In 2012, Olin College initiated an effort to improve its faculty reappointment and promotion (R&P) system in response to a lack of alignment between faculty activities, the institutional mission, and the traditional assessment criteria defined in the faculty manual. Olin engaged in a six-step user- oriented design process that guided the academic community through a sequence of conversations and planning exercises. At the end of the year, Olin piloted an experimental system that redefined faculty responsibilities as a portfolio of activities to serve three overlapping purposes: developing students, building and sustaining the college, and achieving impact outside the college. These faculty responsibilities became the foundation of a new faculty development and assessment system that included additional developmental feedback, annual reports and reviews that generate evidence of faculty progress towards personal and institutional goals, and reappointment and promotion re- views that further reinforce the larger mission. Although the design process and the resulting faculty development and assessment system were responsive to Olin’s specific context, we believe that the lessons learned from this experience can be applied to other institutions interested in aligning faculty assessment categories and feedback processes with individual and institutional priorities.
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