Faculty evaluation in higher education is an issue of strong interest for different stakeholders, given its social, political, and legal implications. While the efforts for improving faculty performance have been made, the systems for assessing the quality of faculty on campus remain largely traditional. The credibility of faculty evaluation is one of the most precarious and sensitive problems. This study used the critical analysis approach to examine the practice of faculty evaluation system in the context of an education university. It focused on two different approaches to faculty evaluation: an accountability control approach and a professional development approach. It further compared their differences in evaluation theory and practice. A case study was used as the lens for understanding how evaluation was conducted, and for identifying the meanings given to the evaluation system. In addition, this study provided an alternative understanding of how decisions about faculty evaluation were made. Results from this study showed that school administrators adopted an accountability control approach to the evaluation of faculty in a climate of increasing control of faculty work and professional activities. That is to say, faculty evaluation cannot simultaneously serves as a mechanism of development and a tool of accountability. Thus, as institutional calls for college and university accountability continue, faculty evaluation systems need to be reexamined to see whether they can serve both to manage organizational performance and to enhance faculty development.
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Accountability Control or Professional Development? A Dilemma of Faculty Evaluation in University
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