In December of each year the campus will ask you to fill out an activity report asking for information on teaching, professional development, university and community service.  If this is not submitted by Jan 5, you will receive an “unsatisfactory” ranking. 

IAS  are not required to have university/community service, but should have some professional development in the past calendar year.  This might include

•  reading PS: Political Science and Politics,  the closest thing the discipline has to a teaching journal.  It is probably in your library, and can be accessed through http://www.apsanet.org   There are interesting ideas for the classroom plus short articles on interesting topics.

• reading some popular books, from Hilary Clinton's Living History, to Ralph Nader's Crashing the Party, etc.  Books on public affairs "count." 

• reading more serious professional journals and/or academic books on topics of your choice.  The national organization and regional organizations all have journals, as do the international organizations. We've given those web sites previously. 

• You will need to have a full, professional citation of these items (not, for example, "I read a few articles in the Journal of Politics.")

The form to be filled out can be found on MS Outlook e-mail, under Public Folders

....all Public Folders

....Documents and Policies (College wide)

...Senate Policies

....IP #320 Institutional Personnel Policy Affecting Faculty and Academic Staff:

Policy on Evaluation – Instructional Academic Staff (Category B)

...IP#301 contains the Activity Report Form.

 A performance rating will be assigned as follows:

-- "meritorious"-  exceeding expectations;

--"satisfactory": meeting expectations;

--"unsatisfactory": failing to fulfill expectations.

(An unsatisfactory rating may result in nonrenewal of a teaching contract.)

The document spells out the appeals process.  We endeavor to be fair.  There is debate as to whether an "unsatisfactory" rating will be given those IAS who do not submit an Activity Report (this is the rule for tenured and tenure-track faculty).  Problems exist for those who teach only in the spring semester, and who are not on campus during the fall to get the announcements. 

Our procedures call for departments and campuses to alternate the merit exercise, with each institution surveying two years of activity reports plus any peer visitations and student evaluations.  So, in 2003, the departments will have data from 2001 and 2002 calendar years.  In 2004 the campuses will have data from 2002 and 2003 calendar years.  

 One of the first things you should do as a staff member is to create an Activity Report file for the year.  Anytime you make a speech,  are questioned by reporters (newspapers, TV, radio), drop a note of the date, topic, and source.   Anytime you guest-lecture, present a  paper, or obtain a research grant, drop it in.    Make sure you have a copy of course name and 10^th day of class enrollment.  If you do something new in your teaching—introduce a new topic, add a simulation, try new small group exercises, etc., make a note and stick it in the folder.  It will be a lot easier to fill out the form if all of this is in one place.  Then stick in your copy of the Activity Report for that year and create a new folder for the next year.