DPC

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE/CRIMINAL JUSTICE

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (DPC) GUIDELINES

(Approved: 4/26/07)

I. COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE AND NOMINATION OF CANDIDATE

The DPC shall consist of 8 voting members and 2 alternates. The three departmental programs, Political Science, Criminal Justice, and Public Administration will each have 2 tenured faculty members serve on the DPC. The department, as a whole, will elect 1 tenured alternate, 2 untenured voting members, and 1 untenured alternate.

The Chairperson of the department chairs the DPC and is a non-voting member. The Department Chair presides at all meetings, except when the personnel action being considered involves the Chairperson, in which case the Dean presides at the meeting.

II. ELECTION OF MEMBERS AND TERMS OF SERVICE

After being notified by the chair, the members of the faculty in Political Science, Criminal Justice, and Public Administration shall meet in their respective programs prior to the first departmental faculty meeting in the fall of each year. The members of each program will nominate 1 tenured member from their program to serve on the DPC. [During the first year of this procedure it will be necessary to nominate 2 persons from each program. One will serve a two-year term and one will serve a one-year term.]

Faculty members will be expected to participate only in those program areas in which they perform significant teaching and scholarship. In a case where a faculty member participates in the curriculum of more than one program, that faculty member may fully participate in the nominating process, and may serve as a representative to the DPC from any of those programs. However, for the purposes of nominating and serving as a representative to the DPC, a faculty member may vote in only one program’s nominating processes per year.

At the general faculty meeting of the department, the slate of candidates from the three programs will be compiled. The list will be voted on “in total,” with a simple up or down vote by the department for the entire slate of candidates. If the vote should fail, the three programs will be asked to reconsider their nominations and a new vote shall take place.

After the election of the tenured members of the DPC, the floor will be open for nominations of 1 tenured alternate, 2 untenured voting members of the DPC, and 1 untenured alternate. For the tenured alternate position, all tenured faculty are eligible without regard for program. For the untenured voting and alternate positions, all qualified untenured members of the department may be nominated without regard for programs.

Tenured faculty members will be elected to serve 2-year terms, on a staggered basis. The tenured alternate will serve a 1-year term. Untenured members and untenured alternates will serve 1-year terms. No faculty member may serve more than 2 consecutive terms.

Eligibility to vote and to serve as a member of the DPC is outlined in the Faculty Handbook.

If a vacancy occurs because of resignation, the appropriate alternate will serve for the remainder of the term.

III. ALTERNATE MEMBERS

The alternate members should attend all meetings.

The tenured alternate will vote if one of the tenured members is absent. A non-tenured alternate will vote if one of the non-tenured members is absent.

The alternates may discuss matters in the meetings.

The appropriate alternate will serve and vote whenever a matter before the committee concerns another committee member or person related to a committee member.

IV. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ASSOCIATE (EOA)

The Equal Opportunity Associate will be elected for a term of one year by the department faculty from a slate of candidates composed of the voting members of the DPC.

The EOA will review the Compliance Report and the interim reports as required in the Affirmative Action Plan for Equal Employment Opportunity at Appalachian State University before they are submitted to the Dean.

V. MEETINGS

A. Meetings will be called when the need arises by either the Chairperson or upon request of at least two members of the committee or one-fourth of the entire faculty of the department.

These meetings will be held in The Old Belk Classroom Building.

Each member of the department will be notified in writing one week in advance of all meetings and the agenda of the DPC. The announcement will clearly state the time and place of the meeting, and it will become a part of the DPC's permanent records. Department members who so desire may present their views before the committee in regard to any item(s) on the agenda, but will be excused during the discussion and voting.

VI. GENERAL PROCEDURES

In all cases involving a vote on personnel decisions, eight voting members of the DPC must be present. The appropriate alternate member will have full voting powers when substituting for a regular committee member.

All personnel actions will be by written ballot and counted by the Chairperson and the EOA. Ballots of DPC actions should be placed in a sealed, labeled, and dated envelope.

Committee actions must be supported by an affirmative vote of at least 75% of the committee's voting membership.

When a DPC member is under consideration for promotion, tenure or reappointment, he or she will be excused after the interview and during the discussion and voting.

The DPC may request any appropriate information and recommendations relevant to the considered action from any member of the department or outside source prior to taking action on matters of reappointment, promotion, and tenure. Any member of the department may present information or recommendations relevant to the action under consideration.

The DPC's action, and any documents submitted to the committee, will be forwarded to the Dean of Arts & Sciences. This recommendation will be separate from that coming from the department chair.

It is unethical for any DPC member to discuss or make implications outside the DPC meetings about information relative to any discussions and/or recommendations.

The DPC will follow the procedures in Robert's Rules of Order as revised, except when there is a conflict with the Faculty Handbook, in which case the Faculty Handbook takes priority.

VII. DUTIES

The DPC will meet with all candidates for tenure track positions within the department.

The DPC will consider the reappointment or non-reappointment of non-tenured faculty members.

The DPC will consider promotion and/or tenure for tenured and tenure track faculty members.

The DPC will not consider salary matters of any nature.

VIII. RECORDS

At the beginning of the academic year at the first meeting of the DPC, the committee will elect a recorder from its voting membership who will keep accurate records of the minutes of the meetings during the year.

The minutes will record all persons in attendance at the DPC meeting and all members of the DPC absent from the particular meeting. A record will be kept of each personnel action considered; however, this will not include individual comments. The written record will state that the personnel committee formally considered a personnel action of the particular faculty member and will state those things that were considered and what action was taken. In instances of personnel action involving promotion or tenure of a faculty member, the minutes will state specifically that the criteria for promotion or tenure as set forth in the Faculty Handbook and appropriate departmental guidelines were considered. The minutes will show the vote, the number affirmative and negative on each action, but not the votes of individual members of the committee.

