ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Section 313 Student Evaluation of Faculty
Effective: 3/26/84
Last Revised:11/16/98
Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Policy Statement:
The University of Maine System, like all institutions of higher education, aspires to faculty excellence. The realization of that aspiration depends in part on successful faculty evaluation and development programs: programs that are defined in their objectives, nonbiased in their administration, and multifaceted in scope. In an age of increased emphasis on systematic evaluation of faculty, it is critical that the goals of evaluation, and the methods employed to achieve those goals, be scrutinized.
Successful faculty evaluation, for the purposes of aiding in personnel decisions and faculty development, solicits information from across the academic community. A multidimensional picture of an instructor can only be drawn from the varied perspectives of students, administrators, faculty peers, and the instructor himself. The student observes the teaching ability of the instructor on a direct, daily basis. If one agrees that teaching is a vital ingredient of an instructor’s performance, the importance of student evaluation is clear. Student evaluation should not be used, however, as the sole basis for administrative decisions regarding faculty.