reviews and observations
I'm in my first year of a tenure-track job, after several years as an adjunct (elsewhere). In my adjunct days, once a year a tenured faculty member would sit in on one of my lectures to make sure I wasn't an embarrassment to the department and other than that I was left to my own devices.
This year I am getting four different people observing my classes: my official mentor, the head of the department, and two members of the department's faculty advisory committee. The FAC members observe me in both lecture classes and seminars.
I also have three separate review meetings: a mid-year review, a year-end review, and a research-plan-assessment review.
Is that more, less, or the same as at other schools? Do you feel that the quantity of reviewage and observation at your school is too high, too low, or just right? Is more reviewage a sign of a caring, involved department, a waste of time, or an intrusion into your independence as an academic?
This year I am getting four different people observing my classes: my official mentor, the head of the department, and two members of the department's faculty advisory committee. The FAC members observe me in both lecture classes and seminars.
I also have three separate review meetings: a mid-year review, a year-end review, and a research-plan-assessment review.
Is that more, less, or the same as at other schools? Do you feel that the quantity of reviewage and observation at your school is too high, too low, or just right? Is more reviewage a sign of a caring, involved department, a waste of time, or an intrusion into your independence as an academic?