All new adjunct and full-time faculty members are required to have a course observation during the first semester of employment. The Department Chair or their designee is responsible for coordinating the observation. These observations are separate and independent from the mentoring process assigned to new faculty.

Courses with an In-Class Component

For any course with an in-class component (lecture, synchronous online, hybrid, hyflex, etc.), the Department Chair or their Designee will observe one or more sessions and record the observation(s) on an observation form that will be included with the faculty member’s first annual evaluation. Classroom observers must be department chairs or faculty in the discipline who are designated by the department chairs and possess at least three years effective teaching experience at the College. Faculty being observed must be clearly informed about the observation process and provided with access to the observation criteria well in advance of the observation. Observations will not occur before mid-semester, but should be scheduled in advance.

A Teaching Observation Checklist can be found here, along with a list of Classroom Observation Procedures is available here.

Online-Only Courses

For any course that is asynchronous online, the Department Chair or their designee will conduct a review of the posted course materials to ensure that they meet the College “Principles of Good Practice for Distance Learning.”

After the First Semester

After the first semester teaching at ACC, the individual faculty member or their Department Chair, Dean, or Associate Vice Chancellor may request a classroom observation as part of a faculty member’s annual evaluation process. Academic supervisors (Department Chair, Dean, Associate Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor of Instruction, or Provost) may observe classroom teaching with prior notification given to the instructor.

For more information, please visit the Instructional Faculty Evaluation page.