Skidmore College - Department of English

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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