Skidmore College - Department of English

THE PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

Function: To advise the Chair on personnel decisions, especially those requiring a recommendation to CAPT and/or the Dean of the Faculty.

Composition: Four elected full-time members of the department, each to serve a two-year renewable term. Ideally, terms of office will overlap to ensure continuity: two members will be in their second year of service when two new members come to the committee. At least one male and one female shall always sit on the committee, but no more than one untenured faculty member shall serve in any given year.

A committee member shall not participate in deliberations about his or her own case nor about the case of a domestic partner or family member. Any member of the department sitting on CAPT shall not sit on the Personnel Committee. The Associate Chair shall not serve on the Personnel Committee.

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The Personnel Committee is responsible for synthesizing evidence in second-year review, reappointment, tenure, and promotion cases, assessing a candidate's credentials on the basis of criteria specified in the Faculty Handbook, and making a recommendation to the Chair. In second-year review, reappointment and tenure cases, these recommendations shall be written. The Chair, in turn, shall convey the committee's recommendation to the candidate, and to CAPT or the Dean of the Faculty as College procedures require.

In all second-year, reappointment, tenure, and promotion reviews, the committee shall solicit, through the Chair, the written views of those members of the department who are eligible to make recommendations. Vitae, publications and other written work of candidates are available to all eligible department members, who are expected to consult them before writing letters. The Chair and members of the Personnel Committee shall review student evaluations, which will be made available to all members of the department only as authorized by the candidate. Candidates for second-year review, reappointment, tenure, or promotion may wish to append to their vitae a statement about their own qualifications or a letter about courses represented in the student evaluation files.

1. The Chair will visit the classes of first-year candidates; will visit classes on the occasions outlined in item 2; and may choose, or be invited, to visit classes at any other time.

2. The Chair and, unless schedules conflict, all members of the Personnel Committee will visit the classes of reappointment candidates during their second year of service and of tenure candidates during their fifth year of service.

3. Candidates may also invite members of the department other than their colleagues on the Personnel Committee to visit their classes. Those visitors may incorporate their observations about class visits in letters of recommendation at the time of second-year review, reappointment, tenure, and promotion.

4. Visitors will make appointments with candidates for class visits and will not appear at a class unannounced.

5. Candidates may supply visitors with copies of the syllabus, any relevant assignments, and any relevant information about the design and goals of the course and the particular class meeting.

6. Visitors will remain for the duration of the class and will try, as far as possible, to observe the coverage of an entire topic or text.

7. Visitors should observe no fewer than two classes. Candidates may invite visitors to attend more classes.

8. Visitors should not participate directly in the class unless invited to do so by the candidate.

9. The Personnel Committee should, when possible, try to schedule visits so as to cover as wide a range of courses, instructional methods, and materials as possible.

10. Visitors shall report to the candidates either orally or in writing shortly after the class visits.

11. If the report has been delivered to the candidate orally, the candidate has the right to summarize the comments and request that the visitor sign the summary.

12. In order to continue a dialogue on pedagogy, the candidate may request to visit the classes of the visitor.

Second-Year Review: The Personnel Committee shall review candidates in the spring semester of their second year of service. The Chair will invite full-time members of the department, and those on renewable half-time appointments, to write letters about the candidates and to indicate on what knowledge of the candidates' performance and/or credentials they base their judgment. These letters will be forwarded to the Personnel Committee. The Personnel Committee shall compose a statement on the merits of each candidate for transmission to him or her, to the Chair, and to next year's Personnel Committee. The Chair will determine whether the candidate will be considered for reappointment to a second three-year contract the following year, will discuss the committee report and the decision with the candidate, and will advise the Dean of the Faculty accordingly by May 31.

Files for reappointment candidates in their second year of service must be completed by April 15.

Third-Year Reappointment: In making a reappointment recommendation and writing its report, the Personnel Committee serving in the third year shall consider the report prepared at the end of the candidate's second year. The Chair will invite full-time members of the department, and those on renewable half-time appointments, to indicate clearly support or lack of support for reappointment in letters that will be forwarded to the committee and the Dean of the Faculty.

Files for candidates in their third year must be completed by November 15. Student evaluations for the current semester will be added after they are collected.

Tenure Review: The Personnel Committee shall review tenure candidates in the spring semester of their *fifth year of service, and compose a statement on the merits of each candidate for transmission to him or her, to the Chair, and to the next year's Personnel Committee. The statement will be submitted to the candidate by May 31.

Files for tenure candidates in their *fifth year must be completed by April 15. Student evaluations for the current semester will be added after they are collected.

The Personnel Committee serving in the *sixth year shall consider the report prepared at the end of the candidate's *fifth year. The tenured faculty of the department shall meet as a group to discuss and exchange evaluations of tenure candidates in the fall semester of their *sixth year of service. During that meeting the Chair will present a summary of the letters already solicited from untenured members of the department (in at least their third year of service) and offer a preliminary assessment of each candidate from the Personnel Committee, including their perceptions of class visits during the *fifth-year review. Following that meeting the Chair will invite tenured members of the department to indicate clearly support or lack of support for the candidate in written statements which will be forwarded to the committee.

Tenure candidates who wish the Personnel Committee and all voting members of the department to consider letters of reference from outside the department or College may submit names of five (5) referees to the Chair by June 1 of the candidate's fifth year. The Chair will then write to all the referees directly; the department will consider only those outside letters solicited by the Chair.

