The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Cheryl Serrett.
DIGEST
SB 174 Original 2023 Regular Session Cathey
Proposed law requires each public postsecondary education management board to require each of
its member institutions to adopt guidelines relative to the annual evaluation of its faculty.
Proposed law requires the guidelines of each public postsecondary institution to:
(1) Require the department head to establish, in consultation with the faculty and with the
approval of the dean and provost, criteria to be used in the evaluation of each faculty position
and to assign a weight to the areas of teaching, professional activity, and service.
(2) Require a written job description be developed for each faculty position.
(3) Require a copy of the job description, the evaluation criteria, and the weights and
performance goals to be provided to each faculty member upon employment or reassignment.
(4) Require the department head to annually evaluate each full-time and part-time faculty
member.
(5) Require that the annual evaluation be used in determining tenure, promotion, and merit
raises.
(6) Require that the annual evaluation become part of the faculty member's permanent file.
(7) Require that each faculty member annually submit documentation to the department head
relative to the member's performance in each of the three areas.
(8) Require that the department head use the submitted documentation and any other verifiable
evidence to annually evaluate the faculty member's job performance.
(9) Require the department head to produce a written evaluation report that includes feedback
on strategies for any needed future improvement and the member's progress toward meeting
tenure.
(10) Require the evaluation report to be discussed in a conference between the faculty member
and the department head.
(11) Require progress toward performance goals to be included in the evaluation report and
discussed in the conference. Require the performance goals to be adjusted as necessary
during the conference and used in the next evaluation report.
(12) Allow the faculty member to submit a written response to the evaluation and conference.
(13) Require the department head to respond in writing to any response from a faculty member.
Proposed law provides parameters for measuring the three areas of teaching, professional activity,
and service. Further requires that a faculty member with teaching responsibilities to be evaluated as
adequate or higher in teaching in order to receive an overall evaluation of adequate or higher. Also,
provides that a faculty member who does not have teaching responsibilities shall be evaluated as
adequate or higher in professional activities to receive an overall evaluation of adequate or higher.
Provides that a faculty member shall meet at least seventy-five percent of the performance goals in
an area to be determined adequate.
Proposed law requires that if a faculty member fails to be rated as adequate for a period of two
consecutive years or for two of any three consecutive years, a mandatory plan of remediation shall
be established. Provides the process for establishing the remediation plan.
Proposed law provides that if the faculty member does not agree to the finalized remediation plan,
as approved by the provost, that the tenure of the faculty member shall be rescinded.
Proposed law requires the next evaluation to detail the faculty member's progress towards meeting
the goals outlined in the remediation plan.
Proposed law provides that failure to achieve significant progress toward the outcomes in the
remediation plan within the agreed upon timetable shall subject the faculty member to administrative
action, which may include academic dismissal. Further provides that a tenured faculty member who
fails to achieve significant progress shall forfeit tenure.
Proposed law provides parameters for the process of academic dismissal for unacceptable job
performance.
Proposed law provides that a tenured faculty member who, after completing a mandatory plan of
remediation, is placed on another mandatory plan of remediation shall forfeit tenure and shall not
be provided the opportunity to regain tenure.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Adds R.S. 17:3307)