ACCJC Recommendation #5

On-line Class Observation Form

Worksheet- A Resource for Online Observation

On-line Student Questionnaire- revised

Instructor/Student Contact Policy for Distance Learning Courses

EvaluationKit Contract

Dear Colleagues,

Following the Accreditation site-visit of spring, 2009, the Tenure and Evaluations Review Board (TERB) has been working closely with the Academic Technology Committee (ATC), in consultation with the Faculty Senate and the Palomar Faculty Federation (PFF), in order to create thoughtful and effective responses to Recommendation #5 of the Accreditation Team’s report:

Recommendation #5 – Distance Education
To meet standards, the team recommends the college focus efforts on identifying
processes to ensure the quality of instructional programs, especially the increasingly
popular distance education courses, are consistent regardless of the location or delivery
mode (II.A).

The Faculty recognizes the implicit overlap in the recommendation, as it concerns elements of Academic Technology as well as the requirements of evaluation. In the TERB office, our efforts have been focused on generating policies and procedures, along with the accompanying forms, for the evaluation of on line instructors. The pertinent documents are posted here, and each one is currently in a specific stage of development and review.

Evaluation procedures are clearly defined in Article 17 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Palomar Faculty Federation and the Palomar College District. After review by the Faculty Senate, the procedures and forms developed by the TERB are submitted to the PFF to be negotiated as contract language. When the PFF and the District agree on the forms we have sent forward, the TERB will begin requiring that these new materials be used in the evaluation of on line instructors.

In the meantime, the TERB intends to ask for volunteers to give these materials a “test run” in their courses, in order to elicit feedback for possible revisions of the documents. The Faculty Senate and the PFF are also interested in assessing these materials in practice. We will be able to represent the interests and concerns of the Faculty most effectively if we have your suggestions and feedback. The call will come soon…please respond!

If you have any questions about the documents posted here, please feel free to contact me. As I said at the Chairs and Directors’ meeting, I’m new to the TERB office, so I’m eager to learn about the specific issues that confront departments as they move through the processes related to evaluation of faculty. I will be glad to visit departments to answer questions or participate in discussion, and I’ll welcome hearing from individual faculty members.  

Thank you for your help as we move forward. We’ll continue to keep you apprised of any new developments.

Barb Neault Kelber,

Tenure and Evaluations Coordinator