August 17, 2011 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Meeting Notes
Present: See attached list.
Facilitators: Mark Jaede, President, Faculty Association, and Sharon Cogdill, English
Department.
Update on CWC by Lalita Subrahmanyan o Monthly meeting dates for the year – Please see dates at the end of the document. The list of meetings is also posted on the CWC webpage at http://www.stcloudstate.edu/teaching/events/chairsWisdom.asp
Introductions
Handout:
IFO Contract, Article 20.
Discussion:
The following ideas came up in the course of the discussion led by Mark Jaede and
Sharon Cogdill. Some of them were based upon specific questions; others were shared by the facilitators with input and suggestions from those present.
1. Role of Chairs in department: a.
Chairs are not decision makers. b.
Chairs are representatives of the department. They advocate for the department and are facilitators of communication within the department as well as between the department and the dean. c.
Chairs are coordinators of department functions. d.
Chairs educate deans on department matters-important role, since deans often rely on chairs to inform them. e.
Delicate position of chairs because of their direct access to the dean. Chairs must be aware of that privilege.
2. Policies and procedures i.
Sharing policies and procedures among chairs will help. a) Send your department policies and procedures (after informing your department) to CETL. We will post them on the CWC webpage http://www.stcloudstate.edu/teaching/events/chairsWisdom.asp
for reference. ii.
Policies and procedures are valid only for one year. They need to be
“established” each year. iii.
“Policies and procedures are the only things we have to protect ourselves.”
1

iv.
Not a good idea to create a policy when a situation is at hand. Resolve situation first using other means and then create the policy. v.
The department as a whole needs to make policies. Individuals in the department as well as department committees may recommend a policy to the department; they cannot make a decision. vi.
Deans do not have to “approve” department policies. However, deans have the right to ask to review policies and reserve the right to request department to clarify or modify them. Deans rarely ask to review department policies. Deans’ supervisory powers generally supersede department policies. vii.
The facilitators and chairs brainstormed areas in which policies and procedures are recommended and, in some instances, required by the
Contract. a) Schedules (including the summer schedule).
 **Question: When there is a need to cancel classes in the last minute because of low enrollment, and the faculty scheduled to teach those classes are unable to mutually agree upon a decision, what should a chair do?
 **Response: The chair may take the matter to the department for a vote on which classes or sections to cancel. Workload is technically a matter of the dean’s consultation with the department and then the dean’s responsibility. The department should think of its schedule as a full-year schedule, including summer and Continuing Studies offerings, if there are any. b) Distribution and allocation of professional development funds. (PD funds are given to the department based upon the number of faculty
FTEs. The funds may be dispersed in a number of ways by departments. Examples of diverse practices: All members get equal amounts, probationary faculty are given higher amounts; funds left over at the end of the year are distributed or accumulated, etc. (Note there is a time limit on how long faculty can let funds accumulate,) c) Setting department goals. Recall that the department response to
Article 22 PDPs is based on their alignment with department “goals and objectives.” d) Qualifications of adjuncts. e) Processes for curriculum decisions: curriculum changes, curriculum sign offs for other departments, etc. f) Name change process. g) Personnel recommendations for hiring, sabbatical, tenure, promotions, PD alignment with department goals, adjunct and fixed term hiring, etc. h) Department actions to be taken during the summer when many faculty members are not available.
2

 Cogdill and Jaede strongly recommended that chairs should hesitate to accept carte blanche permission from department members to make any decisions on their behalf at any time, but especially when faculty members are not readily available.
 They suggested: Create a policy that allows the chair to send his or her recommendation to all members with a deadline to respond. If no one responds by the deadline, then the chair is empowered to make a decision on behalf of the department
Even better, departments can ask for volunteers—faculty who are teaching during summer session, or those who are not scheduled to be out of town or the country—to be “on call” as it were, over the summer, to work with chairs on drafting recommendations which would then go out all faculty members with the same deadline and conditions as described above.) Such policies should be established during the academic year itself. Also, when a chair needs to be gone, the department needs a policy on who would act in her or his place. i) Online or Continuing Studies courses, off and on load. Departments should treat these as department offerings and recommend hiring, frequency, class size, and so on. j) Because the department is the unit recognized by the contract, some decisions regarding programs within a department will necessarily have to be voted upon by the department as a whole.
 **Question: When programs within a unit are somewhat independent of each other how can a department as a whole make a decision?
 **Response: A process can be created by which the faculty members in that program make a recommendation to the department as a whole that is accepted without major discussion. However, members are always at liberty to ask questions and the final decision lies with the department.
3. Use of department committees a.
Departments may choose to form committees to resolve department issues and ensure efficient functioning of department; the committees bring their solutions to the department for a vote if the solution consists of a recommendation that something happen. b.
In departments with multiple programs, it is important to consider appropriate program representation on committees.
 **Question: A new department is created with multiple programs each of which has its own culture of decision making. What should a chair do?
 **Response: The chair can suggest that a task force or ad hoc committee be formed with representation from each of the programs
3

to draw up processes and procedures for the functioning of the new department. c.
Committees may be “standing” or “ad hoc.” d.
Committees and/or Task Forces may be created for various functions including recommendations for policies and procedures. e.
Committee may make recommendations, not decisions, on behalf of the department. All recommendations must go to the department for a vote. f.
Examples of committees: PDP alignment/Tenure/Promotion reviews, schedule, undergraduate/graduate curriculum, staffing, recruitment, budget, student complaints, retention, etc. g.
Departments may delegate certain functions to the chair or to a committee such as scheduling. In such instances, it is strongly advised that chairs and department committees take their recommendations for an explicit department vote rather than put themselves in a situation where they later might be held responsible for not having followed democratic processes. h.
Chairs should take any complex matters regarding scheduling conflicts, etc. to the department for a vote rather than trying to resolve them on their own.
Deans may be informed so as to be able to step in if necessary.
4. Democratic process a.
Departments should have policies for democratic process in place at the beginning of the year. b.
Policies should include processes for decision making: majority or consensus vote, secret ballots, proxy voting, absentee voting, e-voting, rules regarding quorum. c.
Roberts’ Rules may be used but are not required. Hornstein has a short version of Roberts’ Rules and he will provide them to CETL to post on the website. Jeff Ringer, faculty member in Communication Studies,
(ringer@stcloudstate.edu) is an expert on Roberts’ Rules and is willing to provide consultation. “Roberts’ Rules are useful, but do not enslave yourself!” d.
Can a chair vote? Chairs generally vote to create or break a tie, which means they can vote when it makes a difference. Chairs may be given explicit authority to vote by a department decision. e.
Example of process for decision-making:
 **Question: Can you give an example of a process that could be used?
 **Response from a chair: Consensus will be used as much as possible in decision-making. At any time during an informal discussion, a member of the department may request a formal vote. When that happens, the chair is obligated to call for a formal voting process with a motion, a second, and a vote for the motion to succeed. A formal process will be used at any time when the department is contractually required to provide a formal recommendation.
4

f.
Formal voting procedures are recommended for formal department actions such as tenure, promotion, sabbatical, schedule, assignments that come with reassigned time, and FA representative recommendations. g.
The chair’s role in such formal procedures is to vote to make or break a tie, and to report the results to the dean.
General Comments: a.
According to Jaede, “Academics tend to be repelled by formalities. Hence the difficulty of creating and maintaining formal processes and procedures.” b.
Chairs and departments have information about college/school budgets.
Recommending schedules and staffing based upon budget is not the role of a faculty chair. The role of the chair is to work with the department to prepare and recommend schedules based upon curricular and programmatic considerations and student needs. c.
Any difficulties with democratic process, faculty conflicts, and other problems associated being a chair can be taken to Faculty Association for their advice. FA members/Grievance Officers and members of the Mediation program are available to act as observers in department meetings or to manage process, subject to departmental agreement. d.
Members of the SCSU Mediation Steering Committee can also provide names of trained mediators to help departments and programs address conflicts and challenges.
Next workshop facilitated by Mark Jaede and Sharon Cogdill will be on “Games, patterns, conflicts and what chairs can do.”
Meeting adjourned: 2:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Lalita Subrahmanyan
2011-2012 Calendar of Meetings:
Fall Semester:
 Second Workshop: “Games, patterns, conflicts and what chairs can do.”
Thursday, September 15, 2011, 3: 30 PM – 5:00 PM Alumni Room
Facilitators: Mark Jaede, Sharon Cogdill
 Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Voyageurs South
 Thursday, November 10, 2011, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Alumni Room
 Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Voyageurs South
Spring Semester:
 Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Alumni Room

Thursday, February 23, 2012, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Alumni Room

Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Alumni Room

Thursday, April 05, 2012, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Alumni Room

Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Room TBA.
5