Chair and Director Evaluation Criteria
College of Arts & Sciences: April 2007
- Are policies known and followed? Does the chair check the policies? Does the chair ask for help/advice when appropriate?
- Do personnel cases come in on time? Are folders complete? Has attention been paid over time to establishing “multiple measures of teaching”? Have any/all issues with the case been addressed at the primary unit level?
- Are issues with faculty, staff and students addressed adequately/correctly at the unit level? Does the chair look for “win-win” solutions if possible?
- Are there faculty complaints and grievances coming out of the unit that suggest problems in management or communication within the unit?
- Are recruitment and hiring activities well managed?
- Are dept policies clearly laid out and followed?
- What’s the size and complexity of the workload?
- Are policies known and followed?
- Does the chair keep track of the overall budget and are they aware of problems/issues? Do they work effectively with the budget office to respond to inquiries and solve problems?
- Is the department in deficit or not? On a yearly basis? Do they have deficit reduction plans if they have a deficit? Does the chair take responsibility for dealing with faculty members who chronically overspend?
- Does the department interact effectively with their FSC? Is relevant information communicated in a timely manner?
- Is the L&R database used correctly?
- What is the size and complexity of the budget?
- Does the department function well as a unit?
- Do faculty generally feel that they have a say in departmental decisions and in planning?
- Does the department have a “vision” of their future?
- Does the chair/director interact well with cognate units and neighboring units on common issues?
- Does the chair give a “head’s up” to the Dean’s office when needed?
- Does the chair do an effective job of representing the department to the college? The campus? The outside community?
- Does the chair respond to requests from the Dean’s office in a timely manner?
- Does the chair demonstrate common sense when dealing with issues?
- Any other relevant activities that should be considered?
A rating of “meets expectations” means just that! The expectations of chairs are that they will do a competent job of running their departments. Keeping a balanced budget, for example, doesn’t rate an “exceeds expectations” since keeping the budget balanced is an expectation. A rating of “exceeds expectations” usually implies that the chair has had to deal with an unusual or extremely complex situation and has done so well. The Dean’s Office will reserve “exceeds expectations” for extraordinary events and performance.