Department Chair Responsibilities in the Academic Personnel Review Process Fall Quarter 2003 Department Chair Forum October 23, 2003

Strategy for Prompt File Evaluation MOUs between the Chancellor, IEVC, CAP, and Deans Each pledges to process files promptly Progress will be monitored centrally

Managing the Review Process Role in reviewing files beyond the department, i.e. auditing for errors of significance Department Chair Checklist Faculty Checklist Time Tracking Tables

Key Elements of the Departmental Recommendation Letter Department must establish and communicate its own standard on journal quality Departmental letter should explain reasons behind minority votes Negative aspects of the file as well as positive should be discussed Do not quote from extramural letters or from self- statements Consider using indices such as citation frequency rates, especially for candidates in later stages of his/her career (i.e. advancements to Prof VI or Above Scale)

Sample Attributes of a “good” Departmental Letter Clearly identifies the important areas of research and describes significance Uses extramural letters to reinforce identifiers of significant elements of the research record Highlights all significant achievements by candidate Explains research in non-technical terms

Sample Attributes of a “not so good” Departmental Letter Does not speak to the candidate’s contribution to research Relies on extramural comment through a series of quotations Does not describe negative aspects of a file or rebut extramural comments Merely regurgitates technical aspects of the candidate’s research

Revisions and Clarification to the CALL Changes at the Deans level – All checklists were modified to include a” file tracking table”. Dates must be noted at each stage of review. Changes at the Department level – Department letter has been formatted to include an entry for actual meeting/vote date as well as letter preparation and revision date Format Changes – All references to “appraisal in conjunction with merit” have been deleted – A checklist for Department Chairs has been added as Attachment J. – A reference checklist has been added for individual faculty members. Chairs are encouraged to share this checklist with departmental faculty in order to facilitate a candidate’s file preparation and review.