THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
OF MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Proposal 20-08 (revised)
“Amendment to Proposal
42-04: Evaluation Procedure for the
President”
Voting Units: Full Senate
Background:
During
the 2008 Presidential Evaluation, there were requests made were received from staff, who are not
members of the Senate constituency, that they also be allowed to evaluate the
President. The President also felt agreed that receiving feedback from all
regular non-student University employees was important and welcomed the
suggestion that the Senate expand the criteria for the annual evaluation to
include more employees beyond
than just the Senate constituency.
The original proposal has been reworded to include all regular
non-student employees of Michigan Tech identified as respondents.
Proposal
Amendment:
Regular
evaluation of the President of Michigan Technological University by the Senate
constituency faculty and staff
encourages open communication, healthy exchange of information, and a shared
responsibility for university direction. This procedure allows respondents (all
Michigan Tech’s regular non-student employees) to provide input and feedback to the
leadership of the university. Senate recognizes that represented staff
are not part of the Senate constituency (which comprises faculty and
professional staff) so the inclusion of represented staff in the evaluation of
the President will be subject to the approval and agreement of their
representatives.
1. Frequency of Evaluation and
Evaluation Format
The President will be evaluated every year.
The evaluation will be conducted using a combination of paper surveys and web surveys, offering constituents a choice of response formats. Both paper and web surveys will contain information relevant to the evaluation and a questionnaire section. Information to be included consists of:
The
official position description of the President
A
statement from the President detailing the current goals, achievements, and
resource constraints associated with his or her work
Information
(reports, web pages) relevant to evaluating the President's work
The questionnaire section will contain:
Questions
asking for comments
Questions asking for scaled responses
A core of questions will be used every year. Additional questions may be added in particular years by the committee or by request from the President or respondents.
A
sample questionnaire is included in the appendix.
2. Evaluation Procedures
The evaluation will be conducted during the spring semester and will be supervised by the Senate Administrative Policy Committee.
During the preceding spring semester, the committee will review the list of core questions and solicit suggestions for additional questions from the respondents and from the President. The committee will then prepare a final list of questions. The committee will also ask respondents and the President for suggestions about information that would be useful to constituents in providing feedback to the President and in evaluating the President's work and will prepare a list of information to be included with the surveys.
At the beginning of the fall semester, the committee will request from the President a current position description and a statement to be submitted by the beginning of the spring semester.
The surveys will be distributed to respondents in the fifth week of spring semester, and respondents will be asked to return the paper surveys or fill out the web surveys by the end of the seventh week.
Responses
to both questions asking for comments and questions asking for scaled responses
will be compiled by the committee. Responses from faculty, and from
professional, and represented staff
will be compiled separately.
The
committee will review the compiled comments and statistical summary of scaled
questions and make an oral report to the Senate by the end of spring semester. The committee will also
prepare a written report. A draft of the written report will be given to the
President and he or she will be allowed invited to submit a brief statement in response. The written report
and the response from the President will be posted on the website for the
Senate constituency by the end of
spring semester and it will remain on the website until the end of the next academic
year. One copy of the report will be printed out and filed in the Senate
office, and one copy will be forwarded to the Board of Control.
3.
Authority
This policy supersedes the procedure for the evaluation of the President
specified in Senate Proposal 22-94.
Appendix:
Sample questionnaire
Job description
The
President of the University is the chief executive officer, appointed by and
reporting to the Board of Control, and is ultimately responsible for all
aspects of
Timely implementation of Board of
Control policies
Effective shared governance
Financial viability of the University
Continuous improvement of the quality
of learning and working environments
Fund raising
Effective relationships with
government agencies and political leaders, corporations and industry leaders
Communication with 45,000+ alumni as
well as other individuals and the general public interested in Michigan Tech
Institutional responses to political,
social and ethical issues
Positioning Michigan Tech as a premier technological university for the 21st Century.
(Statement from the President)
Questions
asking for comments:
1. Which of the President's responsibilities has he discharged well over the past year?
2. Which of the responsibilities has he not discharged well?
3. Are the current goals mentioned by the President in his statement appropriate and achievable goals for the university? Are there other goals the university should be pursuing?
4. Are the achievements listed by the President significant achievements, considering the resource constraints at the present time?
5. What else could the President be doing to help the university achieve its mission?
Questions
asking for scaled responses:
How would you rate the President on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest rating, in the following categories:
1. Supporting quality educational programs
2. Supporting quality research activities
3. Representing
the University to alumni, legislators, the local community, and the citizens of
4. Maintaining an effective senior administrative team
5. Communicating clearly university priorities and policies to faculty, staff, and students
6. Inviting and incorporating input on university priorities and policies from faculty, staff, and students
7. Balancing the budget in a manner consistent with the strategic plan
Introduced to Senate: 19 March 2008
Adopted by Senate: 2 April 2008
Revisions requested by Provost: 30 October 2008
Revised and Reintroduced to Senate: 12 November 2008
Revised Version Adopted by Senate: 3 December 2008