Job Description & Considerations Document

The Chairperson job description and the Considerations Document were presented together to guide incoming and current Chairpersons in their leadership role.

As developed by the DCI Task Force, the Considerations Document was created to provide a framework for determining the need for an Associate Chair, coordinator, or other support.

The Considerations Document was disseminated as a fillable Google Sheet to elected Chairpersons in preparation for the 2023-2024 Academic Year.  The following comments were provided as guidance to Chairs who were working with the Considerations Document distributed by the Provost’s Office.

When completed, this document captures how complex the department or program is and whether any of its functions would be enhanced by the addition of an Associate Chair or retention of a Coordinator.  The details shared within will be used to inform the initial establishment of departments and then, as needed, will serve as a useful resource for subsequent Program Reviews and Annual Assessment Reporting.  This document is also intended to be reviewed and updated with each new incoming Chair.  Thus, the document itself will represent a snapshot of our institutional history and background, upon which any program changes or future departmental reorganizations may be added.

The Considerations Document is utilized as a spreadsheet, and any relevant information may be entered in text or numerical format in the various cells.  You may use “n/a” or “not applicable” when appropriate.  We encourage you to be as detailed as possible in your entries.

PLEASE NOTE:  Much of the detailed information requested in the spreadsheet may be obtained by the Division of Strategic Analytics and Data Illumination (SADI); these specific considerations are denoted throughout the document with a (1).  To facilitate data retrieval further, a number of useful links are included at the bottom of the table.  Please refer to the sections labeled “Links to Common Data Sources” and “Selected SADI Dashboards by Theme”.

ALSO NOTE:  For criteria that are denoted by a (2), please complete these cells in terms that are most appropriate for your current departmental activities and provide sufficient detail.  For example, you might list the actual numbers of faculty supervising student projects, mentoring student researchers, attending conferences in their discipline or having scholarly publications in the indicated time frame.  Likewise, you might share numbers of students engaged in Independent Studies, participating in Research Days or enrolled in research-specific courses.

Further support was provided to Chairpersons during the information-gathering process by the DCI Task Force Co-Chairs via a feedback link and individual appointments.

When the Considerations Document was completed, Chairpersons met with their Dean and then the Dean met with the Provost to discuss the final Considerations Document and justification for the department recommendations for support.