Salary Oversight and Review Committee Guidelines

(As agreed upon by the SORC committee on 4/25/12)

The goal of SORC is to collaborate with the dean in evaluating the annual achievements of faculty in the areas of teaching, research and service in order to determine annual merit raises. Composed of six ordinary faculty, three from each division, SORC seeks to create and implement standards for these academic responsibilities that are fair, consistent, and equivalent across the various disciplines of the college.

Process:

Faculty members complete an annual vita update. Chairpersons, in accordance with departmental protocols, evaluate each faculty member based on these updates, and submit a letter of evaluation that includes a numerical ranking in all three areas of responsibility. Rankings are from 0-4. [Does not meet minimum expectations (0); Meets minimum expectations (1); Exceeds minimum expectations (2); Meritorious (3); Outstanding (4)]

The chairs' rankings, individual vita updates and department protocols are the primary source of information for SORC members. It is the responsibility of the faculty member and the chairperson to convey the significance of the faculty efforts that are not self-evident from these materials.

SORC members individually review each faculty member's materials (vita update, chair's evaluation), guided by the respective departmental protocols, and then numerically rank each faculty member in each area.

The committee then meets to discuss (usually by department) each faculty member's ranking in each area of responsibility. While the College Handbook specifies that SORC members must recuse themselves from discussions of their own departments, the representatives from the same departmental divisions are expected to help insure that the differences in disciplinary work are understood and evaluated appropriately. The committee seeks consensus for each ranking, but failing that, a vote may be taken.

When the rankings are complete, SORC meets with the dean to determine final scores.

The dean brings to these evaluations information about teaching evaluations, about the faculty member's compliance with university policies, such as posting syllabi on LORA, and other information not available to SORC. Evaluation of teaching should include some consideration of the course level, the number of students and similar factors.

The dean and SORC compare their findings to reach a final score for each faculty member. In order to facilitate this process, when the difference between scores is less than 0.5, the dean and SORC may choose to "split the difference." Larger disparities are discussed until agreement is reached.

Over the years, SORC has developed a series of rules to simplify their evaluations and to create more consistency.

The rules currently being applied are as follows:

• Since first-year faculty have been unable to accrue a record of achievement, by default, first year faculty receive a score of 3 for teaching and research and a 2 for service. The dean and SORC may then reward additional points for outstanding achievements in any area.
• For faculty on sabbatical or other official leave, the scores will be based on an average of the prior three-years in those areas. Research may be evaluated independently.
• Winners of the Dux Academicus will be awarded 4's in every area in the year of the award and for the two following years.
• A book will be awarded a 4 in the year it is published and for the next two years.
• Winning a significant external grant or publishing a peer-reviewed article will be awarded a 4 in the year it is published or awarded. Publishing three peer reviewed articles within the three year period merits a 4. Submitting a significant grant proposal merits at least a 3 in the year it is submitted. Works in progress are considered, but do not receive an automatic score.
• Compensation such as stipends and course releases will be considered in awarding points.
• As an essential component of the service score, university service is normally required for a 4.