Department Chair's Handbook
Index
Key Contacts
Academic Affairs Calendar
Personnel
Recruitment and Retention
Tenure Management
Tips for Chairs
Web Links
Key Contacts
Your primary point of contact for many issues will be your
Dean’s office. The list below identifies
other offices and individuals that can assist you with specific issues.
Legal Issues
| Issue |
Office |
Contact(s) |
| Disabilities |
Disability Services for Students
Personnel Services
EAA Office
System Legal Counsel |
Jim Joque, ADA Coordinator
Bob Tabor, Director
Mai Vang, Director
Legal Deskbook |
| Employment Discrimination |
Equity & Affirmative Action |
Mai Vang, Director |
| Ethics |
Academic Affairs
System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Legal Deskbook |
| Family and Medical Leave Acts |
Personnel Services
System Legal Counsel |
Bob Tabor, Director
Legal Deskbook |
| FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and
Privacy Act) |
Academic Affairs
Records & Registration
System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Dan Kellogg, Registrar
Legal Deskbook |
| Open meetings |
Academic Affairs
System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Legal Deskbook |
| Open records |
Academic Affairs
System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Legal Deskbook |
| Sexual harassment |
Equity & Affirmative Action |
Mai Vang, Director |
Personnel Issues
| Issue |
Office |
Contact(s) |
| Academic Staff Hiring |
Academic Affairs (permission to hire)
Personnel Services (Hayes-Hill titling) Equity & Affirmative
Action (hiring procedures) |
Mark Nook, Provost
Bob Tabor, HHTAC Secretary
Mai Vang, Director |
| Classified Hiring |
Academic Affairs (permission to hire
Personnel Services (hiring procedures) |
Mark Nook, Provost
Bob Tabor, Director |
|
Faculty Hiring
|
Academic Affairs (permission to hire)
Equity & Affirmative Action (hiring procedures) |
Mark Nook, Provost
Mai Vang, Director |
| Faculty and academic staff contracts |
Academic Affairs |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Paulette Rogers, PA |
| Academic staff retention, annual &
supplemental review, and indefinite status |
Academic Affairs
Personnel Office |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Bob Tabor, Director |
| Faculty retention, promotion and tenure |
Academic Affairs |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Libby Raymond, UA |
| Post-tenure review |
Academic Affairs |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel,
Budget, Grants & Summer Session
Libby Raymond, UA |
| Mental health, drug or alcohol
problems |
Employee Assistance Academic Affairs |
Sharon Gahnz, EAP Director
Mick Veum Associate VC,
Personnel, Budget, Grants & Summer Session |
Program Issues
| Issue |
Office |
Contact(s) |
| Assessment |
Academic Affairs |
Steve Bondeson, Associate VC, Teaching,
Learning & Academic Programs |
| Getting a new course through faculty
senate |
Faculty Governance |
Curriculum Committee Chair |
| Program review |
Academic Affairs
Faculty Governance |
Steve Bondeson, Associate VC, Teaching,
Learning & Academic Programs
Program Review Committee Chair |
| Student credit hour production (SCH) |
Records & Registration |
Dan Kellogg, Registrar |
Student Issues
| Issue |
Office |
Contact(s) |
| Advising |
Academic Advising Center
Career Advising Center |
Mary Mosier, Director, Career
Services & Academic Advising |
| FIGs |
Residential Living |
FIG Director |
| Discipline (cheating, disruptive
behavior) |
Student Development & University
Centers |
Executive Director, Campus Life |
| Mental health issues |
Counseling Center |
Sharon Gahnz, Director |
Personnel
Faculty Retention and Tenure
For a complete schedule of due dates for faculty retention and tenure
recommendations, consult the current Academic Affairs Calendar. When doing
so, note that the number of years of employment referred to in the calendar are
not always the actual number of years at UWSP. For retention and tenure
purposes, these years refer to the years toward tenure. For example, for
an individual hired with two years toward tenure, the first year at UWSP would
be considered the third year toward tenure and this individual would follow the
retention schedule for individuals in their third year of employment. Also
note that the final decision on retention through the 4th year contract is made
at the college level.
