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Faculty Evaluation System

Grand Rapids Community College evaluation system is for full-time classroom faculty, advisors, counselors, librarians, job training faculty and tutorial coordinators.

The purpose of the faculty evaluation system at Grand Rapids Community College is to promote excellence in the teaching and learning process. Faculty evaluation at GRCC is intended as a collegial process.

The comprehensive faculty evaluation system includes multiple measures of assessment designed to provide faculty with the essential information they need to achieve excellence in the teaching and mentoring of learners. The faculty evaluation system promotes excellence by rewarding exemplary faculty and by providing the means of individual professional development, resulting in improved student learning and institutional quality.

Part of the college’s commitment to educational excellence is to recruit and retain highly qualified faculty. The college also recognizes that faculty who do not meet acceptable levels of performance and who fail to improve those levels of performance will not be retained.

The underlying assumption of the faculty evaluation system at GRCC is that it is a collegial system with collective responsibility for excellence in teaching and learning shared by each colleague in the academic department and college. Tenure, step progression and promotion are the acknowledgements by one’s colleagues of an individual’s readiness to move forward to the next level of performance and responsibility.

Important Dates: 2026-27 Calendar
  • Monday, July 13: FPE System Plans Open
  • Friday, Sept. 18: FPE Plans Submitted*
  • Monday, Sept. 21-Friday, September 25: DH/PD Review and Approval of FPE Plans** 
  • Monday, Sept. 28-Friday, October 9: AD Review and Approval of FPE Plans**
  • Monday, Oct. 26: FPE System Reports Open
  • Friday, Nov. 13: Tenure Committees Finalized
  • Friday, Jan. 15: Rank Committees Finalized
  • Friday, Jan. 15: Tenure Portfolios Submitted
  • Friday, Feb. 5: Tenure Committee Recommendations Submitted to Deans
  • Friday, Feb. 12: Dean Recommendations on Tenure Applications Submitted to Provost
  • Friday, Feb. 19: Provost Notifies Faculty on Tenure Decisions
  • Friday, March 12: Rank Portfolios Submitted
  • Friday, April 16: Rank Committee Recommendations Submitted to Deans
  • Friday, April 30: Dean Recommendations on Rank Applications Submitted to Provost
  • Friday, April 9: FPE Reports Submitted*
  • Monday, April 12 – Friday, April 30: DH/PD Review and Approval of FPE Reports**
  • Friday, May 21: Provost’s Decisions on Rank Applications
  • Monday, May 3 – Friday, May 21: AD Review and Approval of FPE Reports** 
  • Wednesday, June 30: Full-time Faculty Notified of Decisions on Pay Increases


* FPE plans and reports must be submitted by 11:59pm on the published due date.
** If FPE plan or report revisions are requested by their department head/program director or their associate dean, faculty members have three business days to make revisions and resubmit.

Training Schedule: 2026-27 Calendar

Faculty Evaluation System Training Schedule: 2026-27 Calendar

Instructional Observation Training
  • Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, from 3-4 p.m.
  • Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, from 9-10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, from noon-1:00 p.m.
FPE Plan Training
  • Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, from 3-4 p.m.
  • Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, from 9-10 a.m.
  • Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, from noon-1 p.m.
Portfolio Training
  • Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, from 9-10 a.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, from noon-1 p.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, from 3-4 p.m.
Instructional Observation, FPE and Portfolio Training
  • Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, from 1-4 p.m.
FPE Report Training 
  • TBD in Winter 2027

Note: Faculty may register for the training sessions via their Online Center or the TLDE Professional Learning Registration page. 

Faculty Performance Evaluation (FPE) Resources

Portfolios for Tenure and Rank Promotion

The portfolio is the primary documentary evidence used for tenure review and promotions in rank. It is used by all tenure and promotion review committees as the foundation of their deliberations. Workshops will introduce participants to the portfolio at GRCC and the processes surrounding it. Please note: completion of a portfolio workshop is required for any faculty member who wishes to serve on a rank or tenure committee.

Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

The selection of an outcome assessment project is based on the data and information needed to best inform program, service and/or curricular development or improvement. The best instructional assessments are aligned with course learning outcomes and with classroom practices. Those conducting assessments are responsible for identifying or creating measurement instruments that reflect learning appropriate in the courses and programs in which they teach or the services they provide. The progress and findings associated with the assessment of student learning are documented and reported at the end of each academic year in department annual reports, academic program review, and faculty performance evaluations (FPEs). 

View the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes page for more information.

Classroom Observations

Observations are an important component of the evaluation system but how do you perform effective observations that result in constructive feedback? The Observation Training Presentation provides information on effective instructional observations. 

Completion of the Instructional Observation Training session is required before faculty will be permitted to complete observations of peers.

Please use the Faculty Instructional Observation Report to complete instructional observations for all faculty.

 

Student Evaluations

These surveys allow students to provide feedback on learning experiences within the classroom and while interacting with services that support their learning.  

Questions?

If you have questions about the evaluation system, feel free to contact your associate dean:

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