Matters of Academic Unit Governance and Related Procedures

The Department Chair (hereinafter “Chair”) is the chief administrative officer of the Department (See Appendix I of this Handbook) and reports directly to and is accountable to the Dean of the College (hereinafter “Dean”). The Chair is responsible for recording, maintaining, and implementing the policies and procedures stated in this Handbook through regular and thorough consultation with the Department faculty and the Department's various committees as provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Those who serve as Chairperson will receive 6 hours of workload equivalency for every two years of service with a maximum of 12 hours of workload equivalency to be applied in any given year.

The Chair is an ex officio, non-voting member of all Department committees, and may make appointments as necessary and permitted to Department committees and to the various administrative and service positions in the Department.

The selection, review, and reappointment of the Chair is the responsibility of the Dean, who consults with the Department faculty on such matters. Procedures for the selection, review and reappointment of the Chair are included in the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Graduate Coordinator is appointed by the Chair after consultation with the Graduate Faculty and the FAC. The Graduate Coordinator must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty holding the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. The Graduate Coordinator normally serves a three-year term, but may be terminated  by the Chair, in his/her sole discretion. The Graduate Coordinator chairs the Graduate Program Committee and oversees the operation and development  of  the Department's graduate progran1s. The specific duties and responsibilities of the Graduate Coordinator  are detem1ined  by  the Chairperson  in consultation  with  the Graduate Faculty and FAC and include providing day-to-day administration of the graduate program, serving as the Department's representative on the Arts & Sciences Graduate Council, and advising those graduate students who have not yet declared an adviser. The duties shall be specified in a letter of appointment and departmental operating procedures document and referenced in the description of workload equivalents (See Section IV F Faculty Workload and Workload Equivalents) contained in this handbook.

Appointed by the Department Chairperson at the start of the academic year in consultation with the department FAC and the Undergraduate Program Committee, the UC can come from any rank but may be terminated by the Chair, in his/her sole discretion. The UC chairs the Undergraduate Program Committee and has as their primary responsibility the making and implementing of policy concerning Undergraduate instruction in the Department, including but not limited to the following: undergraduate advising, course offerings, requirements for the major, retention, outcomes assessment, and Undergraduate  Student awards. The duties shall be specified in a letter of appointment and departmental operating procedures document and referenced in the description of workload equivalents (See Section II Teaching Assignments and Workload including Workload Equivalencies and Related Procedures) contained in this Handbook.

Appointments to other departmental administrative positions are made by the Chair after consultation with the FAC. Appointments will be dependent upon the specific requirements of the position and an individual's qualifications for the position. Duties and terms of office shall be specified by the Chair and FAC in a departmental operating procedures document. If a workload equivalent is to be associated with the appointment, the position must also be referenced in the description of workload equivalents (See Section II Teaching Assignments and Workload Equivalencies and Related Procedures) contained in this Handbook.

The Department's non-academic staff includes all classified  and unclassified staff positions within the Department including but not limited to the Administrative Assistant and secretarial staff. Each position has specific duties as defined in the applicable position description.

The FAC is structured and operates as described in the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement. The FAC is elected directly by the full-time Faculty of the Department as defined in Section I (Matters of Academic Unit Governance and Related Procedures) above.
The TT CBA provides that the tenured and tenure-track faculty of the Department may decide whether and to what extent full-time non-tenure (NTT) track faculty shall be represented on the FAC.
The TT CBA provides that the faculty of the Department ensure that Regional Campus faculty are appropriately represented on key Department and College committees, including but not limited to the FAC, the CAC, the RTP Committee, Search Committees, Review Committees, and committees considering curriculum, department or college policy, instructional standards, and program development.
The FAC will consist of five members, plus the Department Chairperson who will serve in a non-voting ex-officio capacity. All five members of the FAC will be elected by the regular members of the Department of History from a slate of candidates prepared in the following manner. Each spring the Department Chairperson will prepare a ballot including the names of all regular members of the Department eligible for election, excluding those who are finishing their second consecutive one-year term, those who are to be on sabbatical during the next academic year, and those serving as Graduate and Undergraduate  Coordinators. These ballots will be collected at or before the Department's final academic year meeting and will be counted at that meeting.
In order to ensure that the FAC is a representative of the Department as a whole, the ballots will be counted in the following manner. The candidate from the Regional Campuses who has received the largest number of votes will first be determined and declared elected. The Kent Campus  candidate  from  each professorial rank in which there are at least three members within the department (all campuses) who has received the largest number of votes will next be determined  and declared elected.   The Kent Campus member at the Associate  or Full Professor rank who has the largest number of votes will fill the final position. No Faculty member may serve more than two consecutive terms on the FAC. The newly elected FAC will assume office at the beginning of the academic year following election.
The FAC is convened and chaired at least once per term by the Chair who, in consultation with the FAC, sets the agenda for its meetings. FAC members may request that items be added to the agenda. Additional meetings of the FAC may be called by the Chair, as needed or upon a request by at least one-half of the members of the FAC. The FAC elects one ( I ) member to act as the Department representative to the College Advisory Committee (hereinafter “CAC”) and the Departmental Secretary (both to be elected from among Kent Campus FAC members in order to maximize the administrative efficiency of the Department). The FAC will also approve, by majority vote, the appointments made by the Department Chairperson of the Department's representative to the Arts & Sciences College Graduate Council (Graduate Coordinator) and representative to the Arts &  Sciences  College Curriculum Committee (Chairperson of Departmental Curriculum Committee who).
 

