Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Addendum to the Engineering Guidelines for Annual Performance Reviews
Approved at the ECE Department Meeting held on November 14, 2024. This applies to the evaluation year 2025 and, unless updated, for subsequent calendar years.
This document serves as the Addendum to Faculty Performance Evaluation (FPE) Guidelines prescribed by Article 13 Part 5.1(b) of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo and the University of Waterloo (MOA). The purpose is to set out performance expectations in the ECE Department for teaching, research and service. This Addendum shall be reviewed and updated biennially and the changes, if any,shall be approved by a vote of ECE faculty members before commencement of the evaluation calendar year in which the updated version shall apply.
Since faculty performance evaluation is handled in accordance with the MOA, Policy 77, Faculty of Engineering FPE guidelines, and this Addendum, the faculty members are encouraged to review all the four documents.
1. Teaching
1.1 Tenure stream faculty: The normal teaching load is three courses per year with an additional expectation of graduate student supervision (including co-supervision) appropriate for the rank and research area of the faculty member. For faculty members who choose to teach more than the normal load, the expectations for graduate student supervision will be reduced; conversely, the teaching load of faculty members with graduate supervision below the minimum expectations may be increased accordingly. Such an arrangement must be made in advance and in writing with the Department Chair
1.2 Teaching stream faculty: The normal teaching load is six courses per year; however, in ECE the average teaching load for a teaching stream faculty is five courses per year. This normally works out to six courses in one year and four in the subsequent year, which means teaching two courses per term and one non-teaching term every two years. Supervision of students, undergraduate and graduate, will be considered favourably
1.3 The ECE Department will consider teaching load from a long-term perspective that takes into account deficits and surpluses. Supervision of a Capstone project is considered student supervision.
2. Research
2.1 Faculty members are expected to publish in peer-reviewed venues appropriate for their research area. Quality of venue and publication volume will both be considered.
2.2 While not an expectation, supervision of postdoctoral fellows and non-student research personnel is valued and will be assessed as research.
2.3 Grant applications (successful or not) shall be accorded due consideration
2.4 While not an expectation, active collaboration with industry and government through demonstrators, deployments, and adoption of research is valued and will be assessed as research.
3. Service
3.1 Any service that contributes to the activities or enhances the reputation of the University, Faculty or the Department will be valued. Faculty members are expected to contribute towards both internal and external service in a proportion appropriate for their rank.
3.2 Faculty members are expected to pursue and maintain their P.Eng. registration (or limited license) in good standing, including ongoing requirements such as continuing professional development.
3.3 To ensure equitable distribution of service tasks, “Satisfactory” service performance will be based on a holistic consideration of a member’s service portfolio and conditional upon meeting the minimum service expectation where there is no specific service responsibility assigned to a member. This includes participating in internal service tasks such as:
• chairing graduate comprehensive and thesis examinations (if eligible)
• reader of master’s thesis
• engaging in recruitment events
• writing notes to prospective students
• attending monthly departmental meetings
• participating in the hiring process for new faculty (separate from DACA work)
• attending an event for graduating class (i.e., convocation, capstone symposium as a marker)
• awards events.
3.4 While not an expectation, leading of large research initiatives as principal investigator or maintaining research infrastructure with a significant user base is valued and considered a significant internal service task.