The following pattern of retention decisions would be typical for
probationary faculty members with no performance concerns:
- Enter with contract for 1st and 2nd years
- Recommendation for 3rd and 4th years due to Dean’s
office in October of 2nd year
- Recommendation for 5th and 6th years due to Dean’s
office in February of 3rd year
- Recommendation for 7th year due to Dean’s office in
February of 5th year
- Recommendation on tenure due to Dean’s
office in November of 6th year
Academic Staff Retention and Indefinite Status
Specific due dates for academic staff retentions are identified in the
current Academic Affairs Calendar.
There are basically three different types of Academic Staff appointments.
Each has its own renewal rules.
Fixed-term, no-intent-to-renew
Many Category B, teaching academic staff, are on fixed-term
no-intent-to-renew contracts and therefore do not receive retention
notification.
Fixed-term, renewal notification
Some Category B, teaching academic staff and some Category A academic staff
are on fixed-term renewal notification contracts. It is a good idea to
maintain a spreadsheet to track notification of these individuals as there may
be times, as in the seventh year, when you will need to make two recommendations
in one year, but will only be notified by the Office of Academic Affairs about
the first recommendation. The following general rules apply:
- Notification three months prior to the end of the
current contract for individuals in their first two years
within recommendations normally due to the Dean in January.
- Notification six months prior to the end of the current
contract for individuals in their third through seventh year
with recommendations normally due to the Dean in October.
- Notification nine months prior to the end of the current
contract for individuals in their eighth through tenth years
with recommendations normally due to the Dean in April.
Notifications are held until the appropriate time in August
or September.
Note that this results in
two retention recommendations in one year for
individuals in their seventh year with one
recommendation due to the Dean in October and the next in
April.
Probationary
A few Category A academic staff with appointments in the departments or
colleges are on probationary appointments. (Most of the these appointment occur
in student affairs and business affairs.) These appointments are similar
to probationary faculty appointments. The following notification schedule
applies:
- Notification three months prior to end of first year
contract with recommendation due to Dean’s office in January
- Notification six months prior to the end of the second
year contract with recommendation due to Dean’s office in
October
- Notification 12 months prior to the end of the third
year – sixth year contracts with recommendation due to the
Dean’s office in February
- Notification of indefinite status 12 months prior to the
end of the seventh year contract with recommendation due to
the Dean’s office in November
Faculty and Academic Staff Promotions
Check the current Academic Affairs Calendar for specific due dates.
Faculty Promotions
Recommendations for faculty promotions are normally due to the Dean’s office
in November.
Faculty applying for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor must have
completed five years (seven years part-time) of college
teaching. Typically, the promotion decision occurs, therefore, in the
sixth year at the same time as the tenure decision.
Faculty applying for promotion to the rank of Full Professor must have
completed ten years (13 years part-time) of college teaching.
Departmental personnel guidelines should clearly delineate additional
expectations for promotion.
Category B (Teaching) Academic Staff Promotions
Recommendations for teaching academic staff promotions are due to the Dean’s
office in November.
There are no University or System minimums for promotion of Teaching Academic
Staff (Category B). The
University Handbook, Chapter 4B, Section 5 states, “Appointment to or
eligibility for promotion to a specific prefix in the instructional professional
title series is … dependent upon experience and performance. Minimum
expectations are described in each department’s personnel guidelines.”
Category A Academic Staff Promotions
Recommendations for Category A academic staff promotions are due to the
Dean’s office in January.
The Operational Policies and Procedures for the Hayes-Hill Titling Advisory
Committee state that Category A academic staff in the profession title series
are “first eligible for promotion from Associate to No Prefix when 1.5 years of
experience have been accumulated before January 1 in the year the application
for promotion is submitted …[and are] first eligible for promotion from No
Prefix to Senior when 6.5 years of experience have been acquired by January 1 in
the year the application for promotion is submitted.”
Promotion files must include results of a supplemental review completed
within the last 12 months.
