Faculty Evaluation - Counseling (G/P) | Administrative Rules Directory

This guideline/procedure details the underlying policies and outlines the overall procedures of the counseling faculty evaluation process at Austin Community College District (“ACC” or “the College”).

The College values quality counseling and teaching in a learning environment that supports the continuous enhancement of the professional skills of its faculty. The purpose of faculty evaluation is to support exemplary counseling and student education through a process that is transparent, fair, formative, and results in actionable information faculty can use for continuous enhancement of faculty counseling.

Reporting Structure

The College will provide annual reports on Counseling Faculty evaluation outcomes to the respective Vice Chancellors of Student Affairs and Instruction, as well as the appropriate Associate Vice Chancellors, Executive Deans, and Deans.

Policies

Collegewide expectations for counseling at ACC are summarized in the exemplary counseling statement:
- ACC mental health, career, and academic counseling faculty are committed to exemplary counseling and teaching that engenders equity and student success and is guided by ACC Faculty Values. Intentionally using innovative, evidence-based counseling and teaching practices, faculty creatively foster student mental health, well-being, resilience, persistence, and sense of purpose. While cultivating a culture of belonging and inclusiveness for all students, counseling faculty pursue excellence and continuous improvement in the practice of counseling, the delivery of supportive education focused on mental health, career planning education, and student learning.
- To meet the highest level of exemplary practice, faculty seek out new strategies to intentionally nurture and respect students’ individual strengths, interests, needs, identities, and cultures. Faculty commit to continuous mastery in their field and teaching pedagogy as well as engagement in ongoing reflective practices in support of lifelong learning.
Transparency – All faculty members have the right to know how they will be evaluated before submitting evaluation materials. As such, the College will develop and maintain a website that includes links to the Counseling Faculty Evaluation Manual and associated materials along with the following information provided by each counseling unit. This information will be available to all and updated as any information changes:
1. The evaluation process for counseling faculty, which parallels the faculty evaluation process for instructional faculty.
2. The rubrics adopted by each counseling unit for all criteria on the Summary Evaluation Form. These can be developed by each counseling unit or can be taken from the rubrics provided by the College or elsewhere, or any combination thereof.
3. How the different criteria on the Summary Evaluation Form will be weighted within the collegewide required guidelines in determining the Overall Rating, along with the scale for determining that rating.
Consistency – In support of contributing to an atmosphere of equity and transparency in the faculty evaluation process, counseling faculty evaluations will be consistently administered across the College, while allowing for reasonable variation by each counseling unit. This applies particularly to:
1. Weighting of the Criteria on the Summary Evaluation Form in determining the Overall Rating must follow the standards established in the Procedures below.
2. Ratings for each of the Criteria on the Summary Evaluation Form will be determined through rubrics determined by each counseling unit’s shared governance process.
Formative – For the faculty evaluation process to be truly meaningful, it is important that faculty receive actionable, meaningful feedback from multiple sources: supervisors, students, and self-reflection. The purpose of the faculty evaluation is to provide faculty with the formative feedback necessary for faculty growth in addition to the necessary summative ratings and comments.
Continuous updating of the process – Faculty evaluation is a dynamic process. It is important that the process be updated on a regular basis over time in order to keep pace with the changing needs of our students and the College. In order to support this continuing need to monitor and adjust the process, there will be established a Counseling Faculty Evaluation Workgroup that reports to the Faculty Evaluation Steering Committee. The charge for this workgroup is:
1. Systematically collect feedback from counseling faculty and counseling unit leaders about problems and concerns related to the faculty evaluation process as needed.
2. Provide a central collection point for faculty feedback about the evaluation process.
3. Feedback will be reviewed to determine procedures that could be made to improve the process moving forward and recommend those that seem most advantageous to the College.
4. Evaluate, monitor, and make recommendations concerning the software used by the College to collect and expedite the faculty evaluation process.
5. Every 5 years, conduct a holistic review of the counselor faculty evaluation process and determine what changes are recommended to improve the overall process. These changes will need to be approved through the shared governance process requiring the recommendation of the Faculty Development and Evaluation Committee and the approval of the Academic and Student Affairs Council.
6. Research ways to make the faculty evaluation process more meaningful and useful to both individual faculty as well as the College.

