Dear Colleagues,
The CLAS Constitution Committee proposes an amendment to the Constitution, which will be discussed at the College Assembly meeting on April 5.
Rationale for the amendment: This proposed amendment provides for faculty participation in searches for Directors who have responsibility for faculty assignments and evaluations, analogous to faculty participation in searches for Department Chairs. In so doing, it guarantees that the Dean’s appointment of Directors is informed by input from the faculty in the Center, Institute, or Program.
It also makes technical changes to the provisions related to Department Chair searches, by clarifying that the Search Committee is recommending a candidate or candidates to the Dean, who forwards a nomination for approval by the President’s designee.
Action: Create a new section with the text below, which will be Article II Section D 3 (and renumber current Article II Sections D 3 and 4)
Also, in Article 2 Section D 2, second paragraph, change the words “nominating” and “nominate” to “recommending” and “recommend” when referring to the Search Committee’s input to the Dean. Change “President” to “President or the President’s designee” when referring to the recipient of the Dean’s nomination.
As a result, the relevant paragraphs will read as follows.
- Chairs
…
The Search Committee shall advise the Dean by recommending two to three Chair candidates. If the Search Committee is unable to recommend more than one candidate, an exception to this number may be made by mutual agreement between the Dean and the Search Committee. The Dean’s nomination shall be forwarded to the President or the President’s designee for approval. If the Search Committee does not concur in the Dean’s nomination, then the Committee’s dissenting report shall be forwarded to the President or the President’s designee along with the nomination made by the Dean.
- Center, Institute, and Program Directors
The provisions of this section shall apply to Centers, Institutes, and Programs whose directors have an FTE assignment or appointment in the Center, Institute, or Program and are responsible for faculty assignments and evaluation. Within this section, the unit faculty consists of faculty with full or partial appointments in the unit with one of the titles specified in subsection (a) of Article II Section D (1) and faculty with affiliate status with the unit, consistent with its by-laws.
The Director is to be nominated by the Dean after formal consultation with the Director Search Committee. The Director Search Committee shall be composed of (a) members from the unit faculty elected by a majority vote of the unit faculty and (b) a faculty member from a related field outside the unit appointed by the CLAS Dean to serve as the Dean’s representative on the committee. This Committee so comprised will elect its chair, and then may select up to two additional faculty members to insure a diversified committee. In the absence of action by the Committee, the Dean may appoint up to two additional faculty members to serve on the committee to achieve such diversity. Committee composition shall remain such that a majority of the Committee members are from the unit faculty.
The Search Committee shall advise the Dean by recommending two to three Director candidates. If the Search Committee is unable to recommend more than one candidate, an exception to this number may be made by mutual agreement between the Dean and the Search Committee. The Dean’s nomination shall be forwarded to the President or the President’s designee for approval. If the Search Committee does not concur in the Dean’s nomination, then the Committee’s dissenting report shall be forwarded to the President or the President’s designee along with the nomination made by the Dean.