Resolution on selection, duties, and term of Department Heads/Chairs
Steering Committee Resolution

Whereas; the selection, duties and tenure of department heads/chairs varies across Auburn University,

And Whereas; the Association of American University Professors (AAUP) published a statement on appointment, duties and tenure of department heads and chairs in the document “Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities,”

Be it resolved, that the AAUP statement on selection, duties and tenure of appointment of department heads/chairs shall be adopted as follows:

“The chair or head of a department, who  serves as the chief representative of the department within an institution, should be selected either 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.”*

*http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/contents/governancestatement.htm

Note: This will require two changes in the Faculty Handbook:
the final paragraph of the resolution will replace current wording in Handbook in second paragraph Chapter 2, Section 5B

Replaces current text in Chapter 2 Section 5 B

B Selection of Deans and Department Heads/Chairs

“Department Heads/Chairs: Auburn University adheres to 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 regarding the selection of department heads/chairs: "The chair or head of a department. . .should be selected either by departmental election or by appointment following consultation with members of the department and of related departments; appointments should normally be in conformity with the department members' judgment." Appointment of department heads/chairs are made by the Dean.”

Requires wording change in Chapter 3, Number 3

“Academic administrators above the level of department head hold temporary or continuing appointments and may also hold faculty rank. A department head holds a continuing appointment as head and must also hold faculty rank.”