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Administrative Officer Selection and Review Policies and Procedures; Revision to EM 81-007 and EM 81-010

Executive Memorandum 92-019 May 20, 1992

From: Robin S. Wilson, President

Subject: Administrative Officer Selection and Review Policies and Procedures; Revision to EM 81-007 and EM 81-010; Supercedes EM 87-001.

Upon recommendation of the Faculty Senate and concurrence of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, I approve this policy for immediate implementation. This document supercedes EM 81-007 and EM 81-010.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER SELECTION AND REVIEW

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER CLASSIFICATION

For purposes of selection and review, administrative officers of the University are classified as follows.

  • Executive officers include all those administrators who report directly to the President and have the title Vice President or Provost.
  • Executive officer principal subordinates include all those individuals, not included in I.A. above, who have administrative responsibilities and report directly to the President or an executive officer as defined in I.A. above. For example, individuals with the title Vice Provost, Director, Associate Vice President, or Assistant Vice President are executive officer principal subordinates. In addition, administrators who have multi-year contracts and report to an executive officer are executive officer principal subordinates.
  • College deans include all those individuals who administer colleges with teaching faculty.
  • Deans' principal subordinates include all those individuals with the title Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Program Coordinator, or other administrative title within a college.
  • Department chairs and those individuals whose duties include the responsibilities of department chairs are excluded from the provisions of this document.

SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEES - MEMBERSHIP AND SELECTION

EXECUTIVE OFFICER SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEE

  • Five members of the University Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee shall be elected in accord with the following procedures:
    • All tenured faculty, as defined in the Constitution of the Faculty, shall be eligible for nomination.
    • Early in the spring semester, members of the Faculty Senate shall nominate individuals to fill vacancies on the committees.
    • The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall inform the faculty-at-large regarding the nominations and date of the elections.
    • Additional nominees may be presented to the Chair of the Faculty Senate by petition. Petitions must be signed by the nominee and twenty faculty members who are eligible to vote.
    • During the spring semester each year, the Faculty Senate shall elect new members of the committee by a majority of secret ballots.
    • The term of office for members of the committee shall be three years.
    • These five members shall select the committee chair annually, and no member shall serve as chair for more than two consecutive years. The chair shall receive 0.2 position of assigned time during periods when a search or review is underway.
    • When a member of the Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee is granted a leave or is unable to serve for some other reason, the Faculty Senate shall elect a replacement for the duration of the member's term.
  • In addition to the faculty members elected in accord with the procedures in part II.A.1 above, additional members shall be selected as follows:
    • A college dean selected by the deans.
    • A staff member selected by Staff Council. For purposes of review, this staff member must be employed in an area other than the office directly administered by the individual or individuals under review.
  • During searches, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the President may form one or more expanded search committees.
    • Each expanded search committee shall include the seven members identified in II.A.1. and II.A.2. plus one faculty member selected by the faculty of the appropriate unit and/or one staff member selected by the staff of the appropriate unit.
    • The Chair of the Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee shall also chair expanded search committees.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER PRINCIPAL SUBORDINATE REVIEW COMMITTEE

During the spring semester of each year, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the President shall (1) determine whether there will be a need for one or more ad hoc Executive Officer Principal Subordinate Review Committees during the next year and (2) when appropriate select committee members for one-year terms as follows:

  • Two members from a pool consisting of faculty who have served as department chairs (or equivalent) during two of the preceding four years.
  • Three faculty members from a pool consisting of all of the individuals who have served within the past four years on the Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee plus all those individuals who have served within the past four years on a College Dean Selection and Review Committee.
  • A staff member selected by the Staff Council. This staff member must be employed in an area other than the office directly administered by the individual under review.
  • A college dean selected by the deans.
  • The committee chair shall be elected by and from the five committee members identified in paragraphs 1. and 2. above.

COLLEGE DEAN SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEE

Each College Dean Selection and Review Committee shall include a college dean, an individual appointed by and from the Office of the Provost, and one faculty member from each department/school of the college with a minimum of four faculty. In addition, each college may choose to include one faculty member elected at large. These faculty members shall be elected as follows:

  • All tenured faculty members in the college, as defined in the Constitution of the Faculty, shall be eligible for nomination.
  • Individual nominees shall be selected by procedures established for that purpose by the college.
  • Additional nominees may be presented to the College Personnel Committee by petition. Petitions must be signed by nine faculty members who are eligible to vote and by the proposed nominee.
  • The College Personnel Committee shall inform the faculty-at-large regarding the nominations and the date of the elections.
  • During the spring semester preceding the selection or review, the faculty eligible to vote, as defined by the college constitution, shall elect the members of the committee by a majority of secret ballots.
  • These elected college faculty members shall select the committee chair.
  • Members of the committee shall serve for the duration of the selection or review. When a review results in replacement of a dean, individuals who served on the review committee may not serve on the selection committee.
  • When a member of the committee is unable to serve, the college faculty shall elect a replacement.

DEAN'S PRINCIPAL SUBORDINATE SELECTION COMMITTEE

Guidelines for membership on these committees are to be determined by the faculty of the appropriate college and approved by the Provost.

SCHEDULE FOR REVIEWS

Although each administrator shall normally be reviewed during the fourth year and every four years thereafter, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the President may alter the schedule as circumstances dictate. For example,

  • Filling a vacant position may cause rescheduling of reviews.
  • The reviews may be delayed because of the workload in the office of the Provost.
  • An executive officer principal subordinate may have a multi-year contract, necessitating review at intervals other than four years.
  • The President may request an early review.
  • The President may grant a request by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate for an early review of an administrator.
  • The President may grant a request by a college personnel committee for an early review of a college dean.
  • Principal subordinates may be reviewed as a part of the review of the appropriate Executive Officer or separately.

RESPONSIBILITIES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FACULTY SENATE

During the spring semester of each year, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the President shall

    • Determine which reviews and selections will be performed during following year.
    • Determine which committees will be needed during the following year.
    • Assign review and selection responsibilities to committees.
    • Select or initiate selection procedures for members of committees.
  • Principal Subordinates may be reviewed as a part of the Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee review of the appropriate executive officer or separately by either the Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee or an Executive Officer Principal Subordinate Review Committee.

COLLEGE PERSONNEL COMMITTEES

The Committee will announce to the college faculty early in the fourth semester of the dean's first appointment that its duties that semester will include determining whether an early review is desired. After collecting the information from the faculty, the committee will make its recommendation to the Vice President for Academic Affairs prior to the end of the semester.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEE

The committee shall make recommendations to the President relative to the selection, review, and emeritus status of executive officers and principal subordinates as assigned by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate and the President.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER PRINCIPAL SUBORDINATE REVIEW COMMITTEE

The committee shall make recommendations to the President relative to the review of principal subordinates as assigned by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate and the President.

COLLEGE DEAN SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEE

The committee shall make recommendations to the President or designee relative to the selection and review of the college dean.

DEAN'S PRINCIPAL SUBORDINATE SELECTION COMMITTEE

The committee shall make recommendations to the Dean regarding the selection of principal subordinates to the dean.

SELECTION AND REVIEW CRITERIA

GENERAL CRITERIA

The most important criterion in the selection and review of university administrators is the estimation of the degree to which each individual can be expected to advance established university goals. University goals have been identified as follows:

  • To provide education of the highest quality.
  • To maintain an intellectual, cultural, and physical environment which enhances growth in mind, spirit, and human sensibility and which celebrates the diversity of the human condition.
  • To provide resources for creating, accumulating, communicating, applying, and conserving knowledge, including support for the scholarship, research, and creativity of faculty, staff, and students.
  • To address the educational, cultural, social, and material needs of California,the nation, and the world. Past performance is the best indicator of such expectations. Policies, guidelines, procedures, and decisions should be judged in the light of university goals.

SPECIFIC CRITERIA

Ideally, the qualifications of every administrator should be consistent with all of the general and all of the specific criteria. Careful consideration should be given to the delicate balance between administrative skills and academic credentials indicative of leadership qualities. When an administrator is ineffective at administration, the unit will soon founder. In contrast, when an administrator is an ineffective academic leader, quality faculty will progress in spite of a lack of academic leadership. Although neither type of ineffectiveness can long be tolerated, it is better to have effective administration.

  • These specific criteria apply to all administrators. In order to receive a positive evaluation, an applicant/administrator must have demonstrate
    • Successful experience in planning and managing administrative, personnel, and budgetary matters.
    • Commitment to shared governance and an open style of administration--consulting with, participating with, and making appropriate disclosure to academic units and individual members of the academic community.
    • Reason to expect that a unit, including any subunits, under his or her administration would be effectively represented within and outside the University.
    • Effective interpersonal and human relations skills.
    • Commitment to strong and effective faculty and staff recruitment and development policies.
    • An understanding of and commitment to the promotion of positive relations with the various publics of a university.
    • Commitment to vigorously support and promote affirmative action policies.
  • These specific criteria apply to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, college deans, and all other administrators who administer units with faculty as defined in the Faculty Constitution. Certain of these criteria may apply to other administrators at the discretion of the review or selection committee. In order to receive a positive evaluation, an applicant/incumbent must have demonstrated
    • The capacity to provide strong intellectual leadership for a faculty dedicated to innovation and excellence in teaching.
    • The capacity to provide strong support for scholarly research and other professional activities.
    • An understanding of the relationships among teaching, research, and other professional activities.
    • Understanding and sensitivity to the special needs and characteristics of subunits within the unit under her or his administration.
    • The capacity to support the interdisciplinary relationships, curriculum, scholarship, and service of subunits under his or her administration.
    • Experience at fund-raising.
    • A sensitivity to and understanding of the relationship of the University to students and staff.
    • Credentials sufficient to justify appointment to an appropriate rank within man academic unit of the University.

Ordinarily, the above general and specific criteria should serve well for selection and review purposes. However, a selection or review committee may request permission from the President to make use of additional criteria.

PROCEDURES

GENERAL SELECTION AND REVIEW COMMITTEE PROCEDURES

  • Within two weeks of the time that the last member eligible to vote for the chair of the selection and review committee is selected, the Chair of the Faculty Senate or designee shall convene the committee to conduct an election for committee chair.
  • Each member of the committee shall review prior reports or, if more appropriate, a summary of findings and recommendations. The President or designee shall make this information available to committee members.
  • The committee shall conduct preliminary interviews before constructing questionnaires and interview lists.
    • At the earliest possible time the full committee will meet with the President or designee for the purpose of receiving its charge including, for purposes of selection, identification of the pool from which applicants will be drawn.
    • If appropriate, the full committee will meet with the incumbent.
    • Subcommittees of two or more members shall meet with each member of the previous selection or review committee.
  • As quickly as possible after preliminary interviews and at the beginning of each subsequent semester of its operation, the committee will place an announcement in the University Bulletin. The announcement will identify committee members, and
    • Review committees shall invite comment regarding the incumbent.
    • Selection committees shall direct attention to announcements which will be posted in all department, school, and college offices.
  • If additional criteria are needed, the request for additional criteria and the justifications shall be submitted to the President in writing.
  • The committee through questionnaires and interviews will make every effort to identify and evaluate stated and implied policies, procedures, guidelines, and decisions. Evaluation shall include both intent and success.
  • The committee will adhere to the affirmative action policies of the University.

