POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE SELECTION, APPOINTMENT
AND REVIEW OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATORS

Obsolete Policy

(This Policy Statement supersedes Policy Statement 90-03)

This document establishes policies and procedures for the selection, appointment, and periodic review of individuals who are academic administrators in the following administrative assignments:

Deans of the Colleges
Associate and Assistant Deans of the Colleges
For purposes of this document, the Library shall be considered a College. References to Deans and
Associate Deans shall apply to the Director of the University Library and Associate Directors of the
University Library

OTHER:

Any other administrative appointment in the Division of Academic Affairs where the appointee is granted tenure to an academic discipline in the appropriate department, where the functions of the position are directly related to support of the academic program of the university, or where the President (or designee) considers the search or review process appropriate.

It is vital to the mission of the University that academic administrators be selected and reviewed through a process which involves the meaningful participation of administration, faculty, and other members of the academic community; the aim of this process is to foster both excellence in individuals appointed to these positions and confidence in them on the part of their constituencies. To protect the individuals being considered or reviewed, and to maintain the integrity of the process, confidentiality shall be preserved throughout the process. Those choosing members of committees established in accordance with this policy shall attempt to ensure that the committee membership represent the University's ethnic and gender diversity.

1.110    Responsibility. The final decision concerning the selection, appointment, and reappointment of individuals serving in the administrative assignments listed above shall be made by the President of the University, or by the Vice-President for Academic Affairs (or designee) when delegated that authority by the President.

2.100    SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT

2.110    Selection of Search Committee. When a vacancy in one of the above positions occurs, the President, or Vice President for Academic Affairs where appropriate, shall call for the establishment of a search committee. This call shall be directed to the Chair of the Academic Senate for university-wide positions, or the Chair of the College Council for college-level positions.

2.120    Search Committee membership for University-wide academic administrative positions shall include:

Five tenured faculty members elected by the Academic Senate. Search committees for the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall include the Chair of the Academic Senate and four other tenured faculty members elected by the Academic Senate.

One CSULB administrator selected by the President or the Vice President for Academic Affairs where appropriate. If appointment of a CSULB administrator is not feasible, the President or the Provost may appoint an appropriate administrator from another CSU campus.

One member of the staff from the Division of Academic Affairs, elected by the Staff Affairs Council, if one exists, or if there is no Staff Affairs Council functioning by the staff members of the Academic Senate.

One student member, selected by the Associated Students.

When appropriate, the President may appoint a representative from the community-at-large.

2.130    Search Committee membership for college administrative positions shall include:

For searches for a Dean, the chair of the Faculty Council of the College, and four other tenured faculty members from the college, elected by the Faculty Council of the College. If the Chair of the Faculty Council is not tenured, the Faculty Council shall elect a tenured member of the Council to serve in place of the Chair. For other positions, five tenured faculty members from the college, elected by the Faculty Council. One CSULB administrator selected by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

One member of the staff from the college or program concerned, elected by the staff of that college or program.

One student member from the college or program involved, selected by the appropriate student council or by the Associated Students if no student council exists.

Where appropriate, the Vice President for Academic Affairs may appoint a representative from the community-at-large.

2.140    No candidate for the position involved may be a member of the search committee.

2.200     SELECTION PROCEDURES

2.210    Selection procedures utilized in the search process shall be in accordance with the policies and procedures set forth in the University Affirmative Action Plan and this policy.

2.211    For appointments to the position of Associate Dean, the Dean and the College Faculty Council shall mutually determine whether an internal or external search is needed. If the two parties cannot agree, there will be an external search.

2.220    The committee shall elect a chair at its first meeting. Staff support for the committee shall be provided by the office of the administrator to whom the appointee shall report.

2.230    Following formation of the search committee, the committee shall arrange to meet with the administrator to whom the administrative position reports to discuss the role and qualifications of the position, the criteria for selection, the process and timelines by which the search shall be conducted The administrator and the committee shall jointly prepare the position description to be used in advertising the opening.

2.231    The committee shall meet with the Affirmative Action Officer to discuss the affirmative action guidelines to be followed.

2.240    Following the announced date for beginning review of applications, applications shall be forwarded to the committee for review.

2.250    The Committee shall evaluate all applications forwarded to it for review, and select those candidates to be invited for interviews on campus. The appropriate administrative office shall make travel arrangements for off-campus candidates.

2.260    In consultation with the appropriate administrative office, the search committee shall arrange an itinerary for each candidate.

2.261    Candidates for University-wide academic administrative positions shall be interviewed by the search committee, the administrator to whom the candidate would report, the President where appropriate, the Academic Senate Executive Committee, officers of the California Faculty Association, the Deans' Council, and the faculty of the department to which the candidate may be granted faculty retreat rights.

