Should academics appraise their bosses?

By Harriet Swain. Academics are asking for the right to 'appraise' their own bosses – a common practice in the US.
Every year or so, Cathy Wagner and her academic colleagues tell their faculty chairs exactly what they think of them.
The academics, at Miami University of Ohio, fill in questionnaires anonymously, evaluating their bosses' effectiveness, with room to add more detailed remarks at the end. These comments are summarised and returned to all academic staff in the department, who agree whether the summary is fair, and the evaluation is then used not only to inform individual chairs about what sort of job they are doing, but also whether a pay rise or promotion should be in the offing. Read more...