Faculty Evaluation

The purpose of evaluating faculty is to improve their practice and to assist administrators in making decisions about further contractual obligations. Faculty evaluation in distributed learning communities is different from faculty evaluation in traditional institutions. First of all, faculty in distributed learning communities are not interacting face-to-face on a daily basis. In addition, methods for serving students and determining competence are generally different. Faculty are likely to be interacting with students during nontraditional hours on the phone and by e-mail. Furthermore, their method of instructional delivery is different from that of the professor giving lectures. Because many faculty involved with distance learning work at home, supervisors and peers cannot directly observe them as they do their work.