Abstract
M.Cur.
Performance assessment of academic staff (tutor) at a nursing college is an essential
component in the establishment of a well-prepared teacher corps which contributes to
quality nursing education. There is widespread 'dissatisfaction with the quality of
performance assessment of academic staff (tutor). Factors contributing to the
ineffectiveness of performance achievement are linked to the performance assessment
system itself, on the one hand, and to the person who performs the assessment, on the
other hand. The object ofperformance assessment, namely to facilitate quality teaching
by academic staff at a nursing college through personal and professional development
and to serveas a basis for management decision-making, is destroyed in general, ifnot
totally, by the way in which performance assessment of academic personnel is planned
and executed.
The purpose of this study was to describe performance assessment standards and
guidelines fora performance assessment programme for academic personnel at a nursing
college based on a conceptual framework. This aimisjustified by meansofa descriptive,
explorative, contextual, qualitative research design.
The study was conducted in four phases. Phaseone included exploring job descriptions
of academic personnel at nursing colleges. Phasetwo dealtwith exploring and describing
job expectations of academic personnel at nursing colleges. A qualitative research
method, namely focus group interviews, was used to gather data. In phase three a
literature control was done in order to refine the conceptual framework. In phasefour,
a final conceptual framework was formulated and performance assessment standards and
guidelines for a performance assessment program ofacademic staff at a nursing college
were described.