Penn State University Libraries - Guideline UL-ING04 Faculty Use of SRTE

INSTRUCTION

Guideline UL-ING04 FACULTY USE OF SRTE

SRTEs are to be administered according to the following minimum frequency:

• Assistant Librarian – once per course per year
• Tenure-eligible Librarian – once per course per year
• Tenured; Assistant and Associate Librarian ranks – once every two times a course is taught
• Tenured; Librarian rank – once every three times a course is taught

Faculty may elect to use the SRTE more frequently if they desire.  Results from all SRTEs administered will appear in the dossier (in summary form) and personnel file (all results).

1. The SRTE should be used the first time an instructor teaches a new course or a course which he/she teaches for the first time.
2. For courses which are team-taught, each instructor may be evaluated on a separate form, using a special code to distinguish between the instructors.  The instructors, their supervisors, and the department head will decide early in the semester whether individual or team SRTE's should be administered.
3. The SRTE is to be administered by someone other than the faculty being evaluated.  Procedures for handling, administering and returning the SRTEs are contained in the SRTE Area Representative Manual.  Dates for administering SRTEs are located on the SRTE Calendar.
4. Faculty may use and/or develop a separate form with comment questions for students to answer with the SRTEs.  These will be administered at the same time as the SRTEs and collated before they are shared with the instructor.
5. The suffix coding area should be used to assign unique codes to distinguish locations where the same course number and section number are repeated.  It is the responsibility of the department to keep a record of special suffix codes.
6. Individual faculty may elect to add up to five additional items from a pool of questions provided by the Provost's office.
7. Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellent will produce reports for classes with five or more SRTE's returned.  Alternative assessment methods should be used for small classes.
8. These guidelines apply to University Libraries faculty at all locations and should be issued to faculty members upon appointment.

Reference the following University documents for additional information:

• Administrative Guidelines for HR-23, Appendix A
• General Information on SRTEs
• University SRTE Guidelines

Effective Date: March 17, 2004
Date Approved: March 17, 2004 (Library Faculty Organization)

Revision History (and effective dates):

• December 2003- Revised guideline
• April 1991 - Revised guideline
  

Last Review Date:   August 2007