Best Practices Adopted

• Title of the Practice – Annual Faculty Performance Assessment
• Objectives of the Practice:

The effort involves obtaining quantitative assessments of various functions of a teacher so as to arrive at an overall index of his/her performance. This index will provide feedback to teacher on the aspects in the instructional practices to be addressed to evolve as a better teacher and also play a better role in the growth of the institution.

The assessment includes various components that define the role as a teacher in a technical institute.

The main objectives are to:

• • i.Make faculty be aware of the various important components of the duties of a teacher in an engineering college
  • ii.Help improve certain functions by additional / focussed efforts
  • iii.Participate effectively towards attaining the Vision and Mission of the department as well as of the College.

3. The Context:

Teaching is one function that is difficult to quantify, as the logic behind such quantifications are prone to debate in academic circles. It is one of the reasons why most institutes desist from making such effort, and generally restrict to some qualitative indices like Good, Moderate etc.

However, if there are many functions expected of teachers, the quality attributed to each needs mapping to certain numbers in the process of arriving at an overall qualitative index. If there are many parameters under each function, the overall qualitative index loses significance, and teachers display indifference of sorts to such outcome.

In the changing scenario of technical education, like introduction of outcome based education, going through various types of accreditations, opinion polls by various stakeholders, there is currently a greater need for pinpointing the areas for improvement of teachers in order to collectively contribute to the qualitative progress of the institution.

Administration prefers a quantitative index to provide incentive to good performers, and to counsel others.

In this context, the college evolved a Faculty Performance Assessment.

The Practice:

At the end of each academic year, each faculty member is required to complete a Faculty Performance Assessment (FPA) format, which is currently online. The format consists of Parts I & II. Part I contains data of subjects handled in the two semesters, projects, publications, Research projects taken up, major administrative functions in the previous academic year, and the works planned for the ensuing year.

It also contains a quantitative rating of the teacher by the HOD on six different traits.

Part II is a self-assessment sheet by the teacher, this contains four headings, each having many parameters like those listed in brackets, which are:

• Instruction Related (Courses handled, course file, periods handled, assignments, correction of answer scripts in time, results etc.)
• Departmental activities (UG projects handled, attendance / marks compilation duties, Seminar / Workshop organization functions, Counsellor etc.)
• Publications and consultancy (papers published in journals, papers presented, Books or chapters written etc.)

Student feedback: (Semester-wise Student opinion poll results and the remarks by students in the Course Monitoring sessions each semester for each subject)

Student opinion Poll is a long-established practice in the college

Each parameter is self-assessed by the teacher and also assessed by the HOD, after due verification.

Obtaining an Overall index:

The total values obtained for the above four heads and the assessment of the HOD from Part I are entered in a table. Each of the above five heads is given a weightage, which are different for Asst. Prof. from those of Associate Prof. or Professor. The totals are assigned due weightages to a single Performance Index.

Calculations are performed on-line, and the final results sheet is available to HOD, and Principal. Principal forwards the same to management for further action.

Scores obtained for each function and the overall assessment is made available to the teachers. Faculty who perform poorly in the HOD evaluation in Part I are informed about areas that need improvement.

This practice was introduced after deciding on the major heads and parameters in many brain storming meetings of the College Academic Council, and also Principal with HODs. The finalized format was tested for the opinion of the faculty of all cadres, for inclusion or deletion of any parameters, change in weightage for each head etc. The format was finalized after due concurrence of faculty and management. The format also went through certain evolution each year to reach the current form.

Evidence of Success:

Evidence of success with respect to the FPA practice is seen from the attainment of the objectives set out initially. Objectives-wise:

Faculty members became better aware and clear about the various activities, both teaching-learning related and other academic pursuits, in the context of a technical institution.

This FPA practice is in contrast to the earlier situation in engineering colleges, when the main goals are considered as completion of syllabus, and effective teaching which is vaguely defined. Other activities were being performed with certain casualness and to a great extent individual initiative based. Also faculty appeared disinclined to take up miscellaneous additional duties, student projects, and R&D activities.

After adaption of this practice, it is observed that faculty are aware of all the parameters, and are volunteering to take up duties under each criterion, which is a sea change in their attitude.

An increased focus is evident in the attitude of teachers. It has resulted in visibly greater initiative. To an extent, HOD’s job of attending to various functions has also become easy. Course files are better maintained, handouts to students on instruction and beyond material are increasing in quantity and quality.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required.

Any new system that tries to quantify faculty performance on annual basis will be viewed with suspicion and also as abnormal, and meets with resistance from faculty. Even if faculty finally agrees on it, each of the various heads and the constituting parameters, marks assigned for each activity, and final weightages, become subjects of intense debate at department and college level. To finally adapt the system needed a number of brainstorming and debating sessions.

Faculty and HODs wanted to revisit the system for modification and fine tuning in the initial years.

Variance of Management’s perspective on the parameters and weightages also needed many sessions of brainstorming. Management’s inputs played a part in its evolution.

Initially the FPA was done manually, but made on-line since 2018. This aspect also encountered typical problems associated with

Resource required was mainly of an intellectual nature, being a large number of man hours of academicians for inputs during the evolution.

Notes:

The institution, i.e., management, academic administrators, and faculty feel that the exercise is well worth it, as it addresses many aspects of the teaching-learning process, and in attaining excellence and growth of the college as envisioned.

Our institute is one of the few that implemented the idea of quantification of teacher functions to an acceptable level after considerable exercise. At present faculty are feeling quite comfortable with the process.

The FPA process initiated by our college is worth emulation by other engineering colleges and other colleges of higher education, with due modifications to suit the particular needs. Implementation of the same is very likely to bring about better and effective participation of faculty in the qualitative improvement of the teaching-learning process in the institute.

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