UNIT CODE OF OPERATIONS
Geology Code Approval
1. Approved
by the tenured faculty of the Unit: 12/8/06
2. Submitted
to Dean: 2/7/07
3. If
changed, reapproved by tenured faculty: 2/13/07
4. Reviewed/recommended
by Faculty Senate Unit Code Screening Committee: 2-1-07
5. Approved
by the
6. Approved by
UNIT CODE OF
OPERATIONS
DEPARTMENT
OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
PREAMBLE
THIS CODE
ALLOWS FOR FACULTY PARTICIPATION IN AND ESTABLISHES PROCEDURES FOR THE UNIT'S
INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND IS CONSISTENT WITH ALL APPLICABLE APPENDICES OF THE
Section I.
Our mission is to achieve and
sustain high quality, up-to-date instructional programs in our foundations
courses and in our professional undergraduate and masters degree programs; to
provide opportunities for and to encourage faculty and students in research and
creative activities so that their achievements can result in professional
recognition for them and for their department and university; to lend our
professional expertise in appropriate service to the University, to private and
public groups, and to organizations on the local, state, national, and
international levels; and to integrate these areas of endeavor (teaching,
research and service) into the larger, synergistic enterprise of scholarship.
Section II.
Organization
A. Definitions of Voting Faculty Members
1.
As pertains to the unit's nominating committee for appointment of
administrative officials, for making recommendations on code content to the
permanently tenured unit faculty members, and for evaluations of the
effectiveness of unit administrators, voting faculty will be defined in accord
with Appendix L, Section A of the ECU Faculty Manual.
2.
As pertains to making recommendations for appointments, reappointments,
promotion, and the conferral of permanent tenure to faculty, voting faculty
will be defined in accord with Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual.
3.
As pertains to all matters not covered by sections A.1. and A.2. above,
voting faculty will be defined as someone who holds a full-time faculty
position with East Carolina University and a greater than one-half time
position in the unit, and holds regular
professorial rank and has at least one-half of the teaching/research duties
normally assigned in the unit.
B. Administrative Organization
1.
Department Chairperson
The chairperson is the department's
official representative and advocate to the higher administrative units of the
College and University. The chairperson
will provide leadership for the department and give impetus to the teaching and
research efforts of the department. The
chairperson's performance will be evaluated in accord with the ECU Faculty
Manual. Reappointment, removal, and the
appointment of a new chairperson will be in accord with the ECU Faculty Manual.
a. Duties of the Chairperson
1. Oversight of the day-to-day operations of the
department.
2.
Responsibility for all space, facilities, field equipment, vehicles and
boats, their proper use and assignment to meet continuing departmental needs.
3. Preparation
of the Annual Report and the Annual Budget.
The chairperson will authorize expenditures after due consultation with
the faculty and will have available up-to-date files and records on the various
budgets within the department. The
Annual Report and the Annual Budget will be presented and discussed at a
regular faculty meeting during the year.
4. Assignment
of specific classes and teaching loads to individual faculty members.
5. Keeping the
faculty fully informed of all higher level administrative decisions that relate
to the operations of the department or to the welfare of individual faculty members.
6. Scheduling
departmental meetings each month, or in response to a written request by a
faculty member of the department.
7. Distribution
of minutes of departmental meetings to the geological sciences faculty members
and to the heads of appropriate higher administrative units.
8. Hiring and
supervision of supporting personnel (secretaries, technicians and student
workers).
9. Requisition and purchase of office supplies.
10. Forwarding recommendations for promotion,
permanent
tenure, reappointment, non-reappointment and merit
salary increase to the dean.
11. Awareness
of various public funds available for departmental improvement and faculty
research efforts.
12.
Designating an acting department chairperson for those periods when
he/she is sick or out of town on official business, and during the summer
vacation months.
13. Providing publicity for various activities
within the Department.
14. Serving, if
elected, as a member of the various departmental committees.
15. Ensuring that code procedures are followed.
2.
Director of Graduate Studies
a. Term of Office
The director of graduate
studies will be elected by the faculty for a two (2)-year
term, at the last meeting of the
academic year for those years when a term
is completed.
b. Responsibilities
1. Serving
as departmental representative to the Graduate Assembly.
2. Advising graduate students on course
requirements including any
undergraduate deficiencies.
3.
Advising graduate
students of non-course requirements
(comprehensive exam, thesis proposal, etc.) and recommending how and
when to satisfy such requirements.
4. Keeping the faculty informed of the progress
of graduate students or
of any special problems encountered by
them.
5. Answering inquiries from prospective graduate
students.
6. Processing applications for assistantships in
the department.
7.
Coordinating graduate assessment activities.
3.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
a. Term of Office
The
director of undergraduate studies will be elected by the faculty for a two (2)-
year term, at the last meeting of the academic year for those years when a term
is completed.
b. Responsibilities
1. Advising undergraduate geology majors and
minors on course
requirements.
