Innovations in Faculty Evaluation: The Elevate IVE Model for Valuing Impactful Activities

This presentation describes the development and pilot testing of the Elevate IVE Model at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The IVE model is a new faculty evaluation process and toolkit that can be used to guide institutions in revising their systems to evaluate faculty. This novel process is designed to be a tool for institutional transformation in higher education.

At present, few resources exist to guide academic institutions in developing transparent and efficient faculty annual evaluation systems that reward the full breadth of impactful faculty contributions. Traditional faculty evaluation systems often do not align with the institutional mission and faculty priorities, and may overlook impactful work such as invisible service, community engagement, and capacity building (O'Meara, 2002; Siltala, 2013; Broadbent & Laughlin, 2009). An institution's faculty evaluation system articulates and contributes to the culture of the academic institution; its failure to reward valuable contributions can therefore negatively impact faculty engagement and job satisfaction (Daly & Dee, 2006). The OU Elevate project aims to address these issues by providing a framework for institutions to redesign evaluation systems that better reflect the robust range of faculty contributions and to foster change in what is valued, thereby transforming the institution.

Attendees will learn about the Elevate IVE model along with initial results from the first round of pilot testing across multiple academic departments. The presentation will highlight the key characteristics of an effective faculty evaluation system, emphasizing the necessity of valuing the full breadth of faculty contributions while also fostering transparency and alignment with institutional values and goals.