All minutes of the DPC actions must be approved and, if necessary, modified by a majority of the assembled committee. Such action will normally take place at the next meeting of the personnel committee except that, following the last meeting of the committee in a given academic year, the recorder will be responsible for gaining the approval of the minutes from the voting members of the committee.

A secure and permanent file of all minutes and the ballots of the DPC will be maintained in the departmental office. Nothing in these guidelines should violate the confidentiality of the DPC minutes, except that any individual faculty members will have access to those portions of the minutes of meetings in which personnel actions involving that faculty member were considered. No other copies of minutes will be retained.

IX. REAPPOINTMENT AND NON-REAPPOINTMENT OF NON-TENURED FACULTY MEMBERS

A. Instructors and Lecturers

The Chairperson will present to the DPC the names of instructors who are to be considered for appointment or reappointment. Appointments at the rank of instructor are normally for one year, up to a total of seven years.

The DPC may interview and will discuss the faculty member’s job performance and contributions to building a qualified and productive faculty.

A positive motion will be made, seconded, and a vote taken concerning the reappointment of each of the faculty members under consideration. An initial appointment to the rank of instructor is for a probationary term of one academic year.

Unless at any point the instructor is not reappointed, he or she may be reappointed successively for six terms of one academic year, a total of seven such terms.

After seven consecutive years of employment at the rank of instructor, by his or her request, a faculty member may be reappointed as a lecturer, with a fixed-term contract.

Appointment at the rank of lecturer comes with a fixed-term contract. As these are often multi-year contracts, the DPC should consult with the program faculty before making appointments at the rank of lecturer.

The recommendation for each faculty member will be included in the official minutes of the meeting.

B. Assistant Professor

An initial appointment to the rank of assistant professor is for a probationary term of four academic years. During the third year of the four-year contract the DPC will consider the faculty members reappointment to a three-year contract. (Variations in this formula may be considered depending on exceptional factors, such as: a faculty member’s prior experience, family or medical leave, or other factors in which alterations to the “tenure clock” are deemed appropriate. Such conditions are outlined in the Faculty Handbook.)

The Chairperson will present to the DPC the names of assistant professors who are to be considered for reappointment.

The DPC will discuss the faculty members' job performance and contributions to building a qualified and productive faculty. In their assessment of the faculty member’s performance, the DPC may interview the candidate or others.

A positive motion will be made, seconded and a vote taken concerning the reappointment of each of the faculty members. When possible, the faculty member will be notified of the DPC’s decision within 24 hours. The recommendation for each faculty member will be included in the official minutes of the meeting.

The faculty member will be notified of the chair’s recommendation to the dean on permanent tenure or promotion within three days, except under extenuating circumstances. The chair shall give the faculty member being considered for promotion and/or permanent tenure a brief written statement explaining the reason(s) for the chair’s recommendation concerning the faculty member at the time the material is forwarded to the dean.

C. Associate Professor

An initial appointment to the rank of associate professor is for a probationary term of up to five academic years. Before the end of the probationary term, the associate professor shall receive written notice whether he or she will be recommended for permanent tenure at the same or higher rank when the current term expires or not be reappointed. (Variations in this formula may be adjusted depending on exceptional factors, such as: a faculty member’s prior experience, family or medical leave, or other factors in which alterations to the “tenure clock” are deemed appropriate.)

The Chairperson will present to the DPC the names of associate professors who are to be considered for reappointment.

The DPC will discuss the faculty members' job performance and contributions to building a qualified and productive faculty. In their assessment of the faculty member the DPC performance, the DPC may interview the candidate or others.

The faculty member will be notified of the chairs recommendation to the dean on permanent tenure or promotion within three days, except under extenuating circumstances. The chair shall give the faculty member being considered for promotion and/or permanent tenure a brief written statement explaining the reason(s) for the chair’s recommendation concerning the faculty member at the time the material is forwarded to the dean.

A promotion at any time from the rank of associate professor to the rank of professor confers permanent tenure from the effective date of the promotion.

D. Professor

Appointments at the rank of Professor shall be with permanent tenure.

X. PROMOTION AND TENURE: SCHEDULES AND MATERIALS

At the first department faculty meeting in the Fall Semester the department chair should announce a deadline by which time any faculty member wishing to be considered for tenure or promotion must notify the chair of their intent.

The department chair will present the names of faculty members wishing to be considered for promotion and tenure to the DPC. The DPC will notify the faculty member at least 2 weeks prior to formal deliberations on the request. The faculty member will supply materials he or she wish to have considered in the deliberations 1 week prior to the formal discussion and vote of the DPC.

For full consideration of the faculty member’s accomplishments, the DPC should be provided with the following materials:

1. A cover letter explaining the faculty member’s achievements in the areas of teaching, research, and service.

2. A current Vita

3. Samples of published work or other academic products

4. Samples of conference papers or other unpublished works

5. The UNC standardized form for faculty being considered for promotion and/or tenure. (Available from the dean’s office)

6. Any other materials that a faculty member would wish to have considered by the DPC

XI. OTHER

Unanticipated Recruitment.

During the summer or during a period of severe time constraints (i.e. late in the semester, during semester break, unexpected resignation, etc.), the Chairperson may not be able to convene the entire DPC in order to consider a temporary or part-time faculty replacement. In this case, the Chairperson will consult with as many members and alternates of the DPC as feasible concerning the actions taken.

Note: All Departmental guidelines are subject to, and superseded by, any University guidelines contained in the Faculty Handbook.