2. Keeping the faculty informed of the progress
of undergraduate
students or of any special problems
encountered by them.
3. Answering inquiries from prospective
undergraduate majors.
4. Preparing senior summaries.
5.
Coordinating undergraduate assessment activities
Section III. Committees
The faculty believes that the most
efficient and democratic manner of participating in operations and decisions
within the department is through appropriate committees.
A. Personnel, Tenure and Promotion Committees
1. A personnel
committee composed of the permanently tenured voting faculty of the department
will function as outlined in Appendix D, Section IV, of the ECU Faculty Manual.
2. Tenure
Committee
The tenure committee will be composed and function as
outlined in Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual.
3.
Promotion Committees
Promotion committees will be composed and function as
outlined in Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual.
B. Standing Committees
1.
Space Utilization Committee
a. The
committee will consist of three (3) members on staggered two (2)-year terms elected
by the voting faculty, at the first meeting of each academic year. The committee will choose its chairperson at
its first meeting of each academic year.
b. The committee shall be responsible for
1. Recommending
the assignment of available office space to faculty and students.
2. Planning
for the future utilization of classroom and research space and space for
supporting facilities (photographic dark room, research room, computer
laboratories, etc.).
3. Planning for
the renovation and modification of existing classrooms and facilities in order
to meet new needs.
c. Recommendations of the committee will be made
to the full faculty for a vote.
2.
Curriculum Committee
a. The
committee will consist of three (3) members on staggered two (2)-year terms
elected by the voting faculty, at the first meeting of the academic year. The committee will choose its chairperson at
its first meeting of each academic year.
b. The committee shall be responsible for
1. Evaluating new course proposals from the
faculty.
2.
Examining the curricula and proposing new courses and/or
revisions in existing courses.
c.
Recommendations
of the committee will be made to the full faculty, for a
vote.
Section IV.
Faculty Personnel Actions
A. Selection and Appointment of New Faculty
Selection and appointment of new
faculty members shall be in accord with Appendix C and Appendix D of the ECU
Faculty Manual. The Personnel committee
will be responsible for all aspects of conducting the search.
B. Teaching Assignments and Reassigned Time
Assignment of teaching duties and
granting of reassigned time will be done in accord with Appendix C of the ECU
Faculty Manual.
C. Faculty Evaluation
Each faculty member, in consultation
with the departmental chairperson, will select relative weights (percentage of
commitment) to be applied to the criteria that are used in the annual
evaluation of the individual’s performance. The individual will inform the
departmental chairperson, in writing, of the selection no later than September
1st for continuing faculty or within one month of the initial date of
employment for new faculty. The
percentage of commitment is reviewed and evaluated in January by the faculty
member in consultation with the departmental chairperson and adjustments are
renegotiated, as appropriate.
The specific weights given to
teaching effectiveness, research, and service for each faculty member shall be
not less than 25% teaching effectiveness, 25% research productivity and 10%
service. The allocation of the remaining
40% to these minima shall adhere to the prescription of Appendix C, Section
III, of the ECU Faculty Manual, that the weight assigned to service shall not
be greater than that assigned to either teaching effectiveness or research productivity.
D. Reappointment and Professional Advancement
1. The
procedures for reappointment of probationary-term faculty are as follows, which
are in addition to those prescribed in Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual.
a. The
unit Tenure committee shall review the Personnel Action Dossier of each
probationary-term faculty member at a meeting called for this purpose. The committee shall consider whether the
dossier indicates the faculty member is making satisfactory progress towards
securing tenure and promotion using the
criteria described in Section G , below.
b. Fixed-term
faculty members considered for subsequent appointment shall prepare those
portions of a Personnel Action Dossier which are relevant to their appointment,
as determined by the department chairperson and the Personnel committee. The Personnel committee shall review this
document prior to the contract expiration at a meeting called for this
purpose. The committee shall recommend
subsequent appointment only if the document demonstrates performance consistent
with the expectations of the initial contract letter, and if these expectations
continue to reflect the needs of the Department.
2. The
procedures for promotion of faculty are as follows, which are in addition to
those prescribed in Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual. Unit Promotion committees shall review the
Personnel Action Dossier of each faculty member being considered for promotion
at a meeting called for this purpose.
The committees shall use the promotion criteria described in Section G,
below.
3. The
procedures for appointment/renewal to the graduate faculty are specified in
Appendix F of the ECU Faculty Manual.
For appointment/renewal to the graduate faculty, faculty members in the
Department of Geological Sciences must demonstrate productivity within the last
five years in some combination of the following categories. An individual need not have contributed in
every category, and it shall be the responsibility of the graduate and
associate graduate faculty of the department to determine the merit of
applications submitted for consideration.
