Klein College Faculty Merit Guidelines for 2021-2022
Updated on June 21, 2022
[NOTE: Links and green text are new; red text = questions]
Overview of what you need to know about merit:
- To be eligible for merit consideration, a fulltime faculty member (i.e., tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure-track) must have been full-time for at least one semester during the 2021-2022 academic year and must have submitted the Annual Report of Faculty Achievement (AROFA) by September 1, 2022, as required by the TAUP Contract.
- Merit is designed to reward contributions and efforts in teaching, service, or research/creative work that are outstanding—over and above the normal expectations for a fulltime faculty member.
- Merit is not awarded for administrative duties for which a faculty member is already receiving extra compensation (that is, a stipend or course release) to perform those duties. The faculty member can receive merit for other meritorious effort not related to those specific duties.
- When merit is awarded to faculty members in Klein College, it is typically between 1 and 2 units of merit. Please be aware that faculty members in Klein College rarely receive more than 1 or 2 units. Further, due to possible reductions in merit units allocated to Klein College, some people may not be awarded any merit units. Not being awarded merit does not mean that you are not doing a great job. With fewer units available, fewer people will receive merit. Please understand that merit cannot and will not be assigned to everyone who applies. Merit units are designed to reward outstanding performance teaching, research or creative work, and service in a given year. Fulltime faculty members do receive an annual cost of living (COLA) increase—provided an AROFA was completed by the faculty member by September 1, 2022—in accordance with the TAUP contract.
How to apply for a merit award:
To apply for a merit award for 2021-2022 activity, fill out and submit the Klein College Faculty Merit Application online by the deadline of Monday, September 19, 2022 at 11:59 pm. The form will not be available after this date/time.
At some point during the review process, you may be asked to submit copies of materials related to your merit request (e.g., articles, book, syllabus). These materials should be provided within 48 hours of the request.
You are not required to submit your electronic Student Feedback Forms (SFF) reports; they are available to the department chairs. But if you are applying for merit in teaching, please submit the first three pages of each SFF from courses taught over the last academic year and any in-class evaluations by a colleague, chair, or teaching mentor conducted on your behalf over the past year.
University Allocation of Merit Units:
The evaluation process for merit awards normally begins during the fall semester following the academic year being evaluated. Final announcements of merit awards come from the Provost’s office, usually at the end of the spring semester.
It has been the practice in recent years for the University to allocate separate merit pools for tenured/tenure-track faculty and for non-tenure-track faculty. These separate pools allow evaluations to be made based on the faculty member’s type of appointment. We expect merit to be separated again this year.
Merit Award Categories:
Merit is an award. Merit units will be awarded for outstanding work in one or more of the areas of achievement: Teaching, research or creative work, or service. Receiving zero units does not mean you are not valued or that the work you are doing is not important and good. Instead, merit awards are for achievements in teaching, research or creative work, or service that are well above what is expected of faculty members already performing well in their positions.
Examples of normal duties of a fulltime faculty member include attendance and participation in department meetings, Klein College faculty meetings, department award ceremonies, job candidate presentations, convocation, commencement and graduation. Attendance and participation in college and departmental events, as part of being a good citizen, is expected of all faculty members, and is a prerequisite to being considered for an award for merit distinction.
Faculty members can be awarded merit for extraordinary work in one or more of the three categories:
Teaching: Good teaching is assumed. But good SFFs are not sufficient to be awarded merit.
Research and Creative Activity: Work considered meritorious will be awarded merit only once; typically, this means the year in which the work is published, presented, distributed, broadcast, or shown. Work “in process” or “in press” is not ready for merit recognition. Further, the quality of the publisher, journal, conference, etc., for research and creative work is part of the consideration for meritorious work.
Service: Outstanding service includes projects that are clearly definable and are above and beyond the service expected of faculty members in the ordinary discharge of their responsibilities. Faculty members who receive compensation or release time for a service responsibility are not eligible to receive a merit award for that service.
Some examples of areas that may be considered when merit awards are determined (these examples are neither exhaustive nor restrictive):
I. Teaching
A. Teaching responsibilities or innovations above and beyond normal teaching load
B. Above normal responsibilities advising doctoral or masters students
C. Significant course or curriculum development
II. Research or Creative Work
A. Publications
1. Books
2. Articles
3. Book chapters
B. Invited speeches at prestigious venues
C. Creative work presented at international events
D. Grants
E. Research-oriented or creative honors
III. Distinguished Service to the department, university, discipline, or exercise of professional expertise to the community
IV. Significant contribution of expertise to media appearances as a form of community service
Some of these merit guidelines may seem opaque or unclear. The definitions of meritorious of teaching, research/creative work and service are deliberately constructed to be inclusive, comprehensive and fair so that all of the many diverse meritorious accomplishments and activities undertaken by Klein faculty can be recognized. If you are not sure whether an accomplishment or activity is eligible for a merit award, consult your department chair and/or the Dean’s office.
Merit Process:
The process for determining merit awards is in keeping with the TAUP contract. Each year, the college is awarded a number of merit units by the provost’s office. This number is based on the number of full-time faculty members the college employed in the academic year being evaluated. The college sets aside up to 15% of these units from the pool for the Dean to use in adjusting the merit awards recommended by the department chairs or merit committee. When the units available for merit awards are separated by tenured or tenure-track faculty and non-tenure-track faculty, as they have been in recent years, the Dean’s office may take a percentage from each group. [what does this last sentence mean exactly? is this the 15% above? is the percent the same for both groups?]
Department Chairs. The department chairs meet together to deliberate and review the applications of all eligible full-time faculty members from across the Klein College of Media and Communication who have submitted them materials for merit review; the chairs may also refer to the AROFAs and SFFs when completing their evaluation.
When awarding merit, half units (0.5) may be awarded to a faculty member only after one full unit has been awarded in at least one of the three categories. Total allocations of one-half point are not accepted. The department chairs will provide a written report to the Dean and the Klein College Merit Advisory Committee about each eligible faculty member‘s application, the number of merit units recommended in each of the three categories, and a justification for the awards made.
After the chairs meet, they will each inform each faculty member in their department of the recommendation for merit awards that were made to the dean on the each faculty member’s behalf.
Klein College Merit Advisory Committee. The Klein College Merit Advisory Committee is determined by the Dean, who appoints two members from among faculty members who currently serve on the Klein College Personnel Committee and two members elected from the full-time faculty [elected “from” or “by”?] . These four faculty members should represent each of the departments in the college, and they may be tenured, tenure-track or non-tenure-track faculty members. Department chairs are not permitted to serve on the Merit Advisory Committee. The Klein College Merit Advisory Committee reviews the recommendations for merit made by the department chairs.
The Dean. The Dean shall reviews the merit recommendations from the department chairs and from the Klein College Merit Advisory Committee and shall prepares a written report that provides a list that includes all faculty members eligible for merit awards, the number of merit units recommended to be awarded to each one in each of the three categories, and a justification for the awards. Each faculty member recommended for merit by the Dean shall be is notified of the Dean’s recommendation at the time it is forwarded to the Provost. If faculty members were recommended for merit awards by the department chairs but not by the Dean, they also shall receive a letter of notification.
Provost. The list of faculty members proposed for merit awards and the amount of each merit award recommended shall be is forwarded to the Provost or other designated University officer for review and final decision. Faculty members who have been awarded merit shall be are informed of the number of merit units and the reasons for which merit is being awarded by the Provost or other designated University officer, usually no later than May 1.
Decisions on the awarding of merit pay by the Provost or other designated University officer are shall not be subject to grievance or arbitration.