The Teaching Effectiveness, Advocacy, and Mentoring (TEAM) committee's mission is to foster a robust teaching and mentoring program throughout the College of Sciences while also advocating to the Institute for instructor needs, resources, and support. The committee will also develop and implement a holistic process for evaluating teaching for critical review (tenure-track faculty), third-year review (lecturers), and promotion (all academic faculty). The approach developed will account for faculty contributions to student success activities and better honor the time and effort that College of Sciences faculty devote to the Institute's instructional mission by incorporating student and peer voices and instructor self-reflection.
The TEAM committee recognizes the significance of creating a process and a rubric that can be embraced and endorsed by our colleagues. To achieve this goal, we will adopt an iterative approach, emphasizing continual improvement based on feedback.
Guidelines for Effective Teaching and Letters for Review and Promotion Packages
The TEAM committee's guidelines for effective teaching will serve as a reference for faculty members participating in critical review, third-year review, or the promotion/tenure process in the academic year 2024-2025. However, it is pertinent to note that these guidelines will not serve as the basis for summative evaluations of teaching.
Faculty joining us in the College of Sciences from the academic year 2023-2024 onwards are encouraged to integrate these principles into their pedagogical practices as they will be considered in assessments related to reviews and promotions. TEAM committee members are available for consultations to address any inquiries regarding the guidelines, evidence to support that they have been implemented, or the process we employ to gather information. We are also available to discuss instructional methodologies or any other teaching and learning topic.
Beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year, our committee has been entrusted with composing letters attesting to the teaching proficiency of faculty undergoing various reviews and those preparing promotion portfolios. A designate committee member will engage individually with faculty members to outline an information collection procedure tailored to support the composition of each letter.
We developed a holistic approach valuing contributions from students, peers, and instructors themselves; thus, our evaluation process encompasses:
- Analysis of student evaluation of teaching (CIOS) scores
- Review of select course materials
- Guided conversations with faculty members exploring objectives, underlying rationales, and educational philosophies
- Classroom observations contextualized by all items listed previously
Assistant Dean Carrie Shepler is available for consultation regarding any teaching and learning matter and serves as the primary point of contact for all matters related to the teaching component of review or promotion. All faculty will be provided with a copy of their letter prior to their School's deadline for submitting review and promotion packages.
The TEAM committee appreciates feedback received on our guidelines for effective teaching throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. We remain dedicated to refining the guidelines and processes through ongoing dialogues within our community.
TEAM Committee Membership
Emily Alicea-Muñoz, School of Physics
Federico Bonetto, School of Mathematics
Morag Burke, School of Mathematics
Flavio Fenton, School of Physics
Stephanie Reikes, School of Mathematics
Joseph Sadighi, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Eric Schumacher, School of Psychology
Carrie Shepler, College of Sciences (ex officio)
Sven Simon, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Emily Weigel, School of Biological Sciences
