A person is eligible for Merit Status if the person:
- is currently employed by IU South Bend.
- has taught the equivalent of six (6) years. Two terms (semester or summer session) comprise one year of teaching.
- has submitted a dossier for consideration for promotion to Merit Status prepared in accordance with the guidelines below.
Successful applicants will enjoy the following benefits:
- After taking into account overall programmatic concerns and needs and following the assignment of full-time faculty, associate faculty who have attained Merit Status will then receive first consideration in assignment of classes in their area of expertise (up to 50% FTE).
- An increase in base salary of 10 percent per course following attainment of Merit Status.
The Associate Faculty Advisory Committee will review Merit Status applications, and make recommendations to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Applicants should:
- contact the office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at (574) 520-4869 if there are any questions concerning eligibility
- prepare a dossier with assistance from the unit chairperson in accordance with recommended format
- submit the dossier to unit chairperson for final review by the fourth Wednesday of January
- the unit chairperson will then submit the dossier to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs office by the second Wednesday in February
- the Associate Faculty Advisory Committee will review, evaluate, and make recommendation to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs by the second Friday in March
General Information
It is advisable to keep all information, letters, statements, evaluations, etc., regarding your teaching/research/service experience beginning with the first semester you teach.
Student evaluations of teaching are essential to document teaching ability. For each course, a summary of the evaluations should be included in the dossier.
Retain for inclusion in the dossier course outlines, syllabus, and other teaching aids.
Complete an annual report each year you teach. Forms are available from your unit chairperson or secretary. Request a formal evaluation from your immediate supervisor.
Sample dossiers are available for review in the Office of Academic Affairs [and from University Center for Excellence in Teaching— UCET
Dossier Format
The Merit Status dossier is still a physical binder with dividers. Samples are on hand at the UCET library. Wait to purchase the binder until you have accumulated materials and know the size you need. (You do NOT need to keep to the previous 30 page limit, but a 1-3" binder should be ample.) Keep original materials in a binder for yourself, and turn in a copy. You will find many resources in this Careers section of the One Stop, but they were designed for full-time faculty and may be more complex that what you will need.
- Table of Contents
- Résumé with a focus on teaching experience. Include relevant scholarship or creative activity, or service to the university or relevant community service. See more on the Academic vita on that page in the One Stop.
- Recommendations (just have this divider and the chair will put in letters)
- Letter from chair
- Letters from colleagues. (If you have received some, put here. Give chair a list of names of people that she/he will ask for letters)
- Other letters of support from students or to support scholarship or service. (Either ones that you have received, or a list of names to give the chair.)
- Teaching
- Statement on Teaching. See the "Statements" page in the One Stop for suggestions and samples.
- Courses taught at IUSB in a table, listed by semester and year.
- Student evaluations of teaching. Make a table of the numerical data (here is a template that you can edit). Put the actual evaluations including the comments after the table.
- Course and curriculum development. Include recent syllabi, samples of assignments and exams focusing on innovative and particularly effective teaching strategies. Lists of presentations and publications about teaching. (If long, put materials in Appendix)
- List of grants received in support of teaching
- Peer review of teaching: Letters from peers, list of peers you have reviewed, any training to do peer review.
- Research, scholarship, creative activities (if applicable)
- Statement about scholarship (not about teaching)
- Copies of publications, presentations, titles and contents page of books. Longer items may go into appendix.
- List of grants received in support of research, scholarship, creative activity
- Service (if applicable)
- University service: list member ship on departmental, school, and university committees. Briefly describe your role and contribution.
- Community service (Note--this counts if it is using your area of expertise, not just general service) List membership and offices held in organizations, boards, and committees, summarizing your role and contribution.
- Appendix (if needed)
Longer materials or extra materials can be noted in the main body and placed in the appendix.