The items listed are prioritized in descending order of importance.
a. Publication of scholarly research in refereed
venues (journals, book chapters,
geologic maps, etc.)
b. Grants/contracts awarded in support of
research
c. Adviser for completed theses
d. Editorship of a journal or monograph
e. Research articles in proceedings volumes
(non-refereed)
f. Presentation of research at professional
meetings with published abstract
g. Membership on review panels and editorial
boards
h. Ad hoc reviews of journal articles and grant
proposals
i.
Officership/membership on executive committees of professional
organizations
j. Progress reports to granting agencies.
E. Merit Salary Allocation
All full-time continuing faculty
shall annually document their accomplishments in teaching effectiveness,
research, and service for the academic year.
These documents will be considered by the department chairperson in making
recommendations for merit salary allocation.
Evaluation and determination of annual salary increments will be done in
accord with Appendix C of the ECU Faculty Manual.
F. Personnel/Evaluation Files
A Personnel/Evaluation file shall be
maintained by the department chairperson for each faculty member in the
Department of Geological Sciences. The
file will be located in the departmental office. Content of files and access to files shall be
in accord with Appendix C of the ECU
Faculty Manual.
G.
Tenure and Promotion
Candidates
for permanent tenure and promotion shall be evaluated by the following
criteria, which are in addition to those prescribed in Appendix C and Appendix
D of the ECU Faculty Manual.
1. Teaching/Advising--(1)
the articulation of the salient aspects of a discipline in a rigorous but
accessible manner, whether in or out of the traditional classroom setting; (2)
academic advising within the discipline and the foundations curriculum, where
department operating procedures provide such an opportunity; and (3) other
contributions towards the University’s fundamental mission of transmitting
knowledge, including participation in curriculum development.
a. For Permanent Tenure
1. Satisfactory overall results from student and peer
evaluations consistent with university and departmental means.
2. Other documentation of teaching
effectiveness using instruments
and procedures approved by the unit.
3. Lucid,
carefully written course objectives, requirements, formats,
procedures,
instructional materials, grading policies, and evaluation
materials
for students.
4. Active
role in the development of the curriculum and programs of the
department.
5. Maintenance of a satisfactory level
of student performance consistent
with departmental standards.
6. Active
role in advising students regarding course and laboratory work,
independent
research, program choices, and career planning.
7.
Achievement and maintenance of a satisfactory level of teaching and advising effectiveness.
b. For Promotion to Associate Professor
The teaching and advising criteria for promotion to
Associate Professor are the same as those for permanent tenure: See Section G.1.a. above. Although recommendations regarding tenure and
promotion are separate, the Promotion committee must follow the provision of
Appendix D of the ECU Faculty Manual that “sound academic practice supports the
concept that an assistant professor eligible for tenure should qualify for
promotion to associate professor.”
c. For Promotion to Professor
The teaching and advising criteria for promotion to
Professor include those for promotion to Associate Professor: See Section G.
1.b. above. Additional criteria include,
but are not limited to, the following:
1. Leadership achievements in curriculum and
program development;
2. Leadership
achievements in the enhancement of teaching effectiveness;
3. Leadership
achievements in the enhancement of advising effectiveness.
4. Leadership and advisory role with
probationary-term faculty
regarding advancement of teaching and
advising effectiveness
consistent with departmental standards.
2.
Research--(1) serious inquiry leading to the discovery and interpretation of
knowledge, revision of accepted theories or laws in light of new knowledge, or
practical application of such new or revised theories or laws; and (2) the
dissemination of such discovery, interpretation or revision through refereed
scholarly publications; or the combination of refereed scholarly publications
and publication of monographs by reputable scholarly presses.
The candidate must have consistent achievements of
high quality in research productivity .
a. For Permanent Tenure
The candidate’s publications must reflect a
significant and developing research agenda in the areas of specialization. They must indicate that the candidate has the
potential for eventual national recognition as an important scholar. The publications must be of promise, high
quality in content, and reveal consistent research efforts. They should take the form of articles
published in the discipline’s refereed journals; or the combination of refereed
scholarly publications and publication of monographs by reputable scholarly presses,
university presses, scholarly societies, or other presses held in high regard
by the scholarly community. Textbooks
and grant reports shall count as research only if they have a significant
impact on one’s peers within the discipline.
Other considerations include such important activities as securing
grants from agencies in support of the candidate’s research program. Publishing
papers in conference proceedings and papers read at professional meetings and
their associated published abstracts shall usually warrant less consideration.
b. For Promotion to Associate Professor
The research productivity criteria for promotion to
Associate Professor are the same as those for permanent tenure: See Section G. 2.a. above. Although recommendations regarding tenure and
promotion are separate, the unit Promotion Committee must follow the provision
of Appendix D that “sound academic practice supports the concept that an
assistant professor eligible for tenure should qualify for promotion to
associate professor.”
c. For Promotion to Professor
The research productivity criteria for promotion to
Professor include those for permanent tenure: See Section G. 2. a. above. In addition:
The candidate must have earned national recognition in the discipline or
specialization,
principally through a number of articles published in
the discipline’s refereed journals; or the combination of refereed scholarly
publications and publication of monographs by reputable scholarly presses,
university presses, scholarly societies, or other presses held in high regard by
the scholarly community. In addition to
the prima facie evidence of the
publications themselves, evidence of such recognition includes references to
the candidate’s work in the research publications of peers, favorable reviews
published in learned periodicals, or prestigious awards bestowed in honor of
the candidate’s work. A candidate whose national recognition as an important
scholar in the discipline or
specialization is not clearly established through
publications shall not be recommended for promotion to Professor.
3. Service--formal and informal assignments or
activities on behalf of the department, College, University, the community at
large, and the profession. The highest
level of professional service is that which enhances the academic credibility
of the University.
Expectations regarding service contributions increase
as a faculty member’s career progresses.
The minimum required for permanent tenure and promotion therefore
depends upon rank.
a. For Permanent Tenure
Although
service is accorded the least weight in the tenure evaluation, it is
nevertheless an essential component of the candidate’s professional
commitment. An especially strong service
record cannot compensate for a record of weak teaching or weak research productivity,
but a reasonable record of departmental and university service is expected of
any faculty member under consideration for tenure. The quality rather than the quantity of
service is of primary importance. It is expected that most of the faculty member’s
early service contributions will be internal.
During subsequent years, the faculty member should strive to make
service contributions to the College and University as a whole and eventually
to the community at large and to the profession. Examples of such contributions may include,
but would not be limited to, the following:
1. Unit--Department committee
participation as specified by this Code and
other
department activities such as administrative duties, special
assignments
from the chairperson, and participation in faculty meetings
and
seminars;
2. College--Participation in college-level
committees and assignments;
3. University--participation in
University-level committees and
assignments;
4. Community--Participation in regional,
national, or international
community
activities directly related to the faculty member’s profession,
such as
lectures and presentations, news media interviews, and
professional
advice to nonprofit agencies;
5. Discipline--Participation in service
functions of the profession such as
journal
referee or editor, officer of professional organizations, and
session
organizer or chair at professional meetings.
b. For Promotion to Associate Professor
The criteria for promotion to Associate Professor
include those for permanent tenure: See
Section G. 3. a. above.
c. For Promotion to Professor
The criteria for promotion to Professor are the same
as those for permanent tenure: See
Section G.3.a. above. In addition, the
candidate must show leadership in the various service areas described in
Section G.3. a., items I. through v. above.
Section V.
Meetings
The
department chairperson will schedule departmental meetings each month and will
be responsible for setting the agenda.
Any faculty member of the Department of Geological Sciences may request
in writing the scheduling of a departmental meeting. All meetings will be conducted in accord with
Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.
Section VI. Evaluation
of Unit, Unit Administrator(s) and University Administrators
A. The voting faculty members of the
Department of Geological Sciences will
indicate by secret ballot their approval or disapproval of the unit’s SACS
report, major planning documents, and other assessments of unit operations,
such as evaluations of administrative officials.
B. Five-Year Unit Program Evaluations will be
done in accord with the procedures outlined in Appendix L of the ECU Faculty
Manual.
C. Quadrennial Unit Administrator Evaluations
will be done in accord with the procedures outlined in Appendix L of the ECU
Faculty Manual.
D. Annual Evaluation of University
Administrators will be done in accord with Appendix L of the ECU Faculty
Manual.
Section VII.
Other Policies and Documents
A.
Summer School Teaching
Available positions for summer
school teaching will be handled on a rotational basis, with first choice going
to the faculty member who has not taught summer sessions for the longest period
of time. As an example, if faculty
member A declines to teach during a given summer, the person immediately below
him/her in terms of elapsed time since his/her previous summer teaching
(faculty member B), will be offered the position. In this event, faculty member A and faculty
member B have simply exchanged places.
Once a faculty member teaches summer school, he/she will then occupy a
position at the bottom of the list and will not be eligible to teach again until
all other faculty members of the department have been offered the opportunity
to teach.
Section VIII.
Enabling
This Code shall go into effect when
approved by a majority of the permanently tenured faculty members of the
Department of Geological Sciences by secret ballot and after approval by the
Faculty Senate and the Chancellor.
Section IX.
Amendment of Code
The Code of Operations can be
amended at any scheduled departmental meeting by a majority vote of the
permanently-tenured faculty. Any faculty
member of the Department of Geological
Sciences can propose an amendment. All
amendments must be approved by the Faculty Senate and the Chancellor.