No ma i e con o e sies in he assessmen o acul y in Mexican
public uni e si ies
Sánchez-Escobedoa, Ped o An onio and Can o-He e a, Ped oa
aFacul ad de Educación, Uni e sidad Au ónoma de Yuca án, México.
Abs ac
This pape analyzes ecen changes in eache assessmen policies in highe
educa ion ins i u ions in Mexico. P ocedu es o acul y assessmen in a
ypical Mexican s a e Uni e si y a e analyzed wi h he pu pose o gene a ing
insigh s help ul o cons uc a ai , pe inen and expedi e assessmen sys em.
We e iew guidelines o assess eache s, speci ically hose wi h he pu pose
o keeping o i ing he eache , e en a e enu e is achie ed. These new
egula ions a e seen as a key policy o imp o e quali y in highe educa ion.
Howe e , implica ions o acul y mo al, o ganiza ion clima e and con lic
wi h exis ing labo laws ha e no been ully conside ed.
I is a gued ha excessi e ede al and local egula ions a e, in ac , unable o
ponde he complexi ies o academic li e.
We conclude ha ins ead o mo e complica ed egula ions, ocus on
quali a i e pee assessmen should be conside ed as means o e ec i e
acul y assessmen .
Keywo ds: Facul y assessmen , enu e.
2nd In e na ional Con e ence on Highe Educa ion Ad ances, HEAd’16
Uni e si a Poli `
ecnica de Val`
encia, Val`
encia, 2016
DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/HEAd16.2016.2601
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No ma i e con o e sies in he assessmen o acul y in Mexican public Uni e si ies
1. In oduc ion
Compe i i e uni e si ies a ound he wo ld o esee acul y assessmen as an e ec i e
s a egy o eaching quali y con ol and hey aim basically o p o ide eedback o he
eache and os e bes p ac ices.
In Mexico, assessmen o eaching in highe educa ion is ca ied ou since he ea ly 1970s.
In ecen yea s, i has become a cen al policy o p omo e quali y in educa ional se ices in
e e y le el o he educa ional sys em (A edondo, Pe ez-Ri e a, & Agui e-Lo a, 2006).
A miles one ega ding college eaching assessmen in Mexico was es ablished in 1991 by
he Na ional Council o e alua ion (CONAEVA), when a sys em o ecogni ion o
p oduc i i y and academic pe o mance was implemen ed in o de o p o ide inancial
suppo o hose Mexican academics ha olun a ily consen ed o pe iodical pee
assessmen .
This g an / ewa d sys em has become a ela i ely e ec i e s a egy o he encou agemen
o acul y assessmen and bonuses de i ed om posi i e e alua ion cons i u e a signi ican
po ion o he annual income o many college eache s in he public highe educa ion
sys em in Mexico. In some cases, he amoun is g ea e han he base sala y i sel .
In Mexican uni e si ies, he cul u e o e alua ion is eme ging; hus, he e is s ill suspicions
and igno ance abou he ules, egula ions and p inciples ha should sus ain he assessmen
p ocedu e. The jus ice, ele ance and use ulness o he assessmen o academics is o en
c i icized, mos ly by hose who do no ge posi i e esul s. Fu he mo e, many handbooks,
o icial publica ions and on line guidelines ail o be clea on how o e alua e speci ic
eaching cho es and esponsibili ies. Ac ually, he complexi ies o he academic p o ession
a e gene ally unde es ima ed.
In he wo ds o Rod iguez and Du and (2013), "... he academic p o ession ope a es
h ough a ious unc ions, pa icula ly a ound eaching and esea ch, bu also college
eache s ha e a ole in he dissemina ion o knowledge and in manage ial du ies; he pic u e
becomes e en mo e complex, when one conside s he di e ences be ween di e se
knowledge ields and p o essional domains " (p. 47).
The es ablishmen o assessmen sys ems in Mexican Uni e si ies has encoun e suspicion
and esis ance o eache s who se o wa d a ious ques ions ega ding c i e ia used and
me hodological issues.
Despi e g ea p og ess in he assessmen o academics in Mexican uni e si ies, his p ocess
is s ill impe ec and p esen s se e al p oblems. Fo example, exis ing desc ip ions o
delinea e academic esponsibili ies a e s ill insu icien and in many cases ambiguous.
