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Improvement Plan Process

An Improvement Plan is developed when a faculty member receives a “Needs Improvement” or “Unsatisfactory” on their evaluation.  The Improvement Plan provides remedies to rectify issues described in the Evaluation Review Report, thus it is intended that the Improvement Plan process helps faculty to reach a rating of standard professional performance or better on their next evaluation.

Improvement Plans are intended to provide an opportunity for careful reflection and discussion, as they encourage communication between the faculty member and their evaluation committee. It is intended that the improvement plans are generated through a collaborative effort between the faculty member and their evaluation committee with the possibility for oversight and coordination by the TERB Committee and/or TERB Coordinator.

An Improvement plan is required for:

  • Peer (tenured) faculty who receive an overall rating of “Needs Improvement” or “Unsatisfactory”
  • Probationary faculty who receive a “Needs Improvement” or “Unsatisfactory” on a discrete item.
  • Part-Time faculty who have a PN and receive an overall rating of “Needs Improvement” or “Unsatisfactory”

Specific information about the Improvement Plan process for each faculty type is available in the PFF Contract:

  • Part-Time Faculty: Review the PFF contract Article 17.9.7
  • Probationary Faculty: Review the PFF contract Article 17.9.9
  • Peer (Tenured) Faculty: Review PFF contract Article 17.9.8

Writing an Improvement Plan

The Improvement Plan Forms vary based on the type of evaluation:

Steps to complete the IP:

  • The Evaluator(s) begin by drafting an IP with suggested recommendations. The TERB Coordinator can help with the initial draft.
  • The draft IP is discussed with the Evaluee who provides feedback through a collaborative process. It is intended that the Evaluator(s) and the Evaluee work together to identify the specific actions/outcomes that are necessary in order to receive a Standard performance on their next evaluation.
  • The Evaluator(s) then provide the IP to the TERB Coordinator for review and approval. Depending on the type of IP, the IP may also be reviewed/approved by the TERB Committee.

Best Practices for Creating the IP Actions/Recommendations

When writing the specific actions or recommendations in the IP, it is helpful to keep in mind that you will need to be able to say whether they accomplished the actions/recommendations, thus the more specific you can be the better. Avoid vague actions/recommendations!

The following table is provided to give some examples of how you might consider writing recommendations/actions in the IP and the type of “evidence” that will help you to determine if the actions/recommendations were completed.

IssueVague RecommendationSpecific Recommendations/ActionsEvidence of Outcome
Communication respond to emails The Evaluee will respond to communication from students and colleagues within 48 hours.  Student evaluations and feedback from the department chair will show improvement in timely communication.
Participation attend meetings The Evaluee will attend all department meetings. If the Evaluee must miss a meeting, they will contact the Department Chair immediately to communicate the reason why they are missing. The Department Chair will provide feedback to the Evaluator(s) to determine if the Evaluee attended the required meetings and communicated effectively with the chair.

The Evaluee will provide a list to the Evaluator(s) of the department meetings they attended.
Grading  work on grading The Evaluee will include a clear grading policy in their syllabus and in Canvas that explains how grading is done and ensures students know when they can expect to receive their grades

The Evaluee will improve clarity in their grading by creating grading rubrics for all assignments 		The Evaluee will provide evidence of a clear grading policy in the syllabus and canvas.

The Evaluee will provide the grading rubrics for all of their assignments to the Evaluator(s)
Collegiality be more collegial to colleagues The evaluee will build skills to support collegiality by identifying and completing three (3) professional development trainings focused on effective communication, conflict resolution, and Self-Reflection/self-awareness.The Evaluee will provide evidence of completion of PD training.

The Evaluee will provide a statement to the Evaluator(s) describing how they will apply what they learned to improve collegiality.
Course Organization work on course organization

make the course less confusing 		Complete at least one professional development training in online course organization and navigation.

The Evaluee will access and review the Palomar College Online Course Templates to see how they might be able to utilize the templates to improve their course organization.

Include an anonymous survey throughout the course to allow students to provide on-going feedback to identify if there is continued confusion that needs to be addressed. 

The Evaluee will conduct a self-assessment of their online course using the CVC Rubric		The Evaluee will provide evidence of completion of PD training.

The Evaluee will provide a statement to the Evaluator(s) explaining how their course might benefit from utilizing the Palomar Online Course Templates

The Evaluee will show the Evaluator(s) the anonymous survey included in Canvas and explain how the feedback, if any, was used to improve the course.

The Evaluee will provide the Evaluator(s) with a completed CVC Rubric self-assessment of their course.
Interaction Course needs more interactionThe evaluee will identify and complete one professional development training focused on increasing interaction in the online class.

The Evaluee will incorporate more opportunities for interactions on the course.

The Evaluee will schedule a meeting with the DE Coordinator to discuss ways they can adjust their course design to increase interaction. 		The Evaluee will provide evidence of completion of PD trainig.

The Evaluee will provide a statement to the Evaluator(s) describing how they have adjusted their course to increase interaction

The Evaluee will provide a statement to the Evaluator(s) about what they learned in the meeting

Some Available Training for TERB Improvement Plans 

The Palomar Professional Development portal provides thousands of learning opportunities through online courses.  When training is suggested as part of an Improvement Plan, it is recommended that both the Evaluee and Evaluator(s) take time to identify training that is available in the 3PD Portal, or if they cannot find training, they should contact the Professional Development department for training suggestions.   

To help with common personal and interpersonal training that may be suggested through the IP process, TERB has identified some possible training topics below (these are just examples of what is available and are not officially approved by TERB).  

Online Self-Paced Courses available in the 3PD Portal: 

Self-Reflection/Self-Awareness 

Collegiality 

Conflict Resolution 

Effective communication