BRYN MAWR COLLEGE

Included in the department's recommendation in all reappointment decisions is an evaluation of teaching effectiveness, based in part on the written opinions of the candidate's current and former undergraduate and graduate students who have completed courses with the candidate. The following procedures apply:

1. With respect to current undergraduates, the department and the Committee on Appointments will consider part of the candidate's dossier any teaching evaluations obtained through the College's standard system for regular evaluations. In addition, the department chair, with assistance from the department's major council representative and the Registrar's Office, shall solicit written opinions about the candidate's teaching effectiveness from all the students who have completed courses with the candidate since the last review. If the numbers do not exceed 200, all students will be solicited. If the numbers exceed 200, 50% of students will be solicited; the number, however, will not be less than 200. A sample letter follows:
   

   "I am writing to request a letter from you giving your evaluation of the teaching effectiveness of Professor ____, who is being considered for reappointment. Your letter will be read by the President, the Provost, those senior members of the faculty who are responsible for making a recommendation to the President on this matter, and the student who serves as major council representative.

   Teaching effectiveness is one of the important criteria upon which the department's recommendation and the President's decision will be based--scholarly publication, service to the College, and service to the profession are three others--and it is perhaps the most difficult one to assess. Your letter will be treated as confidential and your frank and thoughtful comments will be greatly appreciated.

   I look forward to hearing from you by _____."

   
   The written opinions shall be signed by the students who submit them, and they shall be treated in confidence by the chair, the members of the department consulted, and the major council representative. The chair and the major council representative shall compile a written statement, stating the method(s) of sampling and summarizing the student opinions, and sign it jointly. This summary statement, together with the written opinions themselves, shall be submitted to the Provost along with the departmental recommendation as part of the material to be consulted in the course of the review.

2. In cases in which the candidate has taught graduate students, a similar procedure should be followed for obtaining letters from current graduate students, with the role of the major council representative filled by an appropriate representative of the graduate students in the department.

3. In addition, all alumnae/i, undergraduate and graduate students whom the candidate has taught since the last review, shall be asked for their written opinions. If the numbers do not exceed 200, all students will be solicited. If the numbers exceed 200, 50% of students will be solicited; the number, however, will not be less than 200. The chair shall include a summary of these opinions, which are not to be read by current students, in the departmental recommendation, and shall also submit the letters themselves along with that recommendation. A sample letter follows:
   

   "I am writing to request a letter from you giving your evaluation of the teaching effectiveness of Professor ____, who is being considered for reappointment. Your letter will be read by the President, the Provost, and those senior members of the faculty who are responsible for making a recommendation to the President on this matter.

   Teaching effectiveness is one of the important criteria upon which the department's recommendation and the President's decision will be based--scholarly publication, service to the College, and service to the profession are three others--and it is perhaps the most difficult one to assess. Your letter will be treated as confidential and your frank and thoughtful comments will be greatly appreciated.

   "I look forward to hearing from you by _____."

4. In every case the original letters of evaluation from students should be sent to the Office of the Provost.

5. In circumstances in which the student response to the department's solicitation is judged by the Committee on Appointments to be too small or otherwise inadequate, the Committee may directly solicit student opinion and is not bound by the procedures set above.