The Director is the chief academic, fiscal, and administrative officer for a School. The Director serves at the discretion of the Dean, in keeping with University policy, and is responsible to the School faculty. The Director must be responsive to the needs of the students and the faculty of the School, which includes representing their interests to the Dean.
As a member of the Faculty of a School, the Director has the responsibility and authority to provide the necessary leadership for the School to achieve the highest level of excellence possible in the areas of teaching, creative activity/research, and service.
The Director will determine School administrative support staff needs and negotiate such with the Dean. Hiring of support staff shall be conducted in accordance with approved University policy and procedure.
Selection and Appointment
If at any time the position of a School Director becomes vacant, the Dean, after consulting with the administrative staff and faculty of the School, shall appoint as Interim School Director a tenured Associate or Full Professor in the School. An Interim School Director will assume the duties until a new School Director is selected and appointed. The process to select a permanent School Director as described below, will commence as quickly as possible.
The Dean shall meet with the School faculty and determine whether an internal or external search for a Director will be recommended. The Dean will then make a recommendation to the Provost who will determine the nature of the search. The search will be conducted according with University hiring policy and procedures and guided by the School’s operating paper.
The search committee is organized by the Dean and approved in keeping with the University hiring policy and procedure. The search committee will be formed in consultation with the Dean and in accordance with the School’s operating paper. The search committee shall select its own Chair identify its procedures, and conduct business in keeping with current University hiring policy.
The search committee will make a recommendation to the Dean. In no case will the Dean appoint a Director without the majority vote of the Faculty who vote. If there is no majority vote among voting Faculty, discussions will continue until a subsequent majority recommendation is submitted. If the Dean does not support the recommended candidate, the Dean shall consult with the Faculty to discuss the matter and to determine the next step in the search process.
Evaluation
The Director’s performance will be evaluated in accordance with procedures in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Whenever the Dean completes an evaluation of the Director, the Dean shall seek formal input on the Director’s performance from the faculty, staff and students. A summary report of the faculty, staff and students’ input shall be reported to the Director and the School’s faculty.