SPECIFIC SELECTION PROCEDURES

  • Any committee member who plans to become a candidate for the position shall resign from the committee. The work of the committee shall not be delayed pending the selection of a replacement.
  • The committee shall prepare the announcement and seek approval from the President or designee.
    • If appropriate, the approved announcement will be publicized nationally.
    • The approved announcement will be posted in each department, school, and college office.
  • After a thorough review of all applicants, the committee will narrow the list to a group of finalists who will be the most qualified applicants.
  • All documents submitted by off-campus finalists who might become tenured faculty will be submitted to appropriate department or school personnel committees. The personnel committees will review all documents and advise the selection committee regarding the suitability of candidates for appointment to an appropriate rank within the unit.
  • All qualified finalists will be invited for interviews with the selection committee, the President, and other appropriate administrators. The interview will include a public presentation with a question-and-answer session. Off-campus finalists will also be interviewed by the appropriate department or school personnel committee.
  • Candidate resumes will be made available to appropriate members of the campus community prior to the interviews.
  • For off-campus finalists who might become tenured faculty, the appropriate personnel committee will make a recommendation to the school or department regarding the suitability of the candidate for a tenured appointment to an appropriate rank within the academic unit. This recommendation will be based on documents submitted, interviews, presentations, and personal interactions. The department or school will discuss the committee recommendation and forward its own recommendation to the selection committee.
  • After all interviews and reviews are completed, the committee will prepare its report (see Section VII).

SPECIFIC REVIEW PROCEDURES

  • Immediately after election, the committee chair shall request from the incumbent (1) a list of off-campus individuals who would be qualified to comment on the professional effectiveness of the incumbent and (2) a list of policies, procedures, guidelines, and decisions by which the effectiveness of the incumbent can be judged. These lists should include brief explanations.
  • A file of questionnaires from previous reviews shall be maintained in the Office of the Faculty Senate. Questionnaires shall be made available to review committees. Although committees may use prior questionnaires for reference, each review committee should create its own questionnaire.
  • A file of lists of individuals surveyed shall be maintained in the Office of the Faculty Senate. These lists shall be made available to review committees. Although committees may use prior lists for reference, each review committee should create its own survey list and conduct a survey prior to interviews.
  • Each review committee shall conduct interviews. The size of interview subcommittees and the number of interviews to be conducted shall be determined by the review committee. Interviewees should include but not be limited to all principal subordinates and an appropriate sampling of
    • Department chairs
    • Community and System off-campus individuals
    • Faculty Senate leadership
    • Deans
    • Faculty
    • Staff
    • Students
  • The committee shall prepare a written report and recommendation for submission to the President or designee (see Section VII).

REPORTS

Administrative officer selection and review committees are personnel committees. All of their work is confidential. Substantive reports shall be made only to members of successor committees, the President, or designee.

The report shall assess performance by comparison to general and specific criteria. For purposes of selection, the report shall consist of a list of recommended candidates and recommendations. The final recommendations shall include (1) the judgment of the committee in regard to each candidate; (2) the recommendations of the appropriate department/school personnel committee; (3) the recommendations of the appropriate department/school faculty and an affirmative action compliance report.

The Executive Officer Selection and Review Committee and the Executive Officer Principal Subordinate Review Committee shall report annually to the Faculty Senate describing within the bounds of confidentiality the activities and working relationships of the committee during the year. D. The College Dean Selection and Review Committee and the Dean's Principal Subordinate Selection Committee shall report at the end of the year to the college faculty describing within the bounds of confidentiality the activities and working relationships of the committee during the year.

APPOINTMENT

Administrative appointments are normally for four years. Appointments which include tenure shall be based on a favorable recommendation by the appropriate department or school personnel committee and the appropriate department or school faculty.

Administrative officers serve at the pleasure of the President. The review process may be initiated by the President at any time.

RECALL

Direct recall may be made by the President at any time.

Upon petition by at least 25 percent of the college voting faculty, a recall action of a college dean may be initiated. Within 14 to 21 days after receiving a valid recall petition, the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall arrange for a secret ballot referendum. The ballots will be counted by the Vice President for Academic Affairs assisted by two members of the appropriate faculty selected at random. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will advise the President of the results and the President will respond to the college faculty in writing. The response will include (1) the results; (2) the decision regarding the dean; and (3) the reasons for the decision.