Assessment Process
Contract academic instructors who have taught a given course three times during the past five years become eligible to apply for assessment for Right of First Refusal (ROFR). This means that when a department or faculty is hiring for a new academic offering, instructors holding Right of First Refusal to teach that course are given first consideration when they apply.
There are two ROFR assessment periods each year, in the fall and winter semesters. Instructors who are eligible to apply for assessment will receive a notice of assessment from the Vice-President's office late in the preceding semester. All instructors receiving notices must notify their departments or faculties by the end of the second week of the new semester regarding whether they are planning to apply, defer, or decline assessment. All ROFR applications must be received by the end of the first month of the new semester by the departments and faculties, which form Contract Academic Instructor Assessment Committees to assess the relevant applications and inform their instructors of the result. Instructors have the right to submit a written response within ten days. Instructors receiving a satisfactory evaluation are granted a Right of First Refusal to teach the relevant course for the following five years. Please see Article 19A.03 of the Collective Agreement for further details.
Assessment Package
The assessment of Contract Academic Instructors will be based on the contents of the Contract Academic Instructor's official file, the self-assessment letter, and supporting evidence of good teaching (if provided by the instructor) as outlined in the Collective Agreement. The following outline is aimed to assist with preparation of such an assessment package which should ideally be based on the materials developed during preparation of the course (see Preparing to Teach). For detailed information on Assessment, refer to the Collective Agreement (Article 19).
(1) Course description
A template covering the course and the context for teaching is available for download here.
(2) Teaching philosophy
Please see the Teaching Philosophy section.
(3) Teaching and learning objectives
Please see the Setting Objectives section.
(4) Self assessment
The Designing a Course section should help you with answering the following questions:
- How did you structure your course, and what have you changed or added?
- How did the course content, instructional design (including teaching strategies), assessments, and grading work towards meeting the objectives?
- How can the course be improved further?
(5) Optional appendices
- recognition received for good teaching
- a reflection on results of student opinion surveys
- products of good teaching, e.g. examples of student work
- a sample syllabus, a learning activity, exam and/or assignment used in the course
