Changes to the Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness

The following changes should be made to tenure-line and non-tenure-line college guidelines by July 1, 2025.

Beginning July 1, 2025, all colleges are expected to incorporate the overarching principles for the incorporation of student feedback detailed below into promotion and/or tenure guidelines for tenure-line and non-tenure-line faculty members undergoing formal review. These changes must be reflected in the guidelines for academic units within the college no later than July 1, 2026.

• The goal of this approach is to provide a holistic review of SEEQ/SRTE student feedback that minimizes bias.

• This review of student feedback will replace the current summary of quantitative and qualitative student feedback on teaching effectiveness in formal promotion and/or tenure review materials.

• The unit at the first level of review will identify a minimum of two individuals to serve as student feedback reviewers, consistent with the criteria below:

◦ at least one individual selected from a list of two or more Penn State faculty members nominated by the candidate

◦ one member of the promotion and tenure committee at the first level of review

• The reviewers are charged with

◦ examining student feedback from available courses for the period since a candidate’s last formal review and/or covered by the review (whichever is the shortest)

◦ writing a report of no more than 750 words (about one single-space page) describing insights about the candidate’s teaching effectiveness derived from quantitative and qualitative student feedback from SEEQ/SRTE responses across the courses taught during the review period

◦ as applicable, reviewers should incorporate attention to the elements of teaching: effective course design, effective instruction, inclusive and ethical pedagogy, reflective and evolving practice

‣ NOTE: Reviewers are advised to consult with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence for guidance for how to interpret student feedback

• This report will be sent to the administrator at the first level of review and will be included in the dossier or promotion materials reviewed by the candidate. If a candidate perceives that the report inadequately represents teaching effectiveness based on student feedback, candidates may revise their narratives to address the perceived discrepancy.

• SEEQ/SRTE scores will be included in an appendix to the dossier. The delivery mode of the course and the distribution, mode, and median for SEEQ/SRTE items will be provided for each course.

• All candidates have the option of including raw student data feedback (e.g., the original, unaltered SEEQ/SRTE reports) in their supplemental material.

• As long as the principles articulated here are adhered to, academic units are free to incorporate this work into existing structures, such as teaching review committees.