Faculty Performance and Rank

Domains of Faculty Performance

Faculty members are responsible for making contributions to the fulfillment of EMU’s mission in the domains of Teaching, Scholarship, and Service. EMU recognizes that these three domains are integrated. Growth in one domain will likely impact growth in another domain. The following definitions provide a university-wide benchmark of quality. Individual departments maintain guidelines for discipline-specific interpretation of the criteria; such guidelines are reviewed and approved by the Faculty Status Committee every six years.

Faculty candidates are evaluated by their peers in each domain as demonstrating Competent, Proficient, or Outstanding performance.  Movement across the levels of performance is progressive in nature, reflecting greater breadth, depth, or scope of influence in a domain. Precise definition of Competent, Proficient, or Outstanding performance is difficult and may be too constraining; the narrative rubrics are not intended to be exhaustive or rigid measures. Rather, the following narratives are exemplars to set the standard for reaching consensus in making decisions on contract renewal/promotion.

Teaching

Teaching facilitates learning.  Effective teachers assist the learner in acquiring new knowledge, skills, and values.  This includes the thorough understanding of a discipline, sound pedagogy, clarity of communication, utilization of engaging strategies, the evaluation of student learning and the capacity to remain current in pedagogies and learning technologies.

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Outstanding: An outstanding teacher embodies a way of being that enlivens the learning processes.  An outstanding teacher motivates students to learn in ways that deeply impact how they think, act, feel, and serve.  An outstanding teacher is an expert in the subject matter, has pedagogical fluency, is a skilled communicator, is a wise mentor in all aspects of student learning, and is an efficient evaluator of the learning process.  An outstanding teacher displays enthusiasm for the discipline, exhibits a commitment to growth pedagogically, professionally, and personally and is committed to the development and training of other teachers.

Scholarship

Scholarship is creative, intellectual work. It is the systematic, disciplined attempt to discover, transmit and apply knowledge.  Scholarly activities grow from the ideas and methods of the arts, humanities, sciences, and professions, including the visual and performing arts. Scholarship and creative activity are measured by the contribution to generating and disseminating knowledge within and across disciplines. We recognize multiple modes of scholarship, including discovery, integration, application/engagement, and teaching (Boyer, 1997). At EMU we are a community of learning. Our scholarship reflects our Anabaptist values of collaboration, linking theory and practice, and pursuing peace and justice. EMU recognizes the standards of scholarship as defined by Glassick, Huber, and Maeroff (1997):

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Outstanding: Outstanding scholarship includes the highest standard of research, creativity, and practice. Scholarly contribution within and across disciplines regularly results in critical and public responses by others and is used and applied by others. Scholarship frequently includes research funded by highly competitive grants in the discipline.  Outstanding scholars are often characterized by public recognition of their leadership in their discipline or professional body.

Service

EMU educates students to serve and lead in a global context. As a shared value of EMU, service activities on the part of faculty are collaborative efforts to meet the needs of the institution and to further its mission in the world. Faculty are essential to the achievement of the mission of EMU, and faculty service is both highly valued and recognized as integral to the tenure and promotion system. Faculty service is composed of active contribution to the academic department and its students, involvement in university governance through membership on university committees and task forces, engagement in the church and in the broader community, and contribution to the discipline.

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Outstanding: Outstanding service involves taking on a significant leadership role or in-depth contributions on campus, public recognition of the faculty member’s significant contribution to the local church, and organizational or opinion leadership in the broader church, community, or professional organizations.

Criteria for Rank

Rank is assigned according to: level of advanced degree, years of teaching service, and the quality of faculty performance in the 3 domains. According to the Bylaws, Article IV.4.2.d, continuing contracts require continued participation on the part of the faculty member in the life of a faith community and harmony with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.

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