Unanimously Approved: 9 January 2002
STANDING SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTAL CHAIR ELECTION AND EVALUATION
Resolution: “The EFC resolves to establish a standing Subcommittee on Departmental Chair Election and Evaluation, to be constituted as a committee of the whole during 2001-2002 academic year. Members of this EFC subcommittee are available to serve as external members of Departmental Chair Review Committees. The EFC Chair will communicate this EFC Subcommittee’s charge and membership to the faculties of departments in which chair elections and/or evaluations are pending. Obviously, EFC members cannot serve as external members on the committees constituted in their home departments.”
Chair’s Rationale:
A. Departmental Chair Review Committees
The Dean of the School of Engineering requires that all chairs seeking reappointment be subject to departmental evaluation. In all School of Engineering departments except the Department of Chemical Engineering, formal evaluation of department chairs requires the formation of a Departmental Chair Review Committee.
B. The Role of External Faculty Members
Most departments’ procedures explicitly introduce the possibility of external faculty participation on the Departmental Chair Review Committee. No department’s procedures prohibit external representation on such a committee. The Engineering Faculty Council regards the participation of external School of Engineering faculty members on Departmental Chair Review Committees to be useful, appropriate, and desirable.