Selection of Chairs on the Charles River Campus

All appointments of a Charles River Campus chair, acting or otherwise, are subject to the approval of the University Provost.

Whenever it becomes necessary to appoint a chair on the Charles River Campus, the dean of the School or College may appoint an acting or ad interim chair, and, after consultation with full time members of the faculty of the department concerned, shall decide whether to seek a chair from among the members of the department or to open a search to individuals from outside the department. If the appointment is only for the temporary absence of the current chair, the appropriate title is acting chair. If a process for selecting a new chair is to be undertaken, the dean may appoint an ad interim chair from among the current faculty.

If the chair is to be selected from within the department, the procedure for the nomination of candidates shall be determined by the departmental faculty after consultation with the dean.

If the decision is made to conduct an external search, a search committee shall be formed to advise the dean. The committee shall normally comprise six in all, with an equal number of faculty from the department, elected by the faculty of the department, and faculty members from cognate fields appointed by the dean. The chair of the search committee shall be appointed by the dean.

The search committee shall solicit nominations and applications through appropriate professional channels, observing appropriate affirmative action procedures, and it shall also request nominations from within the University. However, no member of the Committee shall be a candidate for the position. Upon completion of the search process the committee shall report its recommendations to the dean along with a summary evaluation of the recommended candidates and provide to the department a summary report of its recommendations.

At the conclusion of the selection process the dean’s recommendation and that of the department or selection committee shall be forwarded to the University Provost, for approval. Normally the individual recommended for appointment will have been recommended by the departmental faculty or by the search committee. However, the dean or provost may choose to ask the department faculty or search committee for further recommendations. Failing receipt of recommendations acceptable to the dean within a reasonable period of time, the dean may appoint either an acting or ad interim chair, or a regular chair, after consultation with the department, subject to the approval of the University Provost.

The appointment term of the chair on the Charles River Campus shall normally be for three years. After consultation with the department, chairmen may be reappointed. Unsatisfactory performance, as determined by the dean, may result in termination of the appointment of the chair prior to completion of a term.

Adopted April 18, 2007, by the University Council.