Procedures

Portfolio and Evaluation Calendar summary –Counseling Faculty evaluations occur annually; all materials for a given academic year are submitted by counseling faculty to their supervisor by June 15. The evaluations are completed and provided to faculty by July 31. Deadlines for each component are as follows:
1. Counseling and workshop/presentation evaluations – These are administered to students and/or staff and returned to individual counseling faculty according to a calendar determined by each counseling unit.
2. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form – These are submitted to the supervisor by June 15.
3. Counseling / teaching materials and other annual portfolio evaluation materials (Faculty Values Framework, Purposeful Change, Goals for Professional Development and Growth, any other specific materials required or utilized by counseling units. – These materials are submitted by June 15.
Criteria in the Summary Evaluation Form – Each of the criteria in bold will receive a rating and supporting comments based upon the posted counseling unit rubric.
1. Counseling and Student Experience
  1. Counseling Performance – Each year’s rating should be based upon counseling unit and college-wide requirements, especially the Exemplary Counseling Statement. It should consider the following inputs (depending on the year of the evaluation cycle):
    1. Counseling / teaching materials (year 3, all years for faculty in their first 3 years at ACC)
    2. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form (each year)
    3. Faculty Values Framework (year 1)
    4. Purposeful Change (year 2)
    5. Student complaints/faculty discipline (where applicable)
    6. Counseling session observation report(s) (required annually during the first 3 years counseling with the College; may also be requested as part of a Performance Improvement Plan or supervisor’s discretion)
  2. Student Feedback and Faculty Reflection – This rating should be based upon counseling unit and college-wide requirements, especially the Exemplary Counseling Statement. It should consider the following inputs (depending on the year of the evaluation cycle):
    1. Counseling and Workshop/Presentation Evaluations (each year – counseling units may review previous years when needed.)
    2. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form (each year – counseling units may review previous years when needed.)
    3. Student complaints/faculty discipline (where applicable)
2. Professional Responsibilities
  1. Administrative performance – Administrative duties in the ACC faculty contract must be met in addition to the timely completion of the following:
    1. Maintaining current, accurate, and timely clinical documentation in accordance with state and federal law, professional ethics, and college counseling services policies
    2. Drafting and submitting reports by the appropriate deadlines
    3. Maintaining counseling calendar in accordance with counseling unit guidelines (number of individual appointment placeholders, intake placeholders, etc.)
    4. Scheduling student counseling sessions and sending appointment reminders
    5. Documenting all events (psychoeducational presentations, workshops, outreach, compliance programming, etc.)
    6. Appropriate and timely submission of all required faculty evaluation materials
    7. Responding to student, counseling unit, and college communications in a timely manner
    8. Fulfilling other required counseling unit duties, where applicable
  2. Professional Development and Growth – This rating should reflect both professional growth and the completion of Professional Development, according to college and counseling unit requirements. It should also consider stated professional development goals and updates over time, including the following information:
    1. Goals for Professional Development and Growth (year 3)
    2. Recorded professional development hours required by the College. In addition, for Mental Health and Career counselors, continuing education hours needed to fulfill mental health licensure obligations. Continuing education for licensure may be counted toward ACC faculty professional development hours upon agreement of the supervisor and uploaded to the ACC employee management software.
    3. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form (each year)
  3. Professional Service – This rating should reflect work outside of counseling sessions, workshops and presentations for students, and administrative tasks. This can include service for the counseling unit, for the College, or for a professional group. This should consider the following inputs:
    1. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form (every year)
    2. Faculty Values Framework (year 1) or Statement of Counseling Philosophy for faculty in their first 3 years of counseling at the College if approved by the counseling unit.
    3. Other documented information regarding service
