Motion to Amend Language in the Faculty Handbook
“Selection of Deans and Department Heads/Chairs”

Motion to amend language in the Faculty Handbook, Chapter 2, Part 5, Section B entitled “Selection of Deans and Department Heads/Chairs” that quotes, with omissions, from the “Joint Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities” adopted by the American Council on Education, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and the American Association of University Professors by substituting language quoting the entire paragraph (underlining to indicate previously omitted portions to be inserted) to read as follows:

“The chair or head of a department, who serves as the chief representative of the department within an institution, should be selected by departmental election or by appointment following consultation with members of the department and of related departments; appointments should normally be in conformity with department members’ judgment.  The chair or department head should not have tenure in office; tenure as a faculty member is a matter of separate right.  The chair or head should serve for a stated term but without prejudice to reelection or to reappointment by procedures that involve appropriate faculty consultation.  Board, administration, and faculty should all bear in mind that the department chair or head has a special obligation to build a department strong in scholarship and teaching capacity.”