Preamble
It is the policy of Sonoma State University that the President and the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall perform formal reviews of administrators reporting directly to them to assist them in their evaluations. The periodic reviews provide feedback to administrators to enhance their performance and their on-going professional development and to assure the overall quality of the administration of the university.
4.2. Reviewed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee)
- Policy
1.1 All current and future university administrators reporting directly to the President or to the Vice President of Academic Affairs will be reviewed periodically by a constituent group representative of individuals with whom the administrator interacts (including, but are not limited to, faculty, administrators, staff, students, and members of the local community) in accordance with this policy. See Section 4 for a list of administrators subject to review (hereinafter “Reviewed Administrator”). The President is the Supervising Administrator for administrators that report directly to him/her, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs is the Supervising Administrator for administrators that report directly to him/her. The President or the Vice President for Academic Affairs is hereinafter the “Supervising Administrator.”
1.2 The Periodic Review process is separate from the Annual MPP Evaluation. However, information from the Comprehensive Report may be incorporated into the written comments of the Annual MPP Evaluations as deemed appropriate by the Supervising Administrator.
1.3 The Periodic Review of administrators might include data gathered from constituent and peer groups to provide insights that might not emerge from Annual MPP Evaluations.
1.4 The Periodic Review will be conducted after three years of employment as an administrator (with a minimum of one year in the most current assignment) and every five years thereafter. (Note: The University President may direct a special Periodic Review at other intervals.) At the discretion of the Supervising Administrator and with the consent of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, the review may be delayed one year.
1.5 The Supervising Administrator may assign his/her duties to a designee.
1.6 A detailed process for the review of academic administrators follows in Section 2 with an associated calendar in Section 3.
- Procedures for Periodic Review of Administrators
2.1 The Supervising Administrator will notify the Reviewed Administrator(s) and request a detailed listing of activities and accomplishments for the period under review (either three or five years).
2.2 A Committee with seven to eight members will review each administrator.
2.3 The Committee will include four tenured faculty members, one permanent staff member, one student, and one administrator. A representative from the community-at-large may be selected when appropriate.
2.4 The Reviewed Administrator may submit up to four names (no more than two faculty members) to the Supervising Administrator for consideration for the committee. No more than half of the Committee shall be from the list of names submitted by the Reviewed Administrator.
2.5 The Supervising Administrator will appoint one tenured faculty member from the Reviewed Administrator’s list of names, if submitted, one administrator, and possibly one community representative. The Academic Senate will select three tenured faculty members. The Associated Students will select the student. For reviews of Deans the faculty, staff, and student representatives shall be members of the Reviewed Administrator’s school/library.
2.6 The Committee shall:
2.6.1. Meet with the Supervising Administrator to discuss the procedures to be used in the review process, the calendar for conducting the review, the questionnaire used in previous reviews for this position, if available, and details about the position of the individual being reviewed. The Committee shall be provided with the Reviewed Administrator’s job description as well as a list of his/her activities and accomplishments. Other data will be provided to the Committee as needed. [See attached sample questionnaire which could be used as a starting point for such a questionnaire if no previous review questionnaire is available.]
2.6.2 Recommend a chair to the Supervising Administrator. The Supervising Administrator will designate the chair of the Committee.
2.6.3 Meet with the Reviewed Administrator to discuss the review process and to determine from whom to request input.
2.6.4 Employ a questionnaire concerning the Reviewed Administrator's work to groups of people familiar with the work, such as faculty members, staff members, the Academic Senate Executive Committee, the Academic Affairs Council, the Associated Students, other campus organizations, alumni, members of advisory groups, donors, and other members of the public. For Deans the questionnaires will be distributed to all faculty and staff in the Dean’s school/library and to others as appropriate. The questionnaires shall include questions with objective responses that address the duties of the position. The Academic Senate office shall maintain a file of questionnaires for each position subject to the review policy. The completed questionnaires may be signed or unsigned. All written statements, open-ended comments on the questionnaire, letters, etc. must be signed. Unsigned comments cannot be accepted or considered. The committee may gather information from specific groups of people by conducting structured interviews rather than using questionnaires so long as any comments made are attributed to the group.
2.6.5. Implement the review following the calendar and keep the Reviewed Administrator informed and current throughout the review process.
2.6.6. Prepare a Comprehensive Report when all survey and other data are collected and present copies to the Supervising Administrator and the Reviewed Administrator. The Comprehensive Report will provide detailed information and be confidential.
2.6.7. Meet with the Supervising Administrator and the Reviewed Administrator, together or separately, to review the Comprehensive Report and to discuss the major findings of the Review Committee.
2.7. The Supervising Administrator shall prepare a Final Summary Report and provide copies to the Review Committee, the Supervising Administrator, the Reviewed Administrator, the employee’s supervisor (if not the Supervising Administrator), and the President. The Final Summary Report is a brief report that brings conclusion to the review and outlines the major findings and goals for the Reviewed Administrator for the next period.
2.7.1 The Supervising Administrator shall make a copy of the Final Summary Report available to faculty, staff and students on reserve in the University Library.
2.8 When the Reviewed Administrator is a Dean, the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall meet with constituent members of the school/library to discuss the report’s findings and recommendations.
2.9 The Committee shall maintain the same standards of confidentiality that apply to other personnel matters. Confidential materials shall be kept at the Office of the Academic Senate during the review process. The Supervising Administrator shall be responsible for seeing that materials that do not become part of the individual's personnel file are destroyed after the review process is completed.
- Recommended Calender for Reviews of Administrators
Fall Semester:
Week 4 The Supervising Administrator informs administrators who are to be reviewed; seeks recommendations for committee members; appoints Committee.
Week 6 Committee is convened and charged; given materials provided by the Reviewed Administrators; provided a questionnaire used in past reviews for that administrative position, if available.
Weeks 6–8 Committee meets with Reviewed Administrators to discuss a plan for review.
Week 8-9 Committee adopts or modifies a questionnaire used in past reviews for that administrative position, if available, or creates a new questionnaire if one is not available; and, decides whether to use other data gathering methods (for example, interviews or focus groups).
Weeks 9-12 Committee distributes questionnaire and employs other data gathering methods, if any.
Week 14 All data are due back to the Committee.
Spring Semester:
Weeks 1-4 Committee analyzes data and writes a Comprehensive Report.
Week 5 Committee sends copies of Comprehensive Report to the Supervising Administrator and to the Reviewed Administrator.
Weeks 6 – 7 Committee meets with Reviewed Administrator to discuss the Comprehensive Report.
Weeks 8 – 9 The Final Summary Report is made available on reserve in the University Library.
Week 10 For Deans, Vice President for Academic Affairs arranges a date to meet with the School/library constituencies.
Week 11-13 For Deans, the Vice President for Academic Affairs meets with the constituencies to discuss the major findings and goals for the Reviewed Administrator for the next period.
- Administrators Subject to the Periodic Review Policy
4.1. Reviewed by the President (or designee)
- Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
- Vice President for Administration and Finance
- Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services
- Vice President for University Affairs
- Vice President of Development
4.2. Reviewed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee
- Deans of Schools, Library and Extended Education
- Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs
- Associate Vice President for Academic Programs
- Associate Vice President for Analytical Studies and Planning
- Associate Vice President for Academic Resources
Updated 9/15/06 by SSU.policies@sonoma.edu