Purpose

Outlines statutory requirements for the annual reappointment of certain administrative personnel and gives deadlines for action.

Scope

Annual reappointment of deans of colleges, Dean of the Graduate College, directors or deans of schools or similar units organized as independent units, directors of schools or similar units within a college, departmental chairpersons, heads of departments, and University Librarian.

Authority

Office of the Chancellor.

Policy

The University of Illinois Statutes require that specific consultations and actions take place annually concerning the reappointment of certain administrative personnel. The applicable instructions with the deadlines for action follow.

1. Annual Reappointment of Deans of Colleges.Article III, Section 3b reads: “The dean shall be appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on recommendation by the chancellor/vice president and the president. On the occasion of each recommendation, the chancellor/vice president shall seek the prior advice of the executive committee of the college concerned.”The Chancellor has delegated to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost (“provost”) the task of making recommendations for dean reappointments. Each February, the provost will ask the executive committees of the colleges to submit their recommendation to the provost prior to May 1.

   Article III, Section 2f provides: “While the executive committee is in session to prepare its advice on appointment of the dean or to review the dean’s performance, the dean shall not be a member and the committee shall be chaired by a committee member elected by the committee for that purpose.”

   Once the committee has decided upon its recommendation, the elected chairperson will write to the provost on behalf of the committee. The communication will explain the recommendation, when appropriate, and will describe the procedure that was followed in formulating that recommendation.

2. Annual Reappointment of the Dean of the Graduate College.Article V, Section 1e reads: “The principal administrative head of the Graduate College is the dean, who shall be appointed in the same manner as are the deans of other colleges.” In other words, the dean of the Graduate College is appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the chancellor/vice president and the president, and the chancellor must obtain the recommendation of the executive committee of the Graduate College on the occasion of each appointment.The chancellor has delegated to the provost the task of recommending reappointment of the dean of the Graduate College. Each February, the provost will ask the executive committee of the college to submit its recommendation to the provost prior to May 1.

   Article V, Section 1d provides: “When meeting to give advice on the appointment of the dean, the senior faculty member (in terms of service at the University) on the executive committee shall be chair and the dean shall not be a member of the committee.”

   Once the committee has decided upon its recommendation, the chairperson will write to the provost on behalf of the committee. The communication will explain the recommendation, when appropriate, and will describe the procedure that was followed in formulating that recommendation.

3. Annual Reappointment of Deans or Directors of Schools and Similar Units Organized as Independent Units.Article III, Section 5 reads: “a. In a school or similar campus unit independent of a college, the chief executive officer shall be a dean or director appointed annually by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of the chancellor/vice president and the president. On the occasion of each recommendation, the chancellor shall seek the advice of the executive committee of the faculty concerned.”The chancellor has delegated to the provost the task of recommending reappointment of deans or directors of schools and similar units organized as independent units. The instructions given in Section I (above) for the reappointment of the deans of colleges apply here and should be followed. Each February, the provost will ask the executive committees of the schools or units to submit their recommendation to the provost prior to May 1.
4. Annual Reappointment of Directors of Schools or Similar Units within a College.Article III, Section 5 reads: “b. In a school or similar campus unit included within a college, the chief executive officer shall be a director appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the dean of the college, the chancellor/vice president, and the president. On the occasion of each recommendation, the dean shall seek the prior advice of the executive committee of the unit.”The dean of the college is tasked with obtaining the recommendation of the faculty concerned. The dean need not forward evaluation reports from the schools to the Office of the Provost. The dean, however, should inform the provost of the recommendations concerning annual reappointment of each director reporting to that dean. The recommendations should be sent to the provost prior to May 1 of each year. The dean may consult with the provost if there are special problems with a reappointment.
5. Annual Reappointment of Departmental Chairpersons.Article IV, Section 2a reads: “The chair shall be appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on recommendation of the chancellor/vice president and the president after consultation with the dean of the college and with the executive committee of the department concerned.”The chancellor has delegated to the deans of the colleges the task of consulting with the executive committee of the department concerned. Once the consultations have occurred, the deans will forward the recommendations in each case to the provost prior to May 1 of each year.

   The deans need not forward evaluation reports from the departments to the Office of the Provost. Deans, however, should inform the provost of their recommendations for reappointment of each chairperson reporting to them. The deans may consult with the provost if there are special problems with a reappointment.

6. Reappointment of Heads of Departments.There is no provision for the annual reappointment of heads of departments. The head of a department is appointed without specified term.
7. Annual Reappointment of University Librarian.Article VI, Section e reads: “The campus librarian shall be appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the chancellor/vice president with the concurrence of the President of the University. On the occasion of each such appointment, the chancellor/vice president shall seek the advice of the library committee of the campus senate and of the library executive committee.”The chancellor has delegated to the provost the task of recommending appointment of the university librarian. Each February, the provost will ask the chairperson of the Senate Committee on the Library and the Library Executive Committee to submit their recommendation to the provost prior to May 1.

   When the Senate Committee on the Library meets to consider its recommendation on the reappointment, the University Librarian, an ex-officio member of the committee, may not be present. The instructions in Section I (above) regarding the reappointment of the deans of colleges also apply to the Library Executive Committee’s consideration of the appointment of the University Librarian. Once the committees have decided upon the recommendation they will render, the chairpersons will write to the provost on behalf of their committees. The communication will explain the recommendation, as appropriate, and will describe the procedures that were followed in formulating that recommendation.

Processes/Procedures/Guidelines

See above.

Exceptions

None

Contact

Office of the Provost, (217) 333-6677, provost@illinois.edu