2.262    Candidates for dean and associate or assistant dean positions shall be interviewed by the search committee, the administrator to whom the appointee would report, the college council or other appropriate faculty governing body, the chairs of the departments in that college and the faculty of the department to which the candidate may be granted faculty retreat rights. Candidates for Dean positions shall also be interviewed by the President, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Academic Senate Executive Committee, and officers of the California Faculty Association, and others as appropriate to the position.

2.263    When all interviews have been completed, each of the appropriate campus constituencies that conducted interviews (except the President or designee and the administrator to whom the appointee would report) shall submit a written report to the search committee for its review. The committee shall meet with any of the above if needed to clarify the evaluations, and shall prepare its own confidential evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

2.270    The committee shall submit its report along with its recommendations for appointment to the appointing authority via the administrator to whom the appointee would report. If the appointing authority, or the administrator to whom the appointee would report, does not concur with the committee's recommendation(s), she/he shall meet with the Committee to discuss the disagreement between them.

3.100     APPOINTMENT

All appointments to the above academic administrative positions are made by the President unless specifically delegated to the Vice President for Academic Affairs by the President.

3.110    Appointees serve at the pleasure of the President (or designee), and are subject to periodic review.

3.120    Tenure in an academic discipline may be granted by the President to an academic administrator at the time of, or subsequent to, appointment. The President may grant tenure only after an evaluation of the individual's qualifications and recommendation to grant tenure by the tenured faculty of the appropriate department or program. Normally the department or program shall respond within ten (10) instructional days of the request by the President or designee.

4.100    INTERIM OR ACTING APPOINTMENT WHEN VACANCY OCCURS

When an academic administrative position becomes vacant, the President (or designee) may make an interim or acting appointment.

4.110    The consultation and selection process for the permanent or interim administrative appointment shall be initiated no later than 60 calendar days after the vacancy is announced. If the appointee reports to an interim or acting administrator, the search may be delayed until a permanent appointment to the supervisorial position is made.

4.120    An interim academic administrator shall be appointed only after consultation with the appropriate constituencies. The representative faculty body of the appropriate constituency shall choose which of the following procedures will be used: (1) The person making the appointment shall meet with representatives of the various constituencies that would be involved in the search process described in Section 2.200; or (2) The search process described in Sections 2.100 and 2.200, will be used, with the search limited to on-campus candidates.

4.130    An interim academic administrator shall serve until the effective date of the permanent appointment or the date when the appointee reports for duty, whichever is later.

4.140    An acting appointment shall be made only when, due to extenuating circumstances, it is not possible for the President (or designee) to consult as described in Section 4.110 or for the search process of Sections 2.100 and 2.200 to be completed before the appointment must be made.

4.150    An acting academic administrator shall serve until the effective date of the interim or permanent appointment, or the date on which the appointee reports for duty, whichever is later. If, for any reason, an interim or permanent administrator has not been chosen before the end of the academic year, the President (or designee) shall meet with representatives of the appropriate constituencies to determine whether the person serving as an acting administrator should be retained in the acting position for a further specified period of time.

5.100    PERIODIC REVIEW OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATORS

Each of the academic administrators covered above should maintain the confidence of faculty, staff, and students, in addition to the President (or designee) and the administrator to whom the person reports. Accordingly, each of these administrators shall be reviewed and evaluated periodically, in accordance with section 5.110. In addition, the all-university review procedure in this document shall be used for periodic review of directors of university support programs, regardless of whether the director is in a management or a faculty position. The Department Chair review procedure shall be used for periodic review of directors of college-level instructional programs that are not housed within a department. Directors of instructional programs offered under University Academic Programs shall be reviewed by the Advisory Committee for the Program.

5.110    Schedule of Reviews: Evaluation of the administrator's performance shall be conducted during the third year of the administrator's initial appointment, and every fifth year thereafter. The President or appropriate administrator may initiate a review more frequently, if desired.

The initial appointment means the date an individual begins to serve in a position, whether in an acting, interim, or permanent appointment. When an individual who has served as an acting or interim administrator is selected for the permanent position as the result of a search, the time for the review shall be counted from the date of permanent appointment.
If an appointment to an administrative position is made later than the start of the academic year, the first review shall take place in the first academic year that begins after the second anniversary date of the appointment.

5.120    Establishment of Review Committee for Periodic Review of Administrators. During the spring semester prior to the year in which a review is to be conducted, the President (or designee) shall request the Chair of the Academic Senate to establish a review committee for each administrator to be reviewed. The committees should be formed as early as possible in the fall semester.

