2.2 Departments
2.2.1 Organization
2.2.1.1 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 at least three full-time persons are 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 six or fewer courses are offered in a given discipline or program or when fewer than three full-time persons are teaching these courses.
2.2.1.2 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.
2.2.1.3 Chairperson
2.2.1.3.1 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.
2.2.1.3.2 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.
2.2.1.3.3 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.
2.2.1.3.4 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 of which his or her department is a part.
2.2.1.4 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 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.
2.2.1.5 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.
2.2.1.6 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.
2.2.2 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 formulating 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
- to review and develop department curriculum and programs;
- to coordinate faculty recruitment and development;
- to prepare faculty and class schedules and assignments;
- to oversee employment and supervision of non-teaching personnel;
- to engage in student development and services;
- to advise regarding publicity;
- to recommend facilities and equipment development;
- to prepare and monitor the departmental budget; and
- to 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.
