Staff appraisal in higher education — a study of performance review at Nene College, Northampton

Abstract

This paper describes a study of staff appraisal in Higher Education and, in particular, of the appraisal system—called ‘Performance Review’—at Nene College, Northampton.

The study comprised a review of the recent literature describing some experiences of appraisal systems in a number of British universities and a survey of the opinions of appraisees, appraisers and senior Nene College management with regard to various aspects of the Performance Review system.

In the survey, most appraisees and appraisers thought that appraisers should be line managers rather than peers and that classroom observations should be part of the appraisal system. The opportunity for staff to air views and raise issues during the appraisal interviews was identified as a particular advantage of appraisal for staff. Comparison of the survey findings with the experiences of appraisal in other institutions confirmed that major issues of concern include the importance of organisational commitment; the provision of adequate resources; the effects on the role of heads of departments; the setting and communication of clear, limited goals; consistency of good practice; the provision of adequate follow-up to appraisal interviews and the costs incurred in the operation of appraisal systems.