Only he assessmen o p oduc i i y, la gely based upon publica ions, is a uni e sally
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Sánchez-Escobedo, P. A.; Can o-He e a, P.
accep ed c i e ion and i ma ks he pa hway o access he p es igious os e o na ional
esea che s in Mexico.
To u he complica e his ma e , in many o he s a e public uni e si ies, assessmen o
academics is wo old. As an in e nal p ocess, Mexican uni e si ies ca y opposi ion exams
o hi ing, enu e, p omo ion and e en pe manence. As an ex e nal p ocess, hey unde go
assessmen by ede al agencies such as El p og ama pa a el mejo amien o docen e, he
na ional eache implemen a ion p og am (PRODEP) and he na ional sys em o esea che s
(SNI). Many schola s ha e a gued ha assessmen is epe i i e and ha he same e idence
should be p esen ed o di e en simila assessmen p og ams as u he analyzed in he
ollowing sec ion.
In gene al, he e a e h ee majo conce ns ega ding he e alua ion o Uni e si y P o esso s.
The i s , ela es o cos -bene i issues. P o esso s a e assessed a ious imes by di e en
au ho i ies which e iew he same submi ed e idence wi h simila c i e ia o he di e en
pu poses. This makes assessmen complica ed, epe i i e and expensi e.
The second conce n e e s o he absence o e alua ion pa ame e s ha a e accep ed by he
eache s hemsel es. This p omo es ejec ion o many ins i u ional assessmen p ocedu es
and in many ins ances his p ocess elici suspicion wi h ega d o he consequences o
ou comes.
The hi d conce n ela es o he lack o adap abili y and speci ici y o he assessmen
p ocess ha ail o include a ia ions o ield o s udy, con ex ual ac o s and egional
demands.
2. Case s udy
This The discussion in his a icle is based on da a de i ed om a case s udy ca ied ou in
a ypical Mexican s a e Uni e si y in he Sou h eas o he coun y.
A ocus g oup wi h acul y om he college o educa ion, all expe s in educa ional
assessmen and eaching, analyzed and discussed he egula ion and no ms o acul y
assessmen , in pa icula he new in e nal egula ions ega ding enu ed p o esso s.
In 2012, his ins i u ion became one o he i s public Mexican uni e si ies o implemen a
“law o pe manence”, ha equi es eache s wi h enu e o be assessed e e y h ee yea s. In
spi e o he ac ha enu ed acul y has been hi ed a e winning an opposi ion exam and
su i ed a ial pe iod o “pe iodo de es abilidad” o 2 yea s.
This new egula ion p o ides a one chance o enu ed p o esso s o implemen
ecommenda ions, i he eache s is ound no o mee ins i u ional demands, be o e " he
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No ma i e con o e sies in he assessmen o acul y in Mexican public Uni e si ies
conduci e legal pu poses" (a icle 116, pa ag aph g, o he ules o he academic s a o he
UADY, 2013).
3. Resul s
As a esul o his, a discussion o h ee majo hemes eme ged om he ocus g oup: he
di e en ial eaching oles, cu en Mexican labo legisla ion and ins i u ional egula ions
ha unde line his p ocess. These opics will be u he analyzed in he ollowing sec ions.
3.1. Roles o a Uni e si y P o esso
Facul y esponsibili ies in Mexican Uni e si ies a e delimi ed by hi ing condi ions and by
di e en ial ac i i ies demanded in he a ious ields o knowledge. Fo ins ance, eache s
in he heal h ield a e expec ed o spend ime in clinical some social sciences acul y seldom
lea e he campus,
In he uni e si y unde s udy, Zapa a (1999) demons a ed he exis ence o di e en ial oles
in p o esso s in heal h sciences, equi ing di e en assessmen c i e ia o each: 1)
class oom eache , 2) ins uc o o clinical p ac ice, 3) adminis a i e du ies 4) labo a o y
p ac ices, and 5) p ac icum supe iso . Zapa a a gued ha he c i e ia o e alua e each one
o hese oles should be consis en wi h hei di e en ial ac i i ies and esponsibili ies.
These oles a e no mu ually exclusi e, and hei pe o mance depends on he ype o
appoin men assigned by he au ho i y, he ield o knowledge, ins i u ional demands and
e en seasonal e en s. Mos schola s exe cise all hese oles a some poin . Facul y
assessmen should conside he di e en ial oles, and he deg ee o which hey a e equi ed
in each p o esso .
