Faculty Senate hears ideas on chair selection

The Policy and Governance Committee reported Wednesday at Faculty Senate on general guidelines on the procedure for selecting chairs in response to a district mandate that requires the president rather than faculty to choose department leaders.

The senate is charged with collaborating with Joint Chairs on recommendations for ways to carry out District Procedure D.2.3.2 Faculty and Department Chair Positions.

Previously, faculty elected chairs every three years, and the college administration had the right to veto the choice. The procedure now requires the president to select department chairs after posting positions, which are open to faculty from any of the district colleges as well as external candidates.

Kinesiology and dance Chair Bill Richardson said the committee has come up with general guidelines for the college procedure:

The president will provide a list of candidates and supporting documents to the department after closing the positions. The college executive team and department faculty and staff will independently review applications and develop a list of preferred candidates. Interviews will be held.

The executive team and department will meet separately to determine the top three to five candidates.

The executive team and department will meet to try to reach a consensus on the selection. When consensus cannot be achieved, the president will make the final decision and provide to the department rationale for the decision.

Richardson said other questions the committee will discuss include a mechanism for faculty to initiate a vote of no confidence at any time during a chair's term and the continuation of the two-year evaluation of chairs by faculty. "Generally, it's a lot of little processes, inside, revolving around the interview and the selection of candidates (such as) will the department have a little more weight than the executive team or will they be equal," Richardson said.

In other business, ad hoc committee Chair Alex Bernal, English professor, said he drafted a proposal for the addition of two adjunct faculty members with voting rights; however, the committee did not meet before the meeting.

He motioned for Faculty Senate to include two adjunct representatives, increasing the senate to 26 members.

"The two representatives will be chosen by established SAC adjunct process," he said.

The senate passed the motion unanimously.