October 6, 2000
TO: College Presidents
FROM: Matthew Goldstein
SUBJECT: Department Chairpersons
Throughout the last academic year, Presidents stressed the pivotal role of department chairpersons and the need for them to be responsive to college and University goals and initiatives. They voiced enthusiastic support for the issuance of a memorandum that would provide University-wide guidance on the evaluation of department chairpersons. In particular, Presidents recommended that all colleges use the same evaluation tool.
Attached is a memorandum from Vice Chancellor Brenda R. Malone prepared pursuant to extensive discussion with the Council of Presidents’ Committee on Faculty, Staff, and Administration, which took place in the last academic year. While the attached memorandum does not change any policies of the University, it is significant in that (1) it reviews the President’s authority to accept or reject the faculty’s recommendation for chairperson, (2) it reinforces the President’s authority to remove chairpersons in the best interests the college and (3) it requires the annual evaluation of chairpersons.
Pursuant to this memorandum, department chairpersons are to be evaluated as chairpersons and not as faculty members. The purpose of these evaluations is to assist in measuring the success of individuals as chairpersons, to help them improve their performance, or, when necessary, to provide support for the decision to remove them. I expect that the Presidents will evaluate department chairpersons annually, using the form attached to Vice Chancellor Malone’s memorandum. Your cooperation in this effort will be appreciated.
Attachment
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Memorandum
October 5, 2000
TO: The College Presidents
The Dean of The CUNY Law School
FROM: Vice Chancellor Brenda Richardson Malone
SUBJECT: Department Chairpersons
Although department chairpersons arc not technically managerial employees,1 they are vested with important responsibilities that impact upon the operation of the colleges. Presidents, accordingly, should exercise appropriate oversight to insure that department chairpersons are, in fact, fulfilling their responsibilities.
As set forth in section 9.1.b. of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees ("Bylaws"), department chairpersons are normally elected by a majority vote2 of all members of the department who have faculty rank,3 subject to the approval of the President and the Board or Trustees ("Board").4
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1 Department Chairpersons, along with others of the instructional staff, are members of the collective
bargaining unit represented by the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY ("PSC").
2 Proxy or mail voting it not permitted. Bylaw section 9.1. b
3 Bylaw section 8.1 defines faculty rank and delimits voting rights as follows:
"The presidents, vice presidents, deans, associate and assistant deans, the business managers and all persons who are employed full-time on an annual salary basis in titles on the permanent instructional staff, except college laboratory technicians, shall have faculty rank. All persons having faculty rank shall have the right to vote both in the faculty of which they are members and in their respective departments provided, however, that they have not received notice of non-reappointment, or submitted a resignation. A person with faculty rank who is retiring shall retain his/her voting rights during his/her last year of service."
4 Faculty on Travia Leave, however, are not permitted to vote. Unless the Governance Plan provides to the contrary, members of the Executive Compensation Plan do not ordinarily participate in departmental elections.
5 The department chairperson must be tenured or have been approved by the Board for tenure at the time of his/her election, except in departments fewer than seven years old. Bylaws section 9.1.b.
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Presidents should take whatever steps they can to encourage their respective faculties to elect, as chairpersons, individuals who have the personal and administrative skills to be consensus builders and good managers.
Presidents should bear in mind however, that they do have the authority to remove and appoint department chairpersons. Section 9.1 c. of the Bylaws explicitly provides as follows:
"In any case where the president does not approve the election of a department chairperson, or at such other time as the interests of the college may require the removal of a chairperson and the appointment of a new one, he/she shall confer with the department and thereafter shall report to the board any subsequent action by the department with respect thereto, together with his/her own recommendation for a chairperson. The recommendation by the president to the board for the designation of the department chairperson should take place only after careful consideration by the president of the qualifications of those selected by the respective departments. The president shall base his/her recommendation on the capacity of the individual selected to act effectively as the departmental administrator and spokesperson and as a participant in the formation, development, and interpretation of college-wide interest and policy."
Presidents also have the authority to appoint chairpersons in departments with fewer than three tenured professors, associate professors, and assistant professors, in accordance with bylaw section 9.1.d., and in the library, in accordance with Bylaw section 9.1.b.
A corollary to the Presidents’ authority to remove department chairpersons and appoint new ones is the concomitant authority to evaluate department chairpersons. Department chairpersons are, of course, subject to evaluation as faculty members under Article 18 of the PSC collective bargaining agreement. However, each President should develop procedures for the evaluation of the performance of chairpersons as chairpersons on an annual basis. Such evaluations might best be conducted by the appropriate dean and/or the provost, depending upon the administrative structure of the college. These evaluations should be limited to evaluating the chairpersons in the performance of their duties as the executive officers of the department and should not otherwise intrude into their performance as members of the faculty. Section 9.3.a. of the Bylaws sets forth the duties of department chairs as follows:
"a. The department chairperson shall be the executive officer of his/her department and shall carry out the department's policies, as well as those of the faculty and the board which are related to it. He/she shall:
Consistent with Bylaw section 9.1.c., evaluation of a department chair should essentially be based upon his/her ability "to act effectively as the departmental administrator and spokesperson and as a participant in the formation, development, and interpretation of college-wide interest and policy." The Council of Presidents strongly endorsed the creation of a uniform evaluation tool for department chairpersons. Attached is the "Department Chairperson Conference Memorandum," which should be used to evaluate department chairpersons on an annual basis. This evaluation form groups the various areas of a chairperson’s responsibilities under three rubrics:
*Overall Administrative Responsibilities, including maintenance of departmental files and records, assignment of courses to and arrangement of programs for instructional staff members in the department, arrangement of timely classroom observation and annual evaluations of instructional staff members in the department, recruitment of new instructional Staff members to the department, scheduling and conducting department meetings. chairing the department personnel and budget (P&B) committee, and representing the department P&B committee at division or college-wide P&B committee meetings, preparation and management of the department budget, and availability to faculty, students and staff.