3. Overall Rating – The Overall Rating on the Summary Evaluation Form is determined by combining the above individual ratings together using a weighted average (as described in the Counseling Faculty Evaluation Manual) with weightings determined by counseling units but following the collegewide weighting specifications below. When computing the overall rating, if the score falls within a score range that can be either “rounded up” or “rounded down”, it falls to the discretion of the supervisor whether to use the higher rating or the lower rating although some explanation of that choice should be included in the Summary Statement.
Ratings – The Counseling Faculty Evaluation Manual provides guidance on what supervisors should look for, where to find it, and what standards need to be met for each rating. All ratings of Criteria in the Summary Evaluation Form will use the following rating system:
1. ACC exemplary counseling and faculty expectations have been met – Overall, the faculty member has met the counseling and teaching standards set forth in the above Statement on Exemplary Counseling, as well as other duties required of counseling faculty. Formative feedback on potential areas for improvement as well as areas of particular merit will be provided in comments.
2. Approaching ACC exemplary counseling and faculty expectations – The faculty member has met many of the above standards, but there are one or more areas that do not satisfy that standard. This might be one significant issue or multiple lesser issues.
  1. Required: In addition to providing formative feedback on areas in need of improvement, the Summary Evaluation Form should contain a list of specific improvements necessary to attain the rating ACC exemplary counseling and faculty expectations have been met.
  2. Failure to make significant progress towards addressing these issues could result in a rating of Does not meet ACC faculty expectations in the following year.
3. Does not meet ACC faculty expectations – The faculty member has not met the expected counseling and teaching and/or other standards of the College in a significant manner.
  1. Required: If this rating is received in any individual areas of the Summary Evaluation Form, a list of specific improvements needed must be provided.
  2. If the Overall Rating is “Does not meet faculty expectations,” a meeting with the supervisor is required to develop a Performance Improvement Plan with clearly specified outcomes and timeline.
  3. Failure to make significant progress on these issues within the time specified in the Performance Improvement Plan will result in further action being taken. Faculty who receive this rating will be given reasonable time and support to address these problems.
Weightings – In order to ensure that Summary Evaluation Form criteria are weighted in a consistent, transparent, and equitable manner in computing the overall evaluation rating, each counseling unit must post the percentage weightings for each criteria clearly on the College website for this purpose, well before faculty turn in their evaluation materials. The percentages for each counseling unit will be determined through counseling unit shared governance, in consultation with counseling unit faculty. The College will provide a form to aid in computing ratings. These percentages must satisfy the following specifications:
1. Counseling performance – This criterion will be no less than 30% of the total.
2. Student feedback and faculty reflection – This criterion will be no less than 20% of the total.
3. Professional service – This criterion will be no less than 10% of the total.
4. Administrative performance – This criterion will be no less than 10% of the total.
5. Professional development – This criterion will be no less than 10% of the total.
Prior to the Evaluation process
1. Prior to the evaluation, it is important that every faculty member be made aware of which materials faculty must submit that year, the online location where counseling unit evaluation rubrics and counseling unit-specific requirements are posted as well as links to how evaluation materials are to be submitted, and clear deadlines for submission of all materials.
2. New faculty (faculty who have been a counselor for 3 years or less at the College) – It is important that faculty who are new to the College receive the support and formative feedback they need early in their counseling career at ACC. Prior to and during their first semester at the College, counseling units should provide faculty mentors to offer support in addition to that provided by their supervisor and help in becoming familiar with ACC culture, systems and policies. Further, counseling units are strongly encouraged to arrange for some formative feedback opportunities for these faculty on their multiple counseling roles and responsibilities. While this feedback should not be a part of the evaluation process, it is important that the College support these new faculty as they begin their work at the College.
The Evaluation process:
1. Evaluation components
  1. Counseling / teaching materials – Counseling / teaching materials are integral to understanding a faculty member’s approach to counseling and design and delivery of their groups, workshops, and presentations.
    1. Counseling faculty who have been a counselor more than 3 years at the College are in a 3-year cycle:
      1. in years 1 and 2 of cycle – There are no counseling / teaching materials required in these years of the cycle unless the counseling unit requires some limited collection of materials
