Evaluating Adjunct Faculty

by Richard Lyons IN THE INCREASINGLY competitive, accountability-conscious environment of higher education, all of us are seeking cost-effective ways of improving our institutional effectiveness. Assuming your institution, division, or department employs a significant number of part-time instructors, I would encourage you to invest time at the end of this academic year to analyze your process for evaluating their performance. If, like so many, your process is limited to administering student ratings, I encourage you to consider adopting a more comprehensive system that provides an array of short- and long-term benefits, including: • Attracting more qualified applicants for your adjunct faculty positions; […]