Safer Return at Cal Poly Pomona

Faculty Reviews in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Date: 2/25/2021
From: Provost - Vice President for Academic Affairs
Subject: Faculty Reviews in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

As part of the ongoing efforts to support our faculty during this challenging time, I write to announce a temporary modification to the use of student evaluations in faculty performance reviews. This modification reflects the understanding that teaching evaluations should be conducted in a holistic manner and with compassion given these extraordinary circumstances.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic required an unprecedented shift to virtual learning at Cal Poly Pomona. I am truly grateful to our faculty for the sacrifices and commitments made during the transition and in preparing for a primarily virtual fall 2020 and spring 2021. Despite these herculean efforts, faculty have rightly expressed concern that the challenging circumstances of the past year could result in unduly negative student evaluations of their teaching performance.

To that end, this temporary modification offers flexibility if faculty believe that student evaluations completed during the 2020-21 academic year do not accurately reflect the overall quality of their teaching. Briefly, this temporary modification:

  • Formally requests that reviewers evaluate faculty holistically and consider the challenges of the academic year.
  • Gives faculty the option of using only a subset of their Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 student evaluations when calculating their teaching effectiveness.

The full text of this modification is in an Academic Senate resolution (02/10/2021) and on the Faculty Affairs website under “Evaluation” both for tenure-line and temporary faculty. In addition, a copy of the letter I addressed to review committees will be added to each faculty member’s personnel action file. For current and future evaluations, faculty are encouraged to include this letter in their review package under Supplemental Materials. If you have any questions about this modification, please contact George Tejadilla, Executive Director of Academic Personnel at gtejadilla@cpp.edu.

I want to thank Dr. Martin Sancho-Madriz and his team in the Office of Faculty Affairs for taking the lead on this effort, along with the consultation and support of the Academic Senate and the campus chapter of the California Faculty Association. This effort also carries the support of President Coley.

I hope that this temporary modification will prove helpful during this uniquely challenging time for our university and campus community. Once again, thank you for your ongoing commitment to ensuring a world-class polytechnic education for our students.

Sincerely,

Sylvia A. Alva, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs