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Faculty Performance Expectations

The guidance shown below is also available as a PDF tri-fold brochure.

Faculty members are also urged to review


USNA Faculty Performance Expectations:
Practical Guidance

Excellent USNA Teachers:

  • Have a professional, positive rapport with their students
    • Are respectful, encouraging, approachable, caring
    • Do not engage in any demeaning, disrespectful, or unnecessary negative or unprofessional interactions with students
  • Maintain appropriate learning standards
    • Clearly articulate expectations
    • Clearly communicate learning objectives
    • Hold students to appropriate levels of accountability for learning
    • Challenge students, while being supportive and fair
  • Effectively prepare/organize for and manage class time, but be adaptable and flexible
  • Exhibit mastery of their discipline
  • Use effective teaching styles/methods
    • Promote active student participation in learning activities 
    • Provide contextual framework of learning, whenever possible
    • Engage both strong and weaker students in the class
  • Adapt to diverse student needs (e.g., different student learning styles, levels of ability, intellectual interests, etc.) and emerging institutional directions
  • Support unique USNA expectations in and out of the classroom (e.g., military courtesies, class attendance, class no-sleep policy, etc.) 
    • Maintain professional relationships with midshipmen
    • Are punctual and professionally attired
    • Support and respect Academy policies
  • Are considerate of the many other demands placed on Midshipmen 
    • Use caution in pre-judging student performance
    • Temper time-requirements and deadlines for course activities and assignments
  • Provide effective feedback to students 
    • Are consistent and fair
    • Provide feedback that is sufficient and timely enough to help students improve
  • Offer additional instruction/interaction outside of class
    • Are regularly and reliably available to students; clearly promulgate a schedule of availability to students
  • Effectively advise and mentor students
    • Engage in discussions beyond course registration matters (e.g., major selection, service selection, future career goals, etc.)
  • Effectively engage in and contribute to their department?s teaching mission 
    • Contribute to assessment activities
    • Exhibit collegiality when working with other faculty in department teaching-related activities or in multi-section courses
  • Regularly and honestly self-assess teaching effectiveness 
    • Consider mid-semester informal student feedback on teaching effectiveness
    • Are self-aware of demeanor and classroom atmosphere
    • Engage in teaching improvement activities
    • Invite observation and comments from peers

Excellent USNA Scholars/Researchers:

  • Produce peer-reviewed scholarly products
  • Develop a sustained record of scholarly productivity at USNA, while simultaneously fulfilling normal teaching and service duties
  • Show an appropriate level of creative independence as a scholar
  • Publish in quality venues with rigorous and verifiable peer-review processes
  • Appropriately and willingly involve Midshipmen
  • Exercise caution in building a record reliant upon classified, descriptive pedagogical, or public intellectual scholarship products
  • Provide ample explanations of scholarly activity

Excellence in USNA Faculty Service
Is Characterized By:

  • Positive personal engagement and collegiality
  • Administrative professionalism (e.g., timeliness, reliability, etc.)
  • Engagement in rank-appropriate departmental, divisional, yard-wide, or professional service, generally with increasing levels of involvement and leadership over the course of a career
  • Acknowledgement that service cannot substitute for deficiencies in teaching or research

This guidance was derived from an Academic Dean and Provost-hosted off-site held 7 August 2012. Discussion participants included members of the USNA Promotion and Tenure Committee and senior academic leaders, including department chairs and Faculty Senate leaders.

Updated 3 October 2012

For more information, contact: Dr. B. A. Waite, Vice Academic Dean: waite@usna.edu.

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