Routine AY Checklist for Department Chairs

AY MONTHLY

• Attend scheduled meetings with deans and other chairs/directors
• Hold department faculty meetings, including updates from faculty serving on the FASC Senate and Faculty Council, as well as college, campus, and university committees

SEPTEMBER

• The dean will notify the chairs of tenured faculty members needing a 5-year review.
• Tenure and promotion packets are due to the dean’s office (3^rd Friday of September).
• Department faculty meets to make recommendations concerning candidates for tenure and promotion.
• Department faculty meets to make recommendations concerning promotion for non-tenure-track faculty.

Late September:

• Begin planning class observations for all Lecturers in their first semester and NTTs and TT junior faculty in their first year. (Please note: Chairs must also adhere to department-level rules, which might differ slightly.)    

OCTOBER

Early October:

• October 1 – Departments must notify tenured faculty that they will have a post-tenure 5-year review this year.
• October 1 – Evaluation for Lecturer Advancement (review in the Fall) – complete packet due to the Department
• All Spring Lecturer information should be entered on the Lecturer Worksheet
• Spring Semester courses become visible

Mid-October:

• CSS opens for Summer scheduling

By October 31:

• NO FURTHER CHANGES TO INSTRUCTOR’S TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS.  All Lecturers must be identified for SPRING appointments (to ensure all new hire requirements can be met and Faculty Affairs has enough time to notify, assist, and process)
• Must notify TA/GAs of reappointment for the spring semester

• Begin working on promotion packets with NTTs coming up for promotion [See forms, details, and timetables] 
• Confirm details of the teaching schedule for the following semester with department colleagues, including preferences about teaching times and classroom needs. 
• Solicit requests from colleagues regarding their teaching in the followingyear, make decisions about who will teach what during both semesters; solicit preferences concerning teaching times 
• Draft a teaching schedule for the following fall semester
• Meet with possible promotion and tenure candidates to discuss the process and possible outside reviewers [See forms, details, and timetables]
• Registration starts for Spring (timing dependent on the Thanksgiving holiday)

Mid-month:

• November 15 – Evaluation for Lecturer Advancement (review in the Fall) – due to the Dean’s Office

• The Dean’s office will notify the chairs of any first-year TT faculty required to have a First Year Department Evaluation [DocuSign Form] due in March.
• Departmental graduate reviews are due for January grads – application closes mid-December. The conferral date is MLK day

Mid-December: 

• Infosilem opens for fall semester scheduling

Early January:

• Sabbatical leave applications for the following AY due [DocuSign Form]
• Update swipe card access to classrooms and labs (add/remove students in the course (NOTE: Not all departments use swipe access entry).
• Start the NTT reappointment process.

Mid-January:

• Tenure-track reappointment packets due to the Dean’s Office
• NTT promotion packets due to the Dean’s office
• The Advising Office will send a spreadsheet to Chairs/Directors of potential graduates – due at the end of January

End of month:

• Fall semester evaluations due for Lecturers [DocuSign Form]. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article XII, unit members shall be evaluated once during each academic year, either during the fall or spring semester. The Dean’s office recommends completing the evaluation in the fall in the event a lecturer does not have a spring assignment.
  • • Review SIRS for each Lecturer; meet with the Lecturer if there are concerns.
    • Peer observations of teaching are required and must be done before the semester evaluation.
    • All Lecturers who are in their first semester teaching as a Lecturer at Rutgers University must receive a class observation
• Next year’s tenure and promotion cycle begins.

• Work with Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs to identify external reviewers for tenure and promotion cases
• Begin entering potential external reviewer info into the External Reviewer Approval Request System [See forms, details and timetables]
• CSS Review – Finalize and correct timing and list of next Fall course offerings – Schedule is live mid-March.
• Registration opens for Summer scheduling
• