To: Deans, Department Chairs, Faculty, Vice Chancellors and Vice Provosts
Dear Colleagues:
As a follow up to the April 2024 memo from Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Personnel Michael S. Levine on student teaching evaluations for Fall, 2023, I am writing to provide you with an update on Winter–Spring 2024 teaching evaluations.
After consultation with the Council on Academic Personnel and the Academic Senate Executive Board, Winter 2024 and Spring 2024 teaching evaluations will also be optional for inclusion in academic personnel actions in addition to Fall 2023 teaching evaluations. This decision was made to support the joint goals of the Senate and administration as well as our commitment that faculty advancement at UCLA must occur without bias through objective peer review of research and creative scholarship, teaching and service.
Similar to how course evaluations were handled at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, it will be up to the individual faculty member to determine whether or not they wish to have their student teaching evaluations from Fall 2023, Winter 2024 and Spring 2024 included in their future personnel actions. Reviewers are instructed not to penalize any faculty member for omitting evaluations from these quarters or semester. I would like to reaffirm the themes shared in the December 8 BruinPost on maintaining a bias-free academic review process.
Our office remains confident that the great majority of faculty received fair evaluations and will choose to include them. We also continue to encourage all faculty to discuss their teaching experiences in their self-statements to provide additional context to reviewing bodies.
Sincerely,
Kathleen L. Kormar
Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs & Personnel
