After meeting with faculty, Ohio University administrators yesterday proposed not outsourcing the dean evaluation process this year, but still moving from a hard-copy form to an online survey.
Five faculty senators met with the provost and three others from her office, along with Michael Williford, associate provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, yesterday to address faculty concerns over a proposal to have the Kansas-based IDEA Center administer an online survey to faculty to evaluate the deans.
Although OU conducts these evaluations annually, they have never been outsourced or done online. Faculty worried about some questions on the survey that conflicted with the Faculty Handbook, and about the reasoning for moving the process out of OU.
Sherrie Gradin, chairwoman of Faculty Senate's Professional Relations Committee, said she met with her committee Wednesday night to review the provost's IDEA Center proposal.
We discussed whether we liked the questions on the survey
whether we thought they were sound whether in fact they would be able to take those off she said, referring to questions that asked for demographic data from faculty, something the handbook prohibits.
Faculty involved and the provost said the hour-and-a-half-long meeting yesterday was productive.
I think we had an honest discussion about how we got here and what we can do to keep the process moving forward
said Executive Vice President and Provost Kathy Krendl, adding she was pleased to find PRC open to an online form.
Gradin said she was also pleased that the information would now be housed at OU, so people who want to examine the individual records will be able to more easily.
When you think about it
there are many times when data is presented in certain ways and maybe someone wants to look and see and say
'Well is that the way I see it?' Gradin said.
The Post fought administrators last year for access to the dean evaluation records. Administrators were reluctant to release the documents until after the provost completed her full report.
Some faculty members on the committee that proposed outsourcing the evaluations to IDEA Center said the administration was trying to develop a way to circumvent public records law. Krendl, however, maintained that the proposed switch was not a result of the requests from last year, but that having an outside party keep the records would help avoid questions of tampering.
As in past years, this year's process will involve faculty answering survey questions, which will be compiled by Institutional Research and sent to committees in each college. Those groups will report to the provost, who issues the final evaluation of each dean in the spring.
Gradin said she e-mailed her committee last night to get reactions and expects to weigh in next week. Faculty Senate chairman Sergio López-Permouth said if PRC is comfortable with the compromise, the full senate may not have to meet again to discuss it.
Unless I detect a lot of resistance to the idea
we might just let it go like that
López said, adding he hopes to avoid fights like this in the future. I hope that people do find this compromise agreeable and reasonable and once again
I really hope that in the future we improve our ways to communicate so that we don't get surprised.
eg349206@ohiou.edu
- Chris Kardish contributed
to this report.
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