Investigating the status of effective components on the evaluation of faculty members of Birjand University of Medical Sciences and its association with the faculties’ demographic characteristics in the academic year 2017-2018

Abstract Background: Faculty members are one of the main elements of the university, and their performance plays a critical role in the overall efficiency of the educational system. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the status of effective components on the evaluation of faculty members of Birjand University of Medical Sciences and its association with the faculties’ demographic characteristics. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study. The population comprised all faculty members of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (n = 278) in the academic year 2017-2018. All the members were included using the census method. The faculty evaluation software program was used to collect data. The information from the faculty evaluation form, consisting of 15 components, was extracted and analyzed using the Sama system software. The validity of the form was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was computed using the Cronbach’s alpha method as 0.82. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-18 software, and the significance level was set at p <0.05. Results: Participants in this study were 144 (48%) women and 155 (52%) men. The maximum evaluation score of the faculties was 5, and the mean total evaluation score was 4.49 ± 0.29. There was no significant difference between the average evaluation status of faculty members based on gender and academic degree. However, the evaluation scores were significantly different in terms of academic rank (p <0.001). Conclusion: Directing attention to teaching behavior and performance in the classroom can be an effective strategy to enhance the performance of faculty members. Therefore, it seems necessary to empower faculties (more specifically, lower-level teachers) in terms of effective teaching methods and teacher-student communication skills.