If you have questions about Category A promotions consult with the Associate
Vice Chancellor for Personnel and Budget or with the Director of Personnel
Services.
Post-Tenure Review & Review of Indefinite
Academic Staff
Each tenured faculty member must undergo review every five years. At
least one interim meeting must be held with the faculty member, the department
chair and one member of the review committee.
Academic staff with indefinite appointments must also undergo review every
five years with at least one interim meeting with the supervisor.
Deans must notify the Vice Chancellor’s office in June of tenured faculty
reviewed that year. Check with your Dean’s office for the date
notification is due to the Dean.
Evaluation of Academic Staff
The rules for evaluation of Category B, teaching academic staff, are similar
to those for faculty. The rules for evaluation of Category A and C
academic staff are quite different.
Category B
Category B, teaching academic staff on fixed term appointments must be
evaluated annually. Those with indefinite status must be evaluated at
least once every five years. A progress review should occur midway between
evaluations. Student and peer evaluations of teaching must be included in
the review. Department personnel guidelines should delineate the complete
evaluation process for teaching academic staff in a manner consistent with
Chapter 4B, Section 5 of the
University Handbook.
Category A and C
Category A and C academic staff must be reviewed annually by their
supervisor. In the 2nd and 5th years and every five years thereafter, they
must also undergo a supplemental review. These reviews are not the
same as the retention reviews, though when the timing of the two is
reasonably close, they can be done together. The procedures for these reviews
are spelled out in Chapter 4B, Section 5 of the
University Handbook.
Merit
Merit points may only be distributed within the employee classification.
In other words, merit points generated by faculty must go to faculty, those
generated by Category B academic staff must go to Category B academic staff and
those generated by Category A academic staff must go to Category A academic
staff.
Department and Chair point assignments are normally due to the Dean’s office
in February
Faculty
Each faculty member in a department generates 14 merit points. Ten of
these 14 points are distributed to the department to be allocated according to
departmental procedures. The remaining 4 points are distributed among the
department chairperson (1 point), the dean of the college (2 points), and the
vice chancellor (1 point) to be allocated according to the appropriate
procedures for each. In order to receive the full pay plan increase, a
faculty member must earn 14 total merit points.
Procedural guidelines for merit distribution for faculty can be found in the
University Handbook, Chapter
4B, Section 3, under
Evaluation of Faculty by Students and Peers.
Category B Academic Staff
Each Category B academic staff member in a department generates 14 merit
points. Ten of these 14 points are distributed to the department to be
allocated according to departmental procedures. The remaining 4 points are
distributed among the department chairperson (1 point), the dean of the college
(2 points), and the vice chancellor (1 point) to be allocated according to the
appropriate procedures for each. In order to receive the full pay plan
increase, a faculty member must earn 14 total merit points.
Category A Academic Staff
Each Category A academic staff member in a unit generates 10 merit points.
Any points not assigned to the academic staff member who generates them are
returned to a central university pool and distributed in “Step 2” merit to other
Category A academic staff.
Procedural guidelines for merit distribution for faculty can be found in the
University Handbook, Chapter
4B, Section 5, under
Evaluation of Category A Academic Staff.
Recruitment and
Retention of Faculty
Recruitment
Outside of the department, there are three offices on campus that play a role
in hiring: the Dean’s office, the Academic Affairs office and the Equity and
Affirmative Action office. If there is a tenurable position available for
hire, as determined by the Academic Affairs office, the Dean’s office decides
whether a department may initiate a search for a new probationary faculty member
is made at the college level. After the department receives permission to
hire, the department follows the hiring guidelines identified in Chapter 3 of
the University Handbook and
works with the Equity and Affirmative Action office to assure that all required
steps and forms are completed. Forms may be accessed at
Outlook://Public Folders\All Public Folders\University Offices, Services and
Governance\Chancellor’s Office\Equity and Affirmative Action Office\Hiring Forms.
Suggestions for Working with New and Probationary
Faculty
Provide a copy or the department personnel guidelines at the time of hire or
as soon as the new faculty member comes to campus.
