Evaluating Faculty Performance: A Comparison of Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales Developed for Western Kentucky University Psychology Department Faculty

摘要

The current study consisted of a comparison of Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) developed in 2001 and 2008 for the evaluation of the performance of faculty in the Western Kentucky University Psychology Department. BARS generally are less susceptible to various types of rating error than are other rating formats, and are highly relevant to the target job because they utilize behavioral examples of performance. Furthermore, BARS development requires the participation of job incumbents. In both 2001 and 2008, Psychology Department faculty members were involved in every phase of the development process of the BARS instruments addressed in the current study. The new BARS format contains five broad categories of performance with 12 redefined performance dimensions within these categories. The faculty identified a number of new behavioral exemplars for each performance dimension. The new BARS offers several benefits over the previous BARS. Faculty, particularly newer faculty not involved in developing the 2001 format, should be more satisfied with the new instrument; faculty should perceive both the development process and the resulting instrument to be fair; and faculty should consider the instrument to be more valid because of their direct involvement in providing the content. Future research should be conducted to directly assess faculty perceptions of the BARS instrument and development process.