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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, September 18: FPE Plans Submitted*
  • Monday, September 21-Friday, September 25: DH/PD Review and Approval of FPE Plans** 
  • Monday, September 28-Friday, October 9: AD Review and Approval of FPE Plans**
  • Monday, October 26: FPE System Reports Open
  • Friday, November 13: Tenure Committees Finalized
  • Friday, January 15: Rank Committees Finalized
  • Friday, January 15: Tenure Portfolios Submitted
  • Friday, February 5: Tenure Committee Recommendations Submitted to Deans
  • Friday, February 12: Dean Recommendations on Tenure Applications Submitted to Provost
  • Friday, February 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: 2025-26 Calendar

Faculty Evaluation System Training Schedule: 2025-26 Calendar

  • September 5, 2025 -  FPE Training (10-11 am)
  • September 8, 2025 - FPE Training (3-4 pm)
  • September 26, 2025 -  Faculty Observation Training (10-11 am)
  • September 29, 2025 - Faculty Observation Training (10-11 am)
  • October 2, 2025 - Portfolio Training (10-11)
  • October 3, 2025 - Portfolio Training  (3-4)
  • January 23, 2026 - Portfolio Training (1-2 pm)
  • January 30, 2026 - Faculty Observation Training (3-4 pm)
  • February 13, 2026 - Portfolio Training (3-4 pm)
  • March 13, 2026 - FPE Report Training (3-4 pm)

Note: Faculty may register for the training sessions via their Online Center or the TLDE Learning Sessions 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. 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? This session explains the behaviors that characterize effective instruction and assists faculty in using those behaviors as benchmarks for effective and appropriate peer evaluation. It also covers the documentation associated with observations in the Faculty Evaluation System. The session covers information on observation of both face to face and online courses. NOTE: Completion of this session is required before faculty will be permitted to complete observations of peers.

Student Evaluations

Questions?

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

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