Penn State AC 40 Annual Evaluation of Faculty Performance (Formerly HR 40)
General Information
This policy provides the process for an evaluation of the performance of each member of the faculty at least once each year. Each tenured faculty member will be evaluated with an extended review every fifth year after the most recent promotion decision.
During the fifth year after the most recent promotion decision, the faculty member will undergo both a Faculty Annual Review (FAR) and the Extended AC 40 Extended Review.
To provide adequate preparation time, faculty members should be given notice at least two semesters in advance of the submission deadline. Candidates should be notified in January or February letting them
know that the AC 40 materials will be due the following January 15th. The Dean’s Office staff will provide this notification to the Dean and appropriate faculty members.
At this time the AC 40 extended review dossier is not completed using Activity Insight in the College of Information Sciences and Technology. The packet of materials is put together manually, with the exception of the table of SRTE scores (referenced later in this document).
The annual AC-40 reviews are kept within the College and are not part of the formal review process for
promotion and tenure.
Review Committee
This review will be done by members of the current IST Promotion and Tenure Committee. The faculty member may add one person from outside the College to be a part of their review panel. This outside person must be affiliated with The Pennsylvania State University. The process for selecting this external member will be for the faculty member to submit two names (along with contact information and a brief bio) of those external to IST/internal to PSU. From those names, the Dean will select one person. The Dean’s Office will notify the faculty member regarding the status of their request for an external to IST (internal to PSU) committee member.
Contents of Review Packet
Narrative Statement
- Three-page limit, 1” margins.
- The narrative statement should outline the faculty member's goals for professional development and describe past accomplishments and future objectives specific to those goals.
- The faculty member should include in their Narrative Statement their desired timeline for going forward for promotion to Professor, if that is something that they plan to do.
Curriculum Vitae
Peer Evaluation
- For the past five years after the most recent promotion. The Dean’s Office will gather this information.
SRTE Evaluation
- Full SRTE Evaluations for the past five years after most recent promotion. The Dean’s Office will gather this information.
- Full SRTE student summarized comments for the past five years after most recent promotion. The Promotion & Tenure Committee will write the comment summary.
- Table from Activity Insight Summarizing SRTE Scores for the past five years after most recent promotion. This table should be generated by the faculty member in Activity Insight by going to Reports > SRTE Results Summary
Research Funding
- The faculty member should obtain this information from the IST Grants and Contracts Office.
Faculty Annual Reviews (FAR)
- Faculty Annual Reviews (FAR) should be included for the past five years after the most recent promotion. The Dean’s Office will gather this information.
Once the AC 40 Extended Review packets are assembled, the faculty member will be asked to review the packet and sign a coversheet indicating that they have reviewed the contents of the packet and that the contents are satisfactory. The AC 40 Extended Review packets are then shared with the Promotion and Tenure Committee, who will complete the review.
The Promotion and Tenure Committee will provide the Dean with a letter (sometime in March or April) that summarizes the results of the Committee’s review. The Dean will then meet with the candidate to pass along the Committee’s letter to the faculty member. Discussion during this meeting will focus on the peer review of evaluation materials, the faculty member’s goals and accomplishments, and means by which the goals will be realized. Written documentation of the results of the extended review will be provided by the Dean to the faculty member by the end of the academic year in which the review takes place.
Following the University schedule, the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs’ Office should be notified via e-mail confirming that the AC 40 extended reviews and Faculty Annual Reviews have been completed for the current academic year. (The deadline for this notification is sometime in June). The Dean’s Office will send this notification.
Last revision: 1/27/2023
Revised notification and submission dates in paragraph three 4/11/2023