COP 03-0102: Department Chairs

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this procedure is to describe the responsibility of Department Chairs, who are full-time faculty that serve as leaders and assist Academic Deans with managing an academic discipline(s).

Guidelines

The Department Chair is responsible for providing academic direction and support for discipline-related issues College-wide; assisting the appropriate Academic Dean to select, mentor, and evaluate faculty; and facilitating communication within the department and with other departments of the College.

Procedures

1. Generally.  The Department Chair is elected by his/her department, subject to the approval of the Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs. She/he receives a stipend and assigned time as defined in the most current Collective Negotiations Agreement.
2. Department Chairs have the following responsibilities:
   1. Serves as the academic leader and advocate for the department within the College, by:
      1. Providing oversight for any coordinators within the department (e.g. Dual Enrollment, Online Learning, Learning Assessment) to unify and clarify departmental initiatives;
      2. Overseeing and managing the development and revision of curriculum, department-wide;
      3. Monitoring consistency of the departmental syllabi;
      4. Fostering procedures designed to ensure the integrity of the completion of the department assessment process;
      5. Is a vital member of the leadership team and provides input and recommendations to unit planning and program review;
      6. Organizing, leading, and overseeing the documentation of proceedings from department meetings;
      7. Regularly communicating with departmental faculty and fostering an atmosphere of collegiality and professionalism; and
      8. Is accessible to faculty on all campuses, in keeping with the one-College model.
   2. Serves certain administrative and organizational duties, including:
      1. Using expertise and knowledge to lead departmental faculty in guiding and shaping the curricular offerings and the course schedule;
      2. Assisting in preparing and maintaining the department budget; 
      3. Providing departmental information to faculty committees; 
      4. Overseeing the selection process of textbooks for the department; 
      5. Providing department information to appropriate administrative offices;
      6. Providing organizational vision to the department, including faculty, staff, and students; and
      7. Is current with accreditation standards as relevant to the department discipline(s) and oversees the department's contribution to compliance.
   3. Serves on faculty searches and assists with evaluation and development by:
      1. Participating in departmental searches for faculty positions, full-time and adjunct;
      2. Ensuring mentoring to new faculty in the department; 
      3. Evaluating departmental adjunct faculty credentials and performance and determines eligibility for course assignments; 
      4. Providing feedback to the supervising administrator in regard to departmental faculty's contributions to the department and the College; and
      5. Suggesting opportunities for growth to inform the supervising administrator's evaluation of, and goal-setting with, departmental faculty.