2.4 DEPARTMENTS
2.4.1 Organization
2.4.1.1 Establishment
and Termination
A department may
be established by the provost in consultation with the president and the
academic deans and with the concurrence of the Educational Policy Committee,
whenever six courses are offered in a given discipline or program and
when there are at least three full-time persons teaching these courses.
The existence of
a department may be terminated by the provost in consultation with the
president and the academic deans and the concurrence of the Educational
Policy Committee, whenever there are six or fewer courses offered in a
given discipline or program or when there are fewer than three full-time
persons teaching these courses.
2.4.1.2 Membership
and Franchise
All persons appointed
to a position with the rank of instructor or higher, including those with
reduced-load or shared appointments, are members of the department to
which they are appointed and are eligible to vote on all matters which
shall be transmitted to faculty committees or the administration for action
with the exception of personnel matters. Eligibility to vote on personnel
matters depends on the nature of the recommendation and is described in
Chapter 3.
Part-time teachers
and appointees with a rank lower than that of instructor may attend departmental
meetings at the discretion of the department chair but they shall not
be eligible to vote on matters which shall be transmitted to faculty committees
or the administration for action.
2.4.1.3 Chairperson
2.4.1.3.1 Appointment
and Term of Office
Each department shall
have a chairperson appointed for a three-year term by the provost, in
consultation with the president and the academic deans. Before the expiration
of the chairperson's term, and in the event of a vacancy, the appropriate
academic dean shall inform the department members that an appointment
is pending and shall solicit their recommendations. The chairperson shall
be eligible for a second successive term of three years.
2.4.1.3.2 Compensation
The chairperson shall
receive compensation for this additional assignment in the form of released
time from teaching, non-assignment to other institutional and committee
assignments, financial remuneration, or a combination of these.
2.4.1.3.3 Qualifications
Department chairpersons
shall have the rank of associate professor or higher and be tenured, except
in those situations where the provost, in consultation with the president
and the appropriate divisional dean, judges that there is a valid reason
for an exception. The appointee shall ordinarily have served on the Calvin
College faculty for two years and shall have demonstrated administrative
ability.
2.4.1.3.4 Responsibilities
The department chairperson
shall be the official representative and spokesperson for the department
both with respect to the internal administration of the college and with
respect to the public at large. The chairperson shall give leadership
in the development and implementation of departmental programs. He or
she shall supervise the academic and non-academic personnel in the department,
and shall encourage scholarly activity and effective teaching on the part
of departmental members.
The chairperson is
directly responsible to the academic dean of the division in which the
department is lodged for the performance of his or her duties and the
functioning of his or her department. Annually he or she shall submit
to this dean an evaluation of the State of the Department, including projections
for future needs and changes. The chairperson shall also work closely
with the relevant members of the Academic Administration Division in the
implementation of program and personnel policies.
The chairperson is
also a member of the executive committee of the division in which his
or her department is lodged.
2.4.1.4 Secretary
Each department shall
have a faculty secretary, appointed for a one-year term from members of
the department by the chairperson of the department, subject to reappointment.
The secretary shall keep minutes of the departmental meetings and assume
responsibility for departmental records assigned to his or her custody
by the chairperson of the department.
The secretary shall
send copies of the departmental minutes to the provost, the department's
respective dean, and to the president throughout the year, and shall place
a complete set of department minutes in Heritage Hall at the end of each
academic year. The secretary shall transmit departmental decisions to
appropriate administrators and committees when requested to do so by the
chairperson.
2.4.1.5 Department
Meetings
Department meetings
shall be held on a regular basis, ordinarily at least once a month, to
transact departmental business. Meetings may be called by the chairperson
or, in his or her absence, by the secretary of the department. Meetings
must be called by the officers upon request of any two members of the
department.
2.4.1.6 Committees
Each department chairperson
shall appoint such departmental committees as necessary to discharge the
responsibilities of the department. The following are illustrative of
committees the department may appoint: Curriculum, Personnel, Library,
Seminar or Colloquium, Publicity, and Student Development and Services.
Departments are encouraged
to appoint students to departmental committees as voting members.
2.4.2 Functions
The primary functions
and responsibilities of a department are to develop and implement the
curriculum of the department, to contribute to the advancement of scholarship
in the department's area of specialty, particularly scholarship that is
uniquely Christian, to maintain contact with Christian colleagues at other
institutions, and to promote the professional teaching competence and
Christian esprit de corps of the department. The activities of the department
should contribute to the achievement of these goals and the overall goals
of the institution. Although the department chairperson should give leadership
in the development and implementation of the department's programs, members
of the department shall take an active part in the formulation of the
department's policies and in assisting the department chairperson in the
implementation of these policies.
Several specific functions assigned to departments and department chairpersons are:
- Review and develop department curriculum and programs;
- Coordinate faculty recruitment and development;
- Prepare faculty and class schedules and assignments;
- Oversee employment and supervision of non-teaching personnel;
- Engage in student development and services;
- Advise regarding publicity;
- Recommend facilities and equipment development;
- Prepare and monitor the departmental budget.
- Conduct all of these functions within the requirements set forth in From Every Nation for just and reconciling relationships regarding matters of race and ethnicity.
