Boston University Arts & Sciences

Also in Faculty & Staff

• Committees & MeetingsFind agendas, meeting minutes, and committee membership applications.
  • Chairs' Calendar
  • 2008/2009 Chairs & Faculty Meetings
• Procedures & FormsFind information on academic planning, curriculum development, and budget requests.
  • Memo from the Dean
  • Academic Planning Self-study Reports
  • Curriculum Guidelines
  • Consultation on Class Scheduling
  • Faculty Expectations
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  • Graduate Students Teaching Stand-Alone Courses
  • Performance Review Process Due Dates
• CAS Newsletter ArchiveAn e-newsletter for Arts & Sciences faculty and staff.
• Chairs’ GuideLearn about the role and responsibilities of a department chair.
  • Courses & Curriculum
    • Planning Course Offerings
    • Scheduling Classes & Assigning Instructors
    • Reviewing and Revising the Department’s Curriculum
    • Proposing New Academic Programs
    • Proposing New Courses & Revising Existing Courses
    • Syllabi
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  • Faculty Issues
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  • Student Issues
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    • Grant Principal Investigator Status
    • Grant Cost Sharing Guidelines
    • Guidelines for Teaching Buyouts
    • Dean’s Awards
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    • GRS Guidelines for Traveling Scholars
    • Travel Support
  • External Funding
• Instructors’ GuideFind resources to assist with teaching and administrative responsibilities.
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• Administrative Offices & Roles Learn the roles of each administrative office, along with contact information.
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  • Boston University Humanities Foundation

Related Links

• Provost Website
• Faculty Link

Faculty Issues

As department chair, you should establish an effective, comfortable relationship with your faculty. The following are some suggestions that have helped build constructive relationships:

• Establish your role and authority as leader of the department. You are the primary person who is concerned with the overall welfare of your unit. You therefore should decide (with appropriate consultation with your faculty) what issues the faculty need to consider over both the long and short term. You need to communicate your decisions and concerns to your faculty (and, when appropriate, to your staff and graduate students). Showing you are working hard to maintain and improve the operation of the department encourages faculty’s respect and willing participation in departmental matters.
• Hold regular faculty meetings. During times when the department has a lot of issues to address, hold a faculty meeting each week; never allow the frequency to decrease to lower than once per month, except during the summer.
• Be present. You cannot run the department effectively in absentia for more than just a brief period.
• Be accessible. Although you may sometimes have no alternative but to limit your availability, the members of your department need to be able to discuss their concerns with you; this also helps you to feel the pulse of the department. You should let faculty and staff know how to contact you for urgent issues, and who else has the authority to act on various matters in your absence.
• Be knowledgeable. Learn how the budget works, how to submit proposals for new courses or revisions to existing courses, the review process for faculty—especially those without tenure—etc.. Know your department thoroughly—its curriculum, issues of concern to each member of the faculty and staff, facilities, and so on. Equally, recognize when you need to look up or ask about facts or procedures; don’t improvise when you are uncertain about the answer to a question.
• Be fair. Avoid taking sides with one faculty or staff member in opposition to another. Try to spread the workload of departmental responsibilities as evenly as possible. It is your job to promote the success of all the members of your department. Try to be consistent in your decisions.
• Be timely. Meet the deadlines for submission of materials to the Dean’s Office or other offices. Failure to do so impedes administrative and planning processes and can cause your department to miss out on opportunities. If you simply cannot meet a deadline, you or your administrative assistant (AA) should inform the appropriate office and request an extension.
• Promote social activities. For example, hold parties/receptions 2-3 times per semester, serve coffee and cookies before colloquia or special lectures, organize weekly faculty lunches, treat your staff to pastries once per week. Your department needs a high level of collegiality, which is promoted by informal contact.