Evaluating the Performance of the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education in Physical Therapist Education: Determining Appropriate Criteria and Assessors

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Fall 2006 by Buccieri, Kathleen M, Brown, Renee

There was considerable variability in the workload reported across the programs. There was no relationship between the percentage of workload and the number of students enrolled. The variability may be due to several factors. Institutional methods of reporting and calculating workload may not be consistent from program to program. The number of weeks of affiliation and the number of different placements may affect workload. New and developing programs may provide a higher percentage of workload for ACCEs to recruit clinical sites and develop effective policies and procedures related to clinical education, and the administrative support may vary from program to program, requiring a different amount of work for the ACCE. This area warrants further investigation.

CONCLUSION

Many of the roles and responsibilities of the ACCE in physical therapist education are not captured on traditional forms of faculty evaluation. Traditionally, the established criteria used in evaluation of ACCEs are the same as those used for academic faculty, although the administrative and teaching responsibilities for an ACCE are very different than those of other faculty members. Each institution establishes its own criteria for promotion and tenure evaluation based on institutional standards and priorities. The results of this study may assist institutions to develop criteria for promotion and tenure of the ACCE. Information obtained by this survey may assist ACCEs in identifying a variety of sources and data to compile a comprehensive evaluation of the roles and responsibilities for review by promotion/tenure committees.

Summary

This study was designed to obtain demographic data on the ACCEs at accredited physical therapist education programs in the US and to solicit their input on relevant items to include and individuals to provide input to the faculty evaluation of an ACCE. ACCEs rated criteria in Teaching and Administration categories with the highest importance. Respondents indicated that students, CCCEs, CIs, academic faculty, and academic department chairs were each qualified to provide input on selected items. The results may be beneficial in designing comprehensive faculty evaluation tools for ACCE promotion and tenure.

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