    2. In year 3 of the cycle – Examples of materials used with individual counseling students and used in one or two counseling groups/workshops/presentations are required.
    3. Counseling faculty in their first 3 years at the College – Examples of materials used with individual counseling students and used in one or two counseling groups/workshops/presentations (more if required by the counseling unit) offered each year are required.
    4. Requirements may be modified by each counseling unit, but examples of counseling / teaching materials are: handouts, resources, and presentation slides, etc.
  2. Counseling and workshop/presentation evaluations – Supervisors will consider not only the student and staff evaluation ratings, but also comments as well as any faculty response to those comments.
  3. Counseling Faculty Reflection Form – The Counseling Faculty Reflection Form is meant to encourage more thoughtful reflection on counseling/teaching and student experience, leading to more meaningful formative feedback for faculty. This form is required every year. This form asks faculty to reflect on their counseling/teaching experience, their students’ experiences, their response to student evaluations, their professional development activities, and their professional service.
  4. Purposeful Change – The Purposeful Change is meant to encourage ongoing faculty reflection, experimentation, and change. Once every 3 years in year 2 of the 3- year cycle, each counseling faculty member will decide upon some focused, purposeful change to make in their counseling/teaching that year in order to improve counseling/teaching and student experience in some specific manner. During that year, they will attempt that change and then reflect upon whether it achieved the intended outcome, resulted in a different outcome than expected, or proved ineffective. Supervisors will consider the reasoning, planning, and analysis of the outcome.
  5. Faculty Values Framework – The Faculty Values Framework provides faculty an opportunity to reflect upon their current work and how that connects to ACC Faculty Values. During the first 3 years of counseling/teaching at the college, faculty may choose to develop a statement of counseling philosophy instead of the Faculty Values Framework, if approved by the counseling unit.
  6. Goals for Professional Development and Growth- Professional Development Goals are intended to encourage faculty to reflect upon their current career goals and what additional training they might need to pursue those. Faculty will set overall goals for their professional development activities for the next three years at this time. Changes in these plans during that time period should be documented in the Faculty Reflection Form.
2. In addition to the required evaluation components submitted by faculty, the following information will also be collected every year:
  1. counseling and workshop evaluations;
  2. student complaints and faculty discipline information;
  3. list of Professional Development hours (extracted from the counselor’s record in ACC’s employee management software system);
  4. prior year Summary Evaluation Forms, as well as any active Performance Improvement Plans from prior evaluations if applicable;
  5. copy of professional license and liability insurance for the appropriate counseling units
  6. other counseling unit required information
3. Supervisors must be well-versed on college unit/college rubrics and the rating schema. They must complete and approve Summary Evaluation Forms for every faculty member under their supervision unless otherwise directed by Human Resources.
4. Summary Evaluation Forms will then be sent to counseling faculty by the July 31 deadline for review and acknowledgment, after which they are returned to the supervisor. The supervisor then copies the completed evaluation packet to their supervisor (2nd level supervisor) and the evaluation will be archived by the College. The second level supervisor should be notified if there is a delay in sending them.
5. For any counseling faculty member who requests a conference with the second level supervisor after receiving the Summary Evaluation Form, the conference must be scheduled within 90 calendar days after the July 31 deadline. The second level supervisor records any comments on the Supplemental Conference form.
6. For any counseling faculty member who receives a “Does not meet faculty expectations” as an overall rating, the supervisor and the counseling faculty member must develop a Performance Improvement Plan with a clearly specified timeline. Counseling faculty members who disagree with the Performance Improvement Plan may request a conference with the second level supervisor. The conference will be conducted within 90 calendar days and comments recorded by the second level supervisor on the Supplemental Conference form.
7. In order to facilitate collegewide data collection and record retention, all Summary Evaluation Forms and associated conference notes and Performance Improvement Plans will be collected in an established centralized electronic location within the College.

Faculty Evaluation – Counseling (G/P)

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