Guidelines, Resources & Templates for Department Chairpersons

Below are some general guidelines for Department Chairpersons. For complete details about the responsiblities of the Department Chairperson, please refer to the Faculty Handbook.

General Guidelines

The Department Chairperson or Program Director should be a faculty member's first contact for questions about resources or teaching or student issues.

After consultation with the members of the Department, the Department Chairperson is recommended by the Dean of the Faculty and is appointed by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.

He/She ordinarily will serve for a three-year term with the possibility of renewal. Department Chairpersons receive an annual stipend or teaching load reduction, or a combination of the two for the work associated with their office during the academic year and the summer break.

The Department Chairperson is directly responsible to the Dean of the Faculty. He/She is the principal staff administrator of his/her Department, and supervises all of its teaching faculty. Some responsibilities can be delegated to other faculty as part of their departmental service; if the workload is significant, however, the chair may elect to shift some portion of the chair's stipend to the faculty member.

Resources & Templates for Department Chairs

• Meeting Schedule 2011-12 (.docx)
• Department Chairpersons and Program Directors 2011-12 (.docx)
• Courses Overload/Adjunct Faculty (.docx)
• Tenured Faculty Review Template
• Untenured Faculty Review Template

Contact

Please contact Mary Boyd, Academic Affairs, at (508) 565-1650 with questions about these guidelines, resources and templates.