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[melba_frilkins]

I've run into a couple of bumps in doing peer evaluations. I'm a tenured instructor, and evaluating adjunct instructors in my discipline falls to me. Usually it goes just fine, but a couple of times this has happened:

a. I observe class. It has problems.
b. Write up report, combining good points with suggestions for improvements
c. Faculty being observed gets defensive. The whole thing is major PITA for me with no purpose because
d. What I write on the report makes no difference, there is no follow-up by administration. (That is, even really bad report gets ignored and the instructor continues to be scheduled with classes).

So, I'm in the middle of this right now, corresponding with a new instructor who thinks hus class is the best thing since sliced bread and that the problem is that I just don't get it. Anway, we have a follow-up discussion in a few days. What I'm wondering is can you think of any tips to guide the discussion in a productive direction?

There were good elements during the class I observed, but definitely room for improvement. How to have that discussion with someone who is highly defensive? I'm afraid it will end up being a waste of time and emotional energy. Should I just cut my losses, say ok, let's just both sign the report and be done with the formalities?

[zuzu_]

This is tough, and I feel for the adjunct instructors. They already likely feel shat upon, and they perceive you as dumping more sh!t on top of that.

However, I do think you need to CYA and document major concerns. Even if no action is taken, you never know what kind of issue can come up with this instructor down the road. You don't want to be on record saying that everything was fine.

I would just say keep doing what you are doing, throw your energy into writing this up with sensitive wording, and have thick skin when the person acts offended. I probably would eliminate the face-to-face component of the evalutation if that is an option, as that doesn't seem to be doing anyone any good. Just send them the hard copy, ask for a signature, and tell them you'd be glad to clarify anything if they want to come by and talk about it. They might be less inclined to get defensive when reading the report in private.

[tee_bee]

My question is why does this odious task fall to you? If this expenditure of your time has no broader value, and yet is just a PITA to you and the adjuncts, can you quit this role? You do have tenure, after all.

[msparticularity]

Just one additional thought--do the adjuncts have a genuine reason to fear that any kind of negative comments at all might lead to their losing their jobs? Their lives are very, very different from those of tenured, or even TT faculty, so genuine feedback may not actually be in the best interests of the department.

My suggestion is that if these are adjuncts who you think your department should keep, you might consider delivering suggestions for improvement in person and not in writing--confine the written report to positive comments. If you think the department should not be using them in future, then definitely put the negative comments in writing!

[mignon]

Can't you just write a letter praising their strengths, then talk to them in private about their weaknesses?

A "bad" letter can have a disproportionately bad effect on their career--why do this?  Unless a teacher is truly bad, it's not productive to use letters to "help" them in this way.

[seniorscholar]

There were good elements during the class I observed, but definitely room for improvement. How to have that discussion with someone who is highly defensive? I'm afraid it will end up being a waste of time and emotional energy. Should I just cut my losses, say ok, let's just both sign the report and be done with the formalities?

Is it possible to pick the one thing that most needs improvement, and then say, "Look, you're a pretty good teacher, but this one thing really needs to be fixed -- what could you do to _______ [fill in as appropriate]?" In other words, make the victim come up with some positive ideas.

To echo an earlier comment, if there are real problems with any of the adjuncts, you need to write your concerns clearly, even if it seems as if it has no effect on the department's policies. When that person's work causes a real stink five years from now, and the current chair has left, you at least want to be on the record as having noticed. You don't have power to fix things, but you can avoid closing your eyes.

[der_gadfly]

I am no rookie to the classroom, but new at my place. I get observed soon. To tell the truth, having been on the other side (having to observe others) I pretty much understand the game from both sides.

I will be certain to favor one side of the room. This will elicit the comment about 'engaging the class from both sides'. if my observer does not like the way I speak, my content organization etc, I will smile and nod a lot, and vow to improve! No need to get all defensive. I have my style, and if my observer trashes me, well so be it.

I know of many who DO however get defensive, and I see that it is simply a waste of time and energy. I had to 'correct' an adjunct once... each successive email to me complaining about it elicted the following response from me:

"Please elaborate."

Even the most tenacious eventually tire...

[kshenko]

I ABSOLUTELY hate, hate, hate having to observe adjuncts (which I must to every semester).  Many adjuncts get very nervous, and I feel bad...  Also, I agree w/ OP that, in most cases, what I say probably makes no difference in the ways they teach or in their future appointments to teach for us.

Still, when they are good, I praise them.  When they aren't very good, I am usually factual in my written feedback ("Prof. X did this, this, and then this"), and then I make suggestions in person, pointing them to proper resources as needed. 

I have had a couple of problematic cases which I felt needed to be documented in my write-up.  One kept on saying culturally insensitive things, such as "This isn't China!  No one's going to be killed for speaking up!" or (in describing the harships prominent in a particular community) "...these people are busy making babies."--when there were students from those backgrounds!!!  The adjunct got defensive, citing the First Ammendament...  In the end, sure, it's in writing, but nobody really cared...  She's still teaching for us.  So I had to listen to this adjunct's nonsense about her freedom of speech for no reason.  What a waste of my time and energy.

[spyzowin]

that is interested in instructional evaluation? is there a common form to use? are there documented procedures to follow? If so, then simply follow them. If not, try to finagle your way into a committee to work on them. Life is always better if there are carved-in-stone processes for these sorts of activities.

Not that any of that should matter with regard to the overall question of teaching effectiveness.

If an adjunct gets so nervous teaching in front of a tenured professor of a certain department that they really blow the class, then they probably shouldn't be teaching at all. If you happen to observe an adjunct teach a terrible class. Tell them it to their face and to your chair. Write it up carefully, and hope that your chair acts responsibly. We have a larger duty to our students than we do to either adjunct faculty or our colleagues. Colleagues come and go, but students are eternal.

Observing and evaluating adjunct faculty is part of the job for regular faculty. It's just the way it goes, and it's part of the 1/3rd of your job that is dedicated to service to your institution. You don't have to like doing it. It's absurd. Do you think that people who work in slaughterhouses like killing cattle? Do you think that people working behind the counter at 7/11 like selling coffee to drunks at 3 in the morning?

[kshenko]

amnirov, many institutions provide general formats to follow, from what I understand.  Also, sure, in theory, that's how it should go--it's part of our job and we should just do it, and adjuncts should just stop complaining... But, still, as humans we don't always work/feel the way the rules stipulate...

Also, the issue of supervising/evaluating adjuncts isn't really "the way it's supposed to be," according to my colleagues that teach in law schools.  It is actually controversial, especially from from a legal point of view in the US.  Since adjuncts are almost always 1099'ed (non-employee independent contractors), rather than I-9'ed (employees), universities technically don't have the authority to be evaluating their performances.  Legally speaking, if universities wish to evaluate adjuncts' performances, then they should hire them as employees and provide proper accommodations (i.e., pay substantially more and provide benefits).  I however don't think there has been any definitive cases/decisions to "end it all," and that's why many institutions still evaluate their adjuncts.  But, not surprisingly, most law schools apparently refrain from evaluating/supervising their adjuncts.

[melba_frilkins]

To answer the question that came up a couple times: Yes, we do have a formal process in place. It is: observe class, fill in report form, have follow-up meeting, both parties sign report and send completed copy to department office. But from there the process goes into a murky black hole.

Here's an interesting twist on the issue of adjuncts being evaluated: They used to not be on this campus. But it was the adjunct faculty themselves who demanded to be evaluated. Administration was using the adjuncts' non-evaluated status as an excuse for things (the particulars elude me at this time, but I'm thinking one of the issues was seniority/re-hire rights).