Assessing faculty who design and teach online courses is a complex and often confusing process for department chairs and deans. Yet with the growing number of courses taught online, it is a timely topic. We argue, along with others in the field (Taylor, 2014; Shattuck, Zimmerman, & Adair, 2014), that one way to augment the online teaching assessment process is to integrate peer assessment in a thoughtful and systematic manner. However, as simple as peer assessment sounds, it is a challenging task to implement with faculty. In this article we share a yearlong process that our faculty engaged in while creating a department-level peer assessment model. In addition we outline the salient issues that emerged during this process, along with options for addressing these issues.
Developing Departmental Work Culture with Remote Faculty
With the expansion of online programs in higher education, department faculty who work remotely can feel disconnected from their institution and from each other. While online learning brings flexibility to