College. The review process is initiated in August, with data collection early in the fall semester. It concludes in December with a meeting attended by the candidate, department/program Chair, and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Process: By the first day of the fall semester, the candidate will submit an updated portfolio according to instructions provided by the Office of Academic Affairs. During the fall semester, the Office of Academic Affairs will distribute questionnaires to be completed by all students who have completed a class (or classes) with the candidate and earned grades of A through D- during his or her first six semesters of teaching at the College. If the Vice President for Academic Affairs believes more information on teaching performance is needed, a representative for Academic Affairs and the department/program Chair will co-conduct interviews with selected students. The Office of Academic Affairs will also send questionnaires to all of the candidate’s official and unofficial advisees, and will collect copies of all of the candidate’s college-generated course evaluations.

Senior departmental/program faculty members will review the candidate’s portfolio and visit at least one class. Faculty who are members of the Teaching Evaluation Committee will visit a minimum of three classes during the first semester of the candidate’s fourth year. Senior faculty members will meet as a group with the department/program Chair to discuss the candidate’s performance in teaching, scholarship, and service over the four years, his or her suitability for renewal, and suggestions for possible improvement, where necessary. Each senior member writes a letter of his or her assessment of the candidate; this letter is submitted according to instructions provided by the Office of Academic Affairs. In addition to his or her independent assessment, the department/program Chair’s letter to the Vice President for Academic Affairs addresses any problems raised by the senior faculty members taking part in the review.

The candidate has the option of soliciting additional letters from faculty and staff members that focus on the candidate’s service performance and campus citizenship, and one optional letter from a representative outside of the Rhodes College community. These letters should be submitted according to instructions provided by the Office of Academic Affairs. The remainder of the review, which culminates in December, is carried out by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the department/program Chair. A final assessment of performance in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service is given in writing by the Vice President for Academic Affairs to the candidate at the review’s conclusion.

A faculty member not meeting the College’s standards and/or not making adequate progress toward tenure in any area of evaluation (teaching, scholarship, or service) following the fourth-year review will not have his or her contract renewed after the fifth year of appointment. This candidate does not undergo a sixth-year review. The fifth year constitutes the twelve months’ notice of non-reappointment.

The materials compiled during the fourth-year review will be maintained by the Office of Academic Affairs and will be available to the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion upon request during a tenure review.