RTP Evaluation Information Fall 2021
COVID-19 and Faculty Evaluation
This memo provides information about changes and additions to the RTP process that have resulted from the pandemic. For information about the normal RTP process, including the instructional memo, deadlines, forms and policies please go to Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP).
Letter to Evaluators from the Provost
Impact on Evaluation and Assignments - Summer 2021 Professional Development for Faculty Members as a result of COVID-19
COVID Equity in Faculty Evaluations Task Force
All probationary (tenure-track) faculty members who started in January 2021 or earlier, and who will continue in probationary status in 2021-2022 are eligible for a one-time, one-year long extension of their probationary period due to the impact of COVID-19. In determining whether to take advantage of this extension, each probationary faculty member should seek guidance from their department chair. A probation extension due to COVID-19 may be requested for the 2021-2022 academic year. Faculty members who elect this extension will submit a Professional Development Plan (PDP) rather than undergoing their scheduled evaluation during the 2021-2022 academic year. A PDP will provide an opportunity for faculty members to articulate how, if at all, each of the three areas of evaluation was or is being affected by the COVID-19 disruption, and what steps were, and will be, taken to mitigate the impact to meeting policy requirements for receiving reappointment, tenure and/or promotion.
The deadline for probationary faculty members to notify Faculty Affairs of electing an extension is September 3, 2021 for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Probationary faculty members scheduled to undergo a Periodic “Mini” Evaluation, Retention, Tenure, or Tenure and Promotion review during the 2021-2022 academic year will submit a PDP during the 2021-2022 academic year in lieu of their scheduled periodic or performance evaluation.
The periodic or performance review scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year will be postponed to 2022-2023 with the standard review schedule to resume thereafter.
Please note the following conditions to the extension of the probationary period apply:
The extension of the probationary period within the parameters/scope of this memo is irrevocable.
The probationary period will be extended by one (1) year beyond the normal probationary period of six (6) years of full-time probationary service and credited service specified in Article 13.3.
Should an extension be received, a tenure and/or promotion review requested prior to the final probationary year will be considered early and the enhanced criteria for early tenure and/or promotion will apply.
The extension of the probationary period does not guarantee retention during and/or up to the conclusion of the newly established probationary period nor does the extension guarantee tenure.
To inform Faculty Affairs that you have elected an extension to your probationary period for 2021-2022, download the request form; enter your name, employee ID, department, and date; then email the form to your department chair. The department chair enters their name and date on the form, which acknowledges they are aware of the probationary extension, and then the chair emails the form to the Dean. The Dean enters their name and date on the form, which acknowledges they are aware of the probationary extension, and then emails the completed form to Faculty Affairs at COVID19-Faculty-Info@csulb.edu by September 3, 2021. All emails must be sent from and to a CSULB email address. Requests from non-CSULB email addresses will not be accepted.
Should you have any questions regarding this process or the impact of an extension on your evaluation schedule, please contact Somone.Washington@csulb.edu.
Faculty Members on Leave in 2020-2021
The option to extend the probationary period due to COVID-19 within the parameters of this memo may differ for probationary faculty members already on approved leave. Questions regarding this policy or the process for requesting an extension of your probationary period if you are on an approved leave should be directed to facultyleaves@csulb.edu.
This option has been extended! All probationary faculty members who started in January 2021 or earlier will also now have the option of taking a one-time one-year extension of the probationary period with the extension year being 2022-2023; the deadline for electing this as an extension year is yet to be determined but will be no earlier than June 30th, 2022 and no later than September 2nd, 2022.
Beginning with personnel files submitted via Interfolio in September 2021, candidates will have the option to include a COVID Impact Statement. A COVID-19 Impact Statement is a document of up to two pages in length in which a candidate describes the ways in which the pandemic has affected, both positively and negatively, effectiveness and/or productivity. This could be in instruction & instructionally related activities and/or research, creative & scholarly activity, and/or in service. For more information see COVID Impact Statement.
Letter from the Provost for inclusion in personnel files
Beginning with personnel files submitted via Interfolio in September 2021, a letter from the Provost will be included in candidate files. The Personnel File COVID Communication Letter will ask evaluators to review the files within in the context of the pandemic; it asks the evaluators to be flexible within the guidelines.
CFA/CSU Memorandum of Understanding
The CSU and the CFA reached an agreement regarding the summer 2020 and summer 2021 professional development for faculty members that was created and offered as a result of COVID-19. A link to the full MOU is provided above. The agreement includes:
“Participation in a professional development/training program will not have any impact on employee evaluations or range elevation, nor will participation or non-participation be used in any personnel actions."
COVID Equity in Faculty Evaluations Task Force
The COVID Equity Impact on Faculty Evaluations Task Force, was established by the Academic Senate, to develop and disseminate campus guidelines for advancing equity for parents, caregivers, and others negatively impacted by COVID-19. Over the course of summer 2021 the taskforce developed guidelines for tenure-track faculty members who will undergo an evaluation, particularly an RTP evaluation in 2021 – 2022 and for their evaluators. Please look out for information about workshops covering these guidelines.
In fall 2021 the Task Force will create guidelines to assist in the equitable evaluation of lecturer faculty members. The Task Force will also deliver its recommendations to the Academic Senate in a report in fall semester 2021 and again in spring 2022. The work of the Task Force will be completed by the end of spring 2022.
Given that nearly half of all class sections will have a face-to-face component we will use a hybrid approach to the Open Period.
Flyers will be posted this year to accommodate those students, faculty members, staff members and administrators who will be on-campus.
Lists of candidates are posted on Faculty Affair’s Open Period site to accommodate any students, faculty members, staff members and administrators who will not be coming to campus.
Letters will be submitted via email to Department Chairs, who will provide the letters to the peer review committee chair (and Department Coordinator, if that is the person who normally compiles and indexes letters received).
Reminder: If candidates wish to solicit letters, they can receive them directly and include them with their other materials.
Given that nearly half of all class sections will have a face-to-face component, lists of candidates shall be posted in the department offices as well as online on the Faculty Affairs Open Period site to provide the opportunity for all students, faculty members, staff members and administrators to contribute to an evaluation, whether on or off campus due to COVID-19. Letters should continue to be submitted to Department Chairs via email.
Spring 2020 SPOTs for candidates in all Colleges – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching transitioned from face-to-face to alternative modes of instruction; faculty members had only a few days to make this transition. Given this significant and rapid change and the impact on faculty members and students, consideration was given to not administering the Student Perceptions of Teaching instrument in Spring 2020. However, to comply with the Unit 3 Collective Bargaining Agreement, all CSUs needed to administer student evaluations. At the time a decision was made that all faculty members would be held harmless in the personnel process in terms of Spring 2020 SPOTs; the data from these may not be considered in personnel decisions unless the faculty member explicitly chooses to include the SPOT summary in their file.
