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Policy for Department Chair Evaluation[1]

  1. Assumptions
    1. Chair responsibilities vary from one department/college to another.

    2. Some chairs are on ten-month appointments, others may be on twelve.

    3. Different structure and operation of colleges may cause different expectations of chair performance.

    4. Principal elements of commonality:
      1. While shorter terms are possible, chairs are normally appointed for three-year terms.

      2. The statement on Department Chairs in this Handbook specifies the process for initial appointment and expectation of faculty participation.

  2. Annual evaluations of performance are an administrative responsibility of the dean and are to be conducted.
    1. The evaluation shall be based on annual identification of each chair's goals and objectives, established in collaboration with the dean.

    2. The evaluation shall be conducted and completed each spring prior to the salary adjustment process.

    3. The evaluation shall be based on actual accomplishments in relation to previously established goals and objectives.

    4. Deans will obtain input from all departmental faculty each year using a written survey. The process shall provide for anonymity.

    5. The evaluation shall be discussed with each chair and reported to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

    6. A summary of the feedback will be shared by the dean with department faculty. No formal report of the annual performance evaluation shall be required for publication to faculty.

  3. The three-year reappointment review process shall be conducted by the college dean.
    1. The process shall be conducted no later than spring semester of the third year of the chair's term.

    2. The process shall be designed to fit the customs and circumstances of each college; however, in all cases:
      1. primary criteria for reappointment review shall be discussed with faculty of the department;

      2. all members of the departmental faculty shall be invited and encouraged to provide individual input (anonymously if desired) in the form of written comments on designated criteria;

      3. an appropriate survey instrument shall be developed and used in the evaluation;

      4. all members of the faculty shall be invited to comment on the desirability of reappointment of the chair for an additional three-year term;

      5. the process shall be concluded with a written report from the dean to members of the departmental faculty, summarizing important conclusions of the evaluation and announcing the reappointment decision; and

      6. a copy of this report shall be provided to and discussed with the provost and vice president for academic affairs prior to reappointment.

    3. This process need not be implemented in the case of a chair who does not desire reappointment. In this case, an annual review would serve to determine the salary increment.

    4. In the event that the chair does not desire reappointment, or the dean's decision based on the evaluation is against reappointment, the established procedure within each college for designation of a new chair shall be implemented. (Please see section 3.a. of the Policy on Department Chairs.)

  4. Summary Observations
    1. The principal objectives of these guidelines are to:
      1. assure systematic and fair evaluation of chairs on a regularly established schedule;

      2. ensure opportunity for faculty input to the evaluation process;

      3. preserve maximum flexibility for colleges in establishing details of the procedure in keeping with the rules, customs, and needs particular to each college;

      4. recognize the needs of colleges to establish evaluation criteria suitable to their own operations, which criteria may vary among colleges or even among departments within a college, or from year to year as departmental needs and objectives may require; and

      5. reaffirm that evaluation of chairs is a collegial function that is an administrative responsibility of deans but must involve input from the faculty.

 

- Approved by the provost and vice president for academic affairs
September 5, 2003
Revised by the president
February 27, 2007



[1] Refer also to the statement on Department Chairs later in this section.


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