Meet regularly with new faculty. Topics of discussion may include:
- Discussion of personnel guidelines. If the faculty
member has a one year contract, this discussion should occur
by the middle of September. If the faculty member has a two
year contract, it should occur by January of the first year.
- Contacts both inside and outside the department from
whom the new faculty member feels comfortable seeking
information and advice. At least one contact should
not be a member of the faculty member’s retention
committee.
- Department culture/expectations regarding: being in the
office; colleague coverage for illness, conferences or
“personal days;” office hours; participation of probationary
faculty in the governance of the department.
- Teaching issues including: strategies; concerns;
importance of being in class during exams; student and peer
evaluation processes; etc.
- Dealing with student discipline problems such as
cheating, plagiarism or classroom disruption
Provide a department “manual” that includes key contact people or offices,
information on basic department processes, types of services and equipment
provided by the department, etc.
Provide samples, with permission, of recent, successful retention and tenure
files.
Limit the number of different class preparations during the first two years
if possible.
Assign courses within the new faculty member’s area of expertise.
Adjust the new faculty member’s schedule to allow blocks of time for
scholarship and course preparation.
Avoid giving overloads to faculty in their first several years.
Provide training in advising for second year faculty in September of October.
Tenure Management
The University’s approach to tenure management is designed to assure that a
tenure decision will be based on the qualifications of the probationary faculty
member and not on whether there is room for another tenured member in the
department. Therefore the tenure management formula is designed to predict
the tenure density of each department five years in the future. The goal
is 90 percent density to allow for some flexibility in staffing and to avoid
overstaffing if there is a reduction in FTE or reduced budget allocations from
the state. The following steps are used in determining tenurable FTE available
for hire in the upcoming academic year.
- Determine FTETF needed based on SCH production and
authorized release time for the department chair/head.
- Determine projected FTETF needed based on authorized
release time for the department chair and 90% of the current
FTETF needed.
- Determine projected FTE tenured in five years based on
the current number of tenured faculty minus the number of
faculty who have submitted letters of retirement.
- Determine other adjustments (these vary across colleges
and departments and are usually very small).
- Determine the number of tenurable positions in five
years by subtracting the projected FTE tenured (#4) from the
projected FTETF needed (#2).
- Determine tenurable positions available for hire by
subtracting the FTE for current probationary faculty and
teaching academic staff with indefinite appointments from
the number of tenurable positions projected in five years
(#5).
The Tenure Management Report is prepared by the college each summer
and includes the first five steps described above. The Office of Academic
Affairs determines the tenurable positions available for hire as described in
the last step and reports this number back to the colleges in mid-August.
The Provost checks this number before signing off on Position Announcement
Forms. Normally, a department will not be allowed to initiate a search for
a probationary faculty member if there is no tenurable position available.
However, tenure management is only one factor in determining the decision to
allow a department to hire.
Tips for Chairs
Advice to New Chairs from Experienced UWSP Chairs
- Create open lines of communication
- Maintain confidentiality
- Create a level playing field – be there for every
department member equally
- Publicly acknowledge the contributions of every
department member
- Meet regularly with new faculty
- Help new faculty see there is no hidden agenda regarding
retention and tenure
- Don’t be too quick to dispense advice
- Find satisfaction from within; don’t expect compliments
from department members
- Delegate tasks that have growth potential for the
department member
- Learn about the budget as soon as possible
- Work with faculty senate committees (curriculum, GDR,
etc.); get information on process for curricular or program
change early
- Find your own leadership style; don’t try to be someone
you aren’t
- Prepare for your successor
Web Links
http://www.roanoke.edu/accaffairs/deptchairhandbook.htm
Good for: job description; qualities of a good chair and department
planning
http://www.kansaschairs.org/Department.html
Advice on pertinent issues and questions department chairs ought to
ask
http://www.acenet.edu/resources/chairs/index.cfm
An American Council on Education (ACE) site with lots of short
papers on: The Chair as Leader; The Chair and Faculty; Resource Management;
Legal Issues