The librarianship portfolio: A case study of innovation in faculty evaluation at Robert Morris University

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the development of a Librarianship Portfolio for the purposes of permanent status evaluation and rank promotion at a small private university with a unionized faculty.

Design/methodology/approach

The Librarianship Portfolio was conceived and based on teaching portfolios and evaluative documents at other colleges and universities and is also a direct result of collective bargaining negotiations.

Findings

Interest in outcomes assessment and evaluation is increasing in the educational institutions where academic librarians work. One assessment strategy that has been developed for teaching faculty is the professional teaching portfolio. Librarians have not widely adopted this type of documentation for the purposes of tenure evaluation or work performance assessment.

Practical implications

Portfolios such as this one can serve as a basis for collecting documentation and highlighting excellence in job performance at other academic libraries, whether or not librarians are faculty or belong to a union.

Originality/value

The Librarianship Portfolio as described here is a unique creation in job performance evaluation.

Citation

Mills, C. (2015), "The librarianship portfolio: A case study of innovation in faculty evaluation at Robert Morris University", New Library World, Vol. 116 No. 9/10, pp. 527-539. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-04-2015-0026