Department Chair Responsibilities

Department Chair Selection and Term

Department chairs are appointed by the Dean of the College. Typically, the Dean meets individually with the department’s continuing faculty to discuss the future of the department’s leadership. Department size and the career progression of individual department members are factors in the frequency, term, and availability of individuals to serve in the department chair role. During their career, the College expects that all tenured members in a department should be able and willing to serve as department chair as part of one’s service to the College. On occasion, circumstances necessitate that an external chair be appointed from an allied department based on the experience and perspective another tenured faculty member might bring to a department. Term lengths are most frequently for three to five years but vary based on individual needs, including sabbatical schedules and department configurations. Reappointment to the department chair role or extension of the designated term by the mutual agreement of the department chair and Dean of the College sometimes occurs. Information on chair terms will be maintained by the Office of the Dean of the College and, to the extent practical, conversations about new department chair appointments will take place by the mid-term of the spring semester.

Typical duties leading department:

The circumstances of any given department (e.g. staffing needs, department lifecycle, disciplinary hiring season, etc.) may mean that some items occur in a particular department at a time other than what is indicated below or, potentially, not at all.

  • Arrange schedule of departmental meetings 
  • Oversee development of department course schedule and course submissions. This includes consideration of all-college contributions, implications of immersion course requests, and approval of independent study requests
  • Monitor and coordinate departmental SLO submissions for distribution credit approval at APC-identified deadlines in advance of student registration
  • Review 4th hour compliance forms
  • Lead department in annual assessment activities
  • Lead or delegate development of any annual or regular department public events such as visiting speakers, recruitment of student majors or minors/welcome events, senior celebrations, etc.
  • Evaluate staffing needs and supervise departmentally affiliated staff
  • Track and review budgets (departmental; endowed funds if applicable)
  • Attend monthly department chair meetings and periodic meetings of department chairs from the division

Fall Semester

Second-year reviews

  • Interview students and write interview summaries
  • Review candidate materials and lead development of department letter of evaluation and recommendation

Tenure reviews

  • Review candidate materials and lead development of department letter of evaluation and recommendation

Lead or delegate development of department's comprehensive exams

Hiring

  • Develop any job ads for tenure track hires and launch search (late summer for some disciplines)
  • In some disciplines, tenure track hires are more often completed late in the fall semester and hiring elements listed under “Spring semester” will occur in the fall
  • Discuss with Dean’s Office requests for any needed visiting lines (e.g. sabbatical replacements)

Spring Semester

Fourth-year reviews

  • Interview students and write interview summaries
  • Review candidate materials and lead development of department letter of evaluation and recommendation

Salary reviews

  • Review faculty salary review materials and develop salary recommendations (final salary letter should be shared with faculty)
  • Meet with Division Chair to discuss salary recommendations for departmental faculty

Hiring (TT and visiting; depending on department needs and responsibilities, visiting searches might be led by department chair or delegated to other department faculty)

  • Monitor elements related to application submission
  • Lead department in review of candidates—collectively establish candidate review criteria, discuss implicit bias, cultivate a culture of careful, individual consideration of each applicant according to review criteria
  • Develop short-list recommendations and, upon approval from Dean’s Office, arrange preliminary interviews
  • Work with AAC and Dean’s Office on arranging candidate interviews
  • Meet with all candidates and attend their lunch seminars and teaching demonstrations
  • Prepare hiring recommendation for Personnel Committee (Senior Associate Dean for visiting hires)

For full details on hiring see Faculty Hiring Procedure

Organize or delegate grading of senior comprehensive exams and submission of exam results

Select and present departmental awards at Awards Chapel

Write tributes and retirement citations for recognition luncheon and/or faculty meeting

Lead the Biennial Department Assessment Meeting

Edit Academic Bulletin entries

Please consult Department Chair Calendar: Important Dates handbook for additional specifics on the timeline of responsibilities.

As needed based on department needs and lifecycle

Communicate with department faculty, including mediating departmental and individual areas of conflict

Mentor faculty in department

Annual staff reviews of Academic Administrative Coordinator and other support staff (varies by department)

Occasional meetings with Admissions and/or Advancement to plan events/select representatives to attend or staff events. These requests are initiated by Enrollment Office, Admissions Committee, or Advancement staff

Approve student worker time card(s), if applicable

Organize department review (every five to seven years)

Consult with Dean of the College on discussions and decisions related to course releases by members of the department, including understanding of service expectations or impacts associated with such releases

Conduct review of promotion candidate(s) and develop letter of evaluation and recommendation (typically occurs in the spring)

Contingent Faculty Reviews

  • Interview students and write interview summaries
  • Review materials and lead development of department letter of evaluation

Organize summer research projects, including coordinating budget

Approve transfer credit requests for international off-campus study and summer courses

Provide updates for division chair trustee reports

Delegate and oversee department placement exams and activities