Additionally, after informing candidates, the Chair or the committee may elect to consult other referees, particularly experts in the candidate's field of interest. In these cases, the list of potential outside referees from which letters may be requested will be compiled by the Chair and the Personnel Committee in consultation with the candidate. The Chair will apprise the candidate of the final list of outside referees from whom letters will be requested.

Files for tenure candidates must be completed by the date set down in the current CAPT calendar.

Promotion: Department policy on time of review for promotion is as follows: for the rank of assistant professor, in the year of or immediately following completion of the Ph.D. or its equivalent; for the rank of associate professor, normally in the sixth year of service as an assistant professor at the time of tenure consideration; for the rank of professor, normally in the seventh year of service as an associate professor at Skidmore. Service in a professional rank at other institutions may be considered in determining the time of review. Review does not imply recommendation: promotion at Skidmore is granted on the basis of merit and not guaranteed by years of service.

The Personnel Committee will automatically pre-screen the credentials of faculty whose time of review has arrived and will request additional information if the committee and the Chair determine that promotion consideration is warranted. However, members of the Department may request review for promotion in any year.

Student evaluations for the current semester will be added after they are collected.

1. This is a non-tenure track position renewable indefinitely in three year periods upon the recommendation of the Department Chair and the approval of the Dean of the Faculty.

2. After the initial appointment, the department shall conduct second and third year reviews by procedures analogous to those observed for reappointment candidates on tenure track, as set forth in the Faculty Handbook, the English Department Policy Statement on Personnel, and the CAPT calendar. The Chair shall establish the calendar appropriate to each review.

3. In the third year of the second contract cycle (sixth year of service), the Personnel Committee shall conduct a review to determine whether or not the candidate shall be reappointed for a subsequent, three-year contract, following the standard explained in the Faculty Handbook, Part V: “Evaluative Criteria for Continued Service.” Candidates for reappointment will submit to the Chair names of five referees outside the department or the college by June l of the fifth year. In the sixth year, the Chair will invite tenured members of the department to indicate clearly support or lack of support for reappointment in written statements which will be forwarded to the Personnel committee.

4. In the third year of each subsequent contract cycle, the Department Chair and the Personnel Committee shall review student evaluations of the candidate’s teaching and the candidate’s record of publications and college service. Class visits may take place at the discretion of the committee and/or the candidate. The Chair shall solicit the advice of the Director of Creative Writing and of such other department members as either the Personnel Committee or the candidate recommends.

On the basis of this review, the Chair shall submit to the Dean of the Faculty a recommendation either to offer or to deny an additional three-year contract. This recommendation must be submitted by the last day of the semester, if the candidate teaches during the fall term; or by April 15, if the candidate teaches during the spring term. (amended April 2001)

5. A candidate who is denied an additional three-year contract receives a terminal one-year contract.

6. For the first five years of the candidate’s appointment, the Chair shall write annual letters of evaluation. Subsequently, the Chair shall follow the pattern for tenured faculty members and write a letter of evaluation every three years at the time of the departmental review.

7. In the event of a disagreement between the Chair and the Dean of the Faculty over the decision to offer an additional contract the case shall be concluded as specified in the Faculty Handbook, section VII D.

1. The English faculty will meet to discuss the position: what it entails, the Department’s directions for the future, and other concerns relating to the status of the position and obligations that come with it.

2. The Dean of Faculty will solicit names--nominations and self-nominations--of the English faculty willing to become candidates for Chair of the English Department. The Dean will consult with individuals in the Department about their willingness to serve.

3. The Dean will make known to the Department the names of all faculty who have been nominated and are willing to serve. The Dean will then seek written recommendations from the Department. Recommendations may include proposals for recruiting an outside candidate or for redefining the position.

4. The Dean will confer with the English Department Personnel Committee prior to making and announcing the appointment.

The Associate Chair must hold a full-time, tenure-track position in the department.

The Chair with whom the Associate Chair will be serving solicits advice from all members of the department and appoints the Associate Chair after consulting with the Personnel Committee and the Dean.

Appointments to the Associate Chair are for two years and are renewable. When a new Chair of the department is appointed, the term of a continuing Associate Chair automatically comes to an end.

Associate Chairs shall be reviewed once every four years. In the event of an intervening sabbatical or leave of absence, the review will take place in the fifth year. The review of the Associate Chair will be conducted by the Chair.

The Associate Chair helps the Chair to ensure the smooth functioning of the department. In particular, the Associate Chair is responsible for advising new transfer students, and for providing information and guidance for students who study abroad or take summer school courses off campus. To facilitate this advising, and to assist the Chair in routine advising of English majors, the Associate Chair maintains regular office hours. The Chair works with the Associate Chair to determine faculty teaching schedules, which the Associate Chair then arranges. The Associate Chair oversees the Graduate Advisors, the Senior Research Coordinators, and the department awards process, working with the Director of Creative Writing and the Chair of the Awards Committee to establish the calendar and to ensure notification of the department and the students. The Associate Chair also oversees the proofreading and production of department publications such as the Prospectus and the English Majors Handbook.

In the event that the Chair is unable to lead a department meeting or to attend an academic staff meeting, the Associate Chair will stand in for the Chair.

Faculty who are hired on a one-year full-time contract may be renewed up to two times, for a maximum of three years of full-time service.

All full-time members of the department, and those in shared half-time appointments, are eligible to vote at department meetings. Only those present at the meeting may vote. Faculty who must miss a meeting may still make their opinions known to the department for the purposes of discussion.

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