*Leadership and Guidance, including the chairperson’s fulfillment of his/her responsibility to direct the academic mission of the department and/or to provide guidance to individual members of the department on their professional performance, including defining the mission of the department, inspiring an atmosphere of collegiality among department members, encouraging and facilitating scholarly achievement, initiating methods of providing effective guidance to instructional staff members in the department. including innovative methods of supervising the professional performance of untenured or uncertified instructional staff members, maintaining a curriculum which will attract and retain students, and fostering a sound environment for students, faculty and staff.
*Department Goals, including development of new curriculum. implementation of new methods of learning, acquisition of new materials and/or equipment. receipt of grants, and receipt of prestigious fellowships and/or participation in prestigious conferences by instructional staff members in the department.
In the event that a chairperson is found to be seriously deficient in the performance of his/her duties, the President should consider removing the chairperson, in accordance with the provisions of Bylaw section 9.1 .c.1 Notice should be given to the incumbent or elected chairperson and to the members of the department, and the President must confer with the department in making a recommendation for the appointment of a new chairperson. Bylaw section 9.1. c. further requires the President to report to the Board any subsequent action by the department, together with his/her recommendation for a chairperson."
Please call if you have any questions.
Attachment
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1 Poor performance of administrative duties is not the only basis for removing a department chairperson; a President may remove a department chairperson whenever the interests of the college so require. Bylaw Section 9.1.c
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The City University of New York
Department Chairperson Conference Memorandum
College__________ Department____________________
Chairperson________ Faculty Rank_________________
__________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THIS FORM: The responsibilities of the department chairperson are described in section 9.3 of the Bylaws of the Board or Trustees of The City University of New York. The dean, vice president, or other college administrator to whom the department chairperson reports should periodically discuss with the department chairperson his/her fulfillment of those responsibilities. This Conference Memorandum should be completed in accordance with the criteria listed below and signed by the administrator and the department chairperson who participated in the conference.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:
[Here comment is requested on the chair’s performance in the three areas of a chair’s responsibility listed above: Overall Administrative, Leadership/Guidance, and Department Goals.]
1. Overall Administrative Responsibilities. (Comment on the department chairperson’s performance of his/her overall administrative responsibilities, pursuant to the criteria on page 1 of this form. Please note any areas of special achievement and/or any areas of needed improvement.)
[blank lines]
II. Leadership and Guidance. (Comment on the department chairperson’s fulfillment of his/her responsibility to direct the academic mission of the department and/or to provide guidance to individual members of the department on their professional performance, pursuant to the criteria on page 1 of this form. Please note any areas of special achievement and/or any areas of needed improvement.)
[blank lines]
III. Department Goals. (List and briefly discuss any administrative or educational goals which the department has established and/or achieved under the department chairperson, pursuant to the criteria on page 1 of this form. Please note any areas of special achievement and/or any areas of needed improvement.
[blank lines]
IV. Department Chairperson’s Comments (if any).
[blank lines]
Department Chairperson Date
College Administrator Date
Title
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The City University of New York
The Chancellor
November 6, 2000
TO: College Presidents
FROM: Matthew Goldstein
RE: Review of Department Chairpersons
At the October 25, 2000 meeting of the Executive Committee of the Council of Presidents, there was a discussion of my memorandum to you dated October 6, 2000 regarding the review of department chairpersons. In light of that discussion, I believe it may be productive for me to clarify the purpose of the memorandum and to address certain concerns expressed by some members of the faculty.
The purpose of the October 6 memorandum was to ensure that you or your designees are meeting with department chairpersons on an annual basis to review the work of each department and of each department chairperson in carrying out his or her duties as set forth in the by-laws. It is my understanding that such a review is conducted on many, if not most, campuses. I believe that as a matter of good practice it should be done on all campuses. Last year the Council of Presidents concluded that it would be helpful if there was a uniform evaluation form for that purpose. However, it is not my intention to require a “one size fits all” approach. It is therefore not essential that you use the form that accompanied my memorandum or that department chairpersons sign whatever evaluation instrument you decide to use. The form can be used as a guide to help establish the parameters of the review. It is important, however, that you or your designee conduct, with an appropriate degree of formality, an annual review of each department chairperson based on the duties assigned to that position under the by-laws.
Some faculty members have suggested that such a review is inconsistent with section 9.1(b) of the by-laws which provides that department chairpersons shall be elected by the faculty; in their view this means that department chairpersons are accountable only to the faculty. However, section 9.1(c) of the by-laws provides that the president may remove a chairperson “as the interests of the college may require” and that in the event of a removal, and after conferring with the department, the president shall recommend to the board the designation of a new chairperson. Thus, the by-laws clearly make the department chairpersons also accountable to the college presidents. In the past college presidents have rarely found it necessary to remove a department chairperson. I do not anticipate that this power would be exercised often in the future. Nevertheless, I do not see how a president can responsibly determine whether the interests of the college require removal without an appropriate review of all department chairpersons with respect to the fulfillment of their duties under the by-laws.
I trust these clarifications are helpful as we work to increase accountability at all levels of the university. If you have any questions, please let me know.