Peer Review

Template and Resources

SOMD Peer Review Report Template

TEP and OtP resources and best practices:

Deadline: Peer Reviews are due to the Dean’s Office in Spring term*

*Unless otherwise noted in your review notification email, signed peer reviews for the 204-25 AY are due April 10, 2025

Process and Timeline

Dean’s Office determines review assignments and sends notices late fall term or early winter term.

Note: Occasionally, peer reviews are scheduled on an ad hoc basis to ensure the instructor has sufficient reviews on file for an upcoming major review. This can happen if an instructor took a sabbatical or was on approved leave during the term or year they were regularly scheduled for a peer review, or in cases where faculty have credit towards their tenure review timeline. While the timing for notifications and due dates may be adjusted, the review process itself will remain unchanged.

Overview of Process

  • The reviewer and instructor will be contacted by the Dean’s Office prior to the beginning of the term assigned for review with the peer review assignment.
    • The instructor will have the opportunity to recommend that another reviewer be chosen, provided they offer a written reason for wanting the change. It is then up to the Dean to review the request to determine whether a change is warranted.
  • The Dean’s Office will provide a copy of the peer review policy and the SOMD Peer Review Report Template, and will specify a deadline for the review to be submitted to the Dean’s Office.
  • The instructor will contact the reviewer to give them information about their teaching schedule and the class(es) to be reviewed.
  • The instructor will provide the reviewer with course teaching materials (syllabi, exams, handouts, etc.) plus grant them access to Canvas.
  • Reviewer and instructor will have a pre-observation discussion (either in person/virtual meeting such as Zoom or via email) to agree upon whether the teaching observation visit(s) will be announced or spontaneous and talk about goals and learning objectives in the course, and how those goals are reached.
  • Reviewer attends at least one teaching observation. For performance faculty, this could include observation of an individual lesson or observation of a group experience such as studio, pedagogy, or techniques class. Reviewer documents teaching observations using the SOMD Peer Review Report Template and the SOMD Teaching Evaluation Rubric.
  • Reviewer provides the instructor with a copy of the SOMD Peer Review Report.
  • The instructor will have the opportunity to discuss the review in a follow-up meeting with the reviewer if they so choose.
  • The instructor shall have an opportunity to provide a written response to their review, which will accompany the review in their personnel file.
  • The reviewer and instructor sign and date the last page of the SOMD Peer Review Report.
  • Reviewer submits the completed and signed SOMD Peer Review Report to the Dean’s Office by the deadline.

Next Steps For Instructor Being Reviewed

  • Contact your reviewer with your class schedule.
  • You are expected to connect with your assigned reviewer as soon as possible, provide your course teaching materials (syllabi, exams, handouts, etc.), and provide your availability for the pre-observation discussion where you will agree upon whether the visit(s) to your class will be announced or spontaneous, and talk about your goals in the course and your achievement of those goals.

Next Steps For Reviewer

  • If you do not hear from the instructor in the next few days, please make contact yourself.
  • Schedule a time to have a pre-observation discussion with the instructor (either in person/virtual meeting such as Zoom or via email) to agree upon whether the teaching observation visit(s) will be announced or spontaneous and talk about goals and learning objectives in the course, and how those goals are reached.
  • Reviewer attends at least one teaching observation. For performance faculty, this could include observation of an individual lesson or observation of a group experience such as studio, pedagogy, or techniques class.
  • Use the SOMD Peer Review Report Template to complete your review.

Submitting the Review

  • Provide your written evaluation using the SOMD Peer Review Report Template.
  • Reviewers should date and sign their completed report.
  • Provide a copy of the report to the instructor to review and sign;
  • After both the reviewer and instructor sign the report, email the completed document to the Dean’s Office.

Review Frequency

Peer review is important to faculty members’ development as teachers. It is also a CBA-mandated part of the multi-faceted evaluation of teaching at the University of Oregon. Peer reviews are required for each faculty classification and rank on the following schedule:

  • Assistant Professor – once per year
  • Associate Professor – once every other year
  • Full Professor – once every three years
  • Career Faculty – once per review window (each year for the first three years of employment and at least once every three years of employment thereafter)

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Page updated 10/03/24