3.2 Mexican labo legisla ion
A majo a gumen agains assessing enu ed p o esso s ises when he labo Mexican
ede al law is e iewed in e ms o condi ions es ablished in he law o i e a wo ke . I is
unlikely ha a me e academic assessmen may se legal g ounds o i ing a enu ed
p o esso since chap e 47 o his law s a es ha a wo ke can be i ed only when jus i ied
cause exis s, and posi s he ollowing examples: When he wo ke a) p esen s alse
ce i ica es o e e ences, b) shows lack o p obi y o hones y, ac s o iolence, ein s,
inju ies e c., c) cause in en ionally ma e ial damages du ing he pe o mance o asks, d)
pe o ms immo al ac s o ha assmen e c. These ew examples gi e he eade an idea o he
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Sánchez-Escobedo, P. A.; Can o-He e a, P.
so o beha io s ha he Fede al law conside s o be “jus i ied cause” o he wo ke s
emo al.
No e, ha none o he p e ious examples a e simila o he concep o “pe o mance below
expec ed s anda ds o excellence” a gued by Uni e si y au ho i ies. Thus, assessmen o
pe manence o enu ed p o esso may be agains ede al Mexican labo law.
3.3 Uni e si y Regula ions
New egula ions app o ed 2013 es ablished he possibili y o assess enu ed p o esso s.
A icle 53, o he Uni e si y’s´ no ma i e code is ansla ed as ollows:
The pe manence o he academic s a shall con inue p o ided ha i complies wi h he
unc ions and du ies laid down in his egula ion o he classi ica ion and ca ego y ha se
by his/he appoin men .
And, in a icle 116 i is s a ed: The pe manence o he academic s a will be examined by
he Commi ee o p omo ion and enu e o each academic uni e e y h ee yea s.
Howe e , in he same egula ion, a icle 54bis i is asse ed ha assessmen o acul y
pe o mance is o de ec a eas o oppo uni y o s eng hening he unc ions and academic
imp o emen o eache s as undamen al pu pose.
This is an oxymo on: ei he assessmen is ca ied ou in a o ma i e ashion o p o ide
eedback o he eache , o i has legal and labo consequences in a summa i e ashion.
Bo h app oaches canno co-exis in a same p ocedu e.
4. Conclusions
I is clea ha he e is con usion ega ding when assessmen o acul y should be o ma i e,
o pu poses o imp o ing eaching p ac ices o summa i e in o de o make decisions
conce ning wo king condi ions. Thus, hese wo p ocesses should no be mixed since he
pu poses o each one o hem a e di e en and i would be un ai o use hem
in e changeably.
I is also clea , ha egula ion o acul y assessmen should conside con ex ual, con ac ual
and legal aspec s, which ha e no been ully explo ed.
Pe haps, he majo conce n iden i ied in his s udy is he excessi e egula ion om bo h
ede al, s a e and ins i u ional au ho i ies ega ding acul y’s pe o mance. Mo e basic
pee -based assessmen p ocedu es ha eely and quali a i ely assess acul y’s p oduc i i y
and pe o mance ha e p o en in many coun y e ec i e. Pee s a e usually om he same
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No ma i e con o e sies in he assessmen o acul y in Mexican public Uni e si ies
ield o knowledge, hey a e acquain ed wi h ins i u ional and ex e nal condi ions and hey
a e all in ol ed in depa men al planning and he es ablishmen o goals.
Pee assessmen con eys a p ocess o e lec ion, analysis, unde s anding, and eedback ha
elici p ecise s a egies o imp o emen and p o essional de elopmen .
Teache assessmen is essen ially an academic p ocess cha e ed wi h clea ules and
p edic able consequences, especially when i is a s ake he pe manence o he p o esso .
In he cu en s a e o a ai s, i is necessa y o con inue wi h a e lec i e and inclusi e
consul a ion p ocess wi h acul y and au ho i ies alike.
O e egula ion o academic ac i i ies and excessi e legisla ion a e indeed endencies in he
Mexican highe educa ion sys em ha complica e eache assessmen . The e is a need o
e u n o he simple and e ec i e p ocess o pee e iew.
The academic li e should be sel - egula ed and eedom o ac ion is essen ial o inno a ion
and quali y in eaching, esea ch and publishing.
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