NIU faculty members will receive five percent raises this year, based on merit points divided between classroom teaching, research and public service.

Each of the seven colleges at NIU has an individualized system of rating faculty for merit raises. Some departments weigh faculty research higher than teaching, despite a recent report from the Illinois Board of Higher Education which was critical of higher educations shifting priorities.

The report stated faculty members at comprehensive universities, like NIU, are shifting their efforts in the direction of research.

James Norris, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said NIU is putting a lot of effort into undergraduate education and the merit raises will properly award the faculty.

“Merit raises encourage people to do the best job,” Norris said. “Teaching has to be weighed as much as anything else.”

Robert Albritton, associate political science professor, disagrees with the report.

“I don’t think (the) IBHE has a good grasp of what goes on campuses, except in terms of very formal criteria,” Albritton said.

The IBHE report is putting the emphasis on undergraduate education and the faculty members do have interest in doing more work in the classroom, said James Lankford, dean of the College of Professional Studies.

“I believe we will be putting more and more emphasis on teaching due to the IBHE’s interest in that and due to the interest the faculty has in doing more teaching,” Lankford said.

The merit raises will be awarded to faculty with the highest ranking in teaching, research and public service. Academic departments used banked merit points and the departments kept a record of what merit evaluation had been for the past three years.

“All departments evaluate faculty on a set of criteria. Merit evaluations for faculty are based on teaching performance, research and service. Each department uses different systems, or points, and weighs each factor differently,” said NIU Provost J. Carroll Moody.

Out of the three, research is the easiest to evaluate, and is easier to base raises on.

“Publications and research determine tenure and promotion,” Albritton said. “Quality is hard to measure. Quantity is the only way to measure progress. We are all accountable for doing papers. I do it (research) to give students visibility.”

Teacher evaluations filled out by students help rate classroom performance, but accuracy is questionable.

Public Service is the third criteria the merit raises are based on, and counts the least, Norris said.

“Some attention is given to people who serve on committees, but how do you judge the merit of faculty members’ performance on that committee,” Norris said.

Students have been voicing concern about the quality and the role research plays on their education.

“Research does have its place, but not before teaching,” said Abe Andrzejewski, student association president.

Research plays an important part at NIU, Norris said, noting professors who rate high in research also rate high in the classroom.

“I learn by doing research in my field, I learn about what I’m teaching. There really is no other good way to do it,” Norris said. “I don’t see them as separate activities.”

The College of Education broke down into percentages how much emphasis is placed in the three areas. 50-60 percent is based on teaching, 25-30 percent is based on research and 15-20 percent is based on service, said Charles Stegman, dean of the College of Education.

“Teaching has the most weight, followed by research and service. Each faculty member is rated on teaching, research and service and those ratings are combined into a total rating that the merit raise is based on an overall score,” Stegman said.

“Each merit point becomes so much money. However much money available is split up among the faculty with the highest merit points,” Stegman said.

The College of Engineering and Engineering Technology bases its raises on teacher evaluations and research.

“Teaching carries a significant part of that, 40 percent, or higher,” said Romualdas Kasuba, dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. “Student evaluations plays a significant role on teacher evaluation.”

The College of Professional Studies places emphasis on research and teaching differently for its departments.

“The whole (salary) increment is based exclusively on merit this year. A high priority will be placed on teaching,” Lankford said.

“The merit raises will be beneficial and will encourage professors to do better in the classroom as well as research,” Norris said.