To:  The Department
Date: January, 2008
From: The Personnel Committee
Subject: Merit Review “Rules of Thumb”

        The Departmental Merit System specifies that “teaching activities” for Standards B, C, and D should indicate “greater participation” in such activities as “guest lectures or teaching colleagues’ classes; service on examination committees; supervision of theses or independent studies course; creation and teaching of new courses.”  Such activities are specifically linked to “service to the Department and its educational program.”
        In applying these standards, the Personnel Committee is directed “to distribute to the Department the rules of thumb it intends to use for the current year.”  The Committee does so by way of this memo.
        Teaching, scholarship and governance activities undertaken within a joint appointment in another program or department will be assessed in consultation with the appropriate department chair or program director and be part of a holistic score reported to the Dean alongside the English department score and the score from the other department or program.
        For the purposes of merit review, teaching and governance activities undertaken outside the English department but not under the terms of a joint appointment will be reported to the PC and assessed in the same way as activities undertaken within the English department.
        In deciding what constitutes “greater participation,” the PC will allocate points to qualifying activities.

        service on examining committees	.25 per committee

        independent studies courses completed	1 per student (3 credits)

        internships directed	1 per student (3 credits)

        supervision of completed theses	2 per student

        creating and teaching of a new course	2 per course
        (excluding new hires)

A member of the Department who has 2 or more points for such activities will be deemed to have “greater participation in such activities.”
	The Personnel Committee will assess talks given off campus and on campus outside class under the rubric of either “Teaching” or “Governance” as the allocation most benefits the member’s merit score.