Department Chair and School Director Evaluation Policy
This policy describes the college system for both the annual and comprehensive review of department chairs/school directors (hereafter referred to as simply Chairs for simplicity). The appointment of a Chair is at the discretion of the Dean in consultation with the faculty in the department/school (see Faculty Handbook).
Annual Evaluation
Since Chairs must function both as faculty members and as administrators, they will be evaluated annually in both areas as outlined in this document.
Evaluation as Faculty Members
Activity Categories. The Chairās activity as a faculty member will be evaluated in the same three categories as all other faculty: Teaching, Sustained Engagement Activity, and Professional Activity/Service. In addition, the Chair will be evaluated separately for administrative performance.
Workload. The workload allocated to the three activity categories and the administrative duties of the Chair will be determined in consultation with the Dean. Since Chairs devote substantial time to administration, workload proportions in the three activity categories will be different from that of typical faculty members. The usual teaching load for a Chair will be two courses (i.e., 6 credit hours), which represents 40% of the normal 15 credit hour annual teaching load for a faculty member who is actively involved in a research program. Thus, Chairs will be evaluated 40% as Faculty Members and 60% as Administrators.
Evaluation Process. A Chairās performance as a faculty member will be evaluated by the department/school Faculty Evaluation committee using the same criteria as used with all other faculty members. For this purpose the Chair will submit the same Annual Report of Faculty Activity, a Faculty Annual Evaluation Form and a Faculty Development Form as all other faculty.
These forms will be submitted directly to the Faculty Evaluation Committee by the Chair. As with all other faculty, the committee will review the material submitted and prepare a peer review of the Chairās performance which will be sent directly to the Dean rather than the chair as is done with all other faculty.
Evaluation as Administrators
The Chair will typically prepare a summary of administrative accomplishments and work with the Dean to create a set of goals for the next year. This information will also be provided to the Faculty Evaluation Committee along with the Chairās Faculty Self-Evaluation Form. The department Faculty Evaluation Committee should solicit anonymous and confidential input from the faculty in the department and create a summary of the strengths and areas for improvement for the Chairās performance as an administrator.
This summary should be forwarded directly to the Dean along with the forms evaluating the Chairās performance as a faculty member.
Calculation of Raises
The Dean shall determine raises for Chairs considering both the peer review of the Chairs performance as a faculty member (40%) and the Chairās performance of administrative duties (60%). The Dean will determine how to translate the Level achieved by the Chair in each of the three faculty activity areas and the Chairās administrative performance into a raise percentage.
Comprehensive Review
When a Chair is appointed, the length of the appointment will be determined. Chairs are normally appointed for a three-year term but other durations are possible. In the first week of the fall semester of the final year of the appointment, a Chair will meet with the dean to determine whether he or she wishes to seek reappointment. If reappointment is not desired, there will be no comprehensive review. If reappointment is to be considered, a comprehensive review will be conducted accordingly.
To complete the comprehensive review, the Chair will first provide the dean with a summary of his or her administrative accomplishments over the past three years in the third week. The dean will then provide the faculty of the department with the summary and an evaluation form. Completed evaluation forms will be due to the dean by the end of day on Friday of the fifth week. The dean may meet with the faculty either individually or as a group to seek additional input. In addition, the dean may consult members of the Executive Committee for comments.
After due consideration of the Chairās administrative summary, the results of the faculty evaluations, and all other information, the dean will provide a written performance review to the Chair. This review will include a decision regarding reappointment of the Chair.