The Department Curriculum Committee is comprised of those Faculty appointed at the start of each academic year by the Department Chairperson, who serves  ex officio on the committee. The Department Chairperson will appoint an equal number of Faculty from the UPC and the GPC, one of whom must be appointed as the chairperson of the committee. The Curriculum Committee chairperson will serve as the Department's representative to the Arts & Sciences College Curriculum Committee. The Curriculum Committee will make recommendations on any and all matters which affect the academic progran1s of the Department including but not limited to faculty proposals for new courses, changes in course content, major requirements, and other curricular matters. The CC reviews and decides student appeals regarding course substitution.

The GPC is comprised of those members of the Faculty appointed at the beginning of each academic year by the Department Chairperson, who serves in an ex-officio capacity as a member of the committee, and one History Graduate Student, elected from among those Graduate Students in attendance at the initial meeting of each academic year. It is chaired by the Coordinator of Graduate Studies. The committee's primary responsibility is the making and implementing of policy regarding Graduate Studies in the department. The GPC reviews proposals for new graduate courses, changes in course content and related curricular matters, and conducts periodic reviews of the Department's graduate program as a whole. The GPC may also assume the role of Curriculum Committee for graduate curriculum. The GPC is responsible for evaluating applications for admission, evaluating and recommending candidates for graduate appointments, and monitoring the progress and academic performance of graduate students in the Department.

The Graduate Faculty Committee is comprised of all members of the Department Faculty who have full Graduate Faculty Status (F4) at the University;  it is chaired by the Department Chairperson. This committee is the primary committee determining standards for Graduate Education in the Department. The committee's primary responsibilities are: 1) formulating Departmental criteria for membership in the Graduate Faculty; 2) receiving and considering recommendations on Graduate Studies from the Graduate Program Committee; and 3) making recommendations to the Department Chairperson concerning Graduate Studies in the Department.

The UPC is comprised of those  members of the Faculty (including at least one member from the Regional Campuses) appointed at the start of each academic year by the Department Chairperson, who also serves as a member ex officio of the committee, and one student chosen from among the Undergraduate History majors of the Department. The Department Chairperson appoints one of the members as committee chairperson at the start of the academic year. The UPC's primary responsibility is the making and implementing of policy concerning Undergraduate instruction in  the Department, including but not limited to the following: undergraduate advising, course offerings, requirements for the major, retention, outcomes assessment, and Undergraduate Student awards. (For additional information, see Sect. IV.)

The Student Academic Complaint Committee is composed of 1 faculty member and at least one student appointed by the FAC. The FAC, or any other standing committee of the department determined by the FAC, with the addition of at least one student, may also function as the SACC. The Chair of the SACC is elected by the SACC at the beginning of each academic year. The policies and procedures of this committee are governed by University Policy 3342-4-02.3. The policy provides for only one SACC in each department.
In the event that a member of the Student Academic Complaint Committee is the subject of or may otherwise be involved with a student complaint, the FAC will select a replacement from the full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty. If the Chair of the SACC is the subject of or may otherwise be involved with a student complaint, the Chair will appoint a member of the Student Academic Complaint Committee to chair the committee and the FAC will appoint an additional member to the committee from the full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty.

The policies and procedures which govern the Department's Ad Hoc Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion (RTP) Committee are included in University Policy and the CBA. For Promotion, consideration of those nominated shall be undertaken by a unit promotions committee chaired by the unit administrator as a nonvoting member and made up of the  tenured members of the unit's faculty advisory committee and any tenured full professors of the unit who may not be on the faculty advisory committee. The unit administrator shall formally invite signed written comments from all the tenured faculty members not serving on the unit's promotion committee. The unit administrator will provide those comments to the promotion committee, copy the candidate, and place the comments in the file. For Tenure and Reappointment, the committee of the department shall  be composed of all tenured members of the unit's advisory committee and  any tenured full professors who may not be members of the advisory committee. All actions involving tenure are to be initiated by this committee. No member of the committee shall be present when the committee deliberates or votes on the tenure of an individual in a rank higher than that of the individual member of the tenure committee, or on the tenure of a spouse or relative. The unit administrator serves as the non-voting chairperson of the tenure committee. Procedural and operational guidelines for this committee are provided annually by the Office of the Provost. This committee reviews materials relevant to the professional perf01mance of faculty who are candidates for reappointment, tenure, or promotion in rank, and to make recommendations to the Chair on each of these personnel decisions. The recommendations of this committee and the Chair,  together with the materials assembled for the committees, are forwarded to the Dean of the College.

Those outside the descriptions above include the Aims and Future Development Committee; Communications Committee; Library Committee; World Civilization Committee; American History Committee, and  the  Communications  Committee. The Chair may establish, charge, and appoint the membership of additional departmental standing or ad hoc committees as required by the Department. In establishing departmental committees, naming members and designating a committee chair, the Chair shall consult with the FAC. The Chair will welcome requests and preferences from the faculty before establishing and making appointments to departmental  committees.

Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised, ed. H.M. Robert III et al., 10th rev. ed. (New York: Perseus Books, 2000) will govern the Department's deliberations in all cases where they apply and where they are not in conflict with Handbook rules or any subsequent by-laws, or those rules and by-laws of the University or the College of Arts  and  Sciences.  Where  possible  a  motion  seriously  affecting  policy  of  the Department or its committees or affecting interpretation of policy should be circulated in writing prior to the next Departmental or committee meeting. All minutes of Departmental meetings will be distributed electronically to the Faculty, Dean, and Provost prior to the next scheduled meeting.