5.130    For University-wide academic administrative positions, periodic administrative review committee membership shall include:

Five tenured faculty members elected by the Academic Senate. For review of a Vice President or Associate/Assistant Vice President, the Chair of the Academic Senate shall serve as one of the five faculty members and the other four shall be elected by the Academic Senate.

One CSULB administrator appointed by the President (or designee). Should a situation exist where it is not feasible for a campus administrator to serve, the President (or designee) may appoint an appropriate administrator from another CSU campus.

One member of the staff elected from the Division of Academic Affairs by the Staff Affairs Council, if one exists. If there is no Staff Affairs Council, election shall be by the staff members of the Academic Senate.

One student member selected by the Associated Students.

A representative from the community-at-large may be appointed by the President (or designee) when appropriate.

5.140    For deans, associate or assistant deans of the colleges, the review committee membership shall include:

For review of a Dean, the chair of the Faculty Council of the College, and four other tenured faculty members from the college, elected by the Faculty Council of the College. If the Chair of the Faculty Council is not tenured, the Faculty Council shall elect a tenured member of the Council to serve in place of the Chair. For other positions, five tenured faculty elected by the Faculty Council.

One CSULB administrator selected by the administrator to whom the individual being reviewed reports.

One member of the staff elected by the staff of the college. One student selected by the college student council or by the Associated Students if no student council exists.

5.200    REVIEW PROCESS

Staff support for the review committee shall be provided by the Office of Academic Affairs for university-wide positions, or by the office of the Dean for college-level positions. Support shall include clerical duties, if requested, duplicating materials, arranging meetings, providing mailing lists for appropriate sources to be contacted, and providing contacts with these groups.

The review committee shall maintain the same standards of confidentiality that apply to other personnel actions. Confidential materials shall be kept at the Office of the Academic Senate during the review process. The Chair of the Academic Senate shall be responsible for seeing that materials that do not become part of the individual's personnel file are destroyed after the review process is completed.

5.210    The chair of the review committee shall arrange for the committee to meet with the President (or designee) or other appropriate administrator and the Chair of the Academic Senate at the initiation of the review process to discuss criteria and to determine timelines to be used in evaluating the individual being reviewed. Normally the criteria will be based on the job description for the position. The review process should normally be completed no later than the end of the fall semester.

5.220    The individual being reviewed shall present information and documentation to the committee on the activities, progress, accomplishments, and problems of the areas of responsibility during the time since initial appointment for the first review, or since the last review for subsequent reviews.

5.230    The review committee shall obtain additional data relevant to the review from people familiar with the administrator's work. It is important to elicit information that is as unbiased and as representative of the administrator's full range of duties as possible.

5.231    The chair of the review committee (or the Chair of the Academic Senate, if several administrators are being reviewed at the same time) shall notify all faculty and staff members that the review is being conducted, and shall invite individuals to submit signed letters of evaluation of the administrator(s) being reviewed.

5.232    The review committee shall distribute questionnaires concerning the administrator's work to groups of people familiar with the administrator's work, such as faculty members, staff members, the Academic Senate Executive Committee, the Deans' Council, the leadership of the California Faculty Association, the Associated Students, other campus organizations, alumni, members of advisory groups, donors, other members of the public. For Deans and Associate Deans, questionnaires shall be distributed to all faculty and staff in the college and to others as appropriate. The questionnaires shall normally include both objective questions and open-ended questions, and shall address the duties of the position. The Academic Senate office shall maintain a file of sample questionnaires for use by the review committees.

5.233    For selected groups of people, the review committee may choose to gather information from specific groups of people by conducting structured interviews rather than questionnaires.

5.300    The review committee shall prepare a confidential report of the review and findings on the performance of the individual being reviewed and evaluated. The report should make clear the basis for the committee's findings. The entire committee should discuss and agree upon the conclusions to be drawn and on any recommendations included in the report, and shall review the draft report to assure that it is an accurate reflection of the committee's thinking. Each member of the review committee shall sign the report, unless they sign a minority report. If there is a minority report, it shall be shared with the entire committee.

5.310    Prior to submission of the review committee's final report, the individual being reviewed shall be provided a copy of the report and be afforded an opportunity to review it and submit a written response within ten working days.

5.320    The review committee shall submit its final report, with any written response appended, to the President (or designee) or other appropriate administrator. Following submission of the review committee's final report and the individual's written response, if any, the President (or designee) or other appropriate administrator shall meet with the individual who has been reviewed and discuss the results of the evaluation.

5.330    The committee's report shall be placed in the individual's official Personnel File in the office of the President, or in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs where appropriate.

5.340    For University-wide academic administrative positions, the final disposition of the review by the President (or designee) shall be reported to the Chair of the Academic Senate. For deans, associate or assistant deans of the colleges, the final action of the President (or designee) or appropriate administrator shall be reported to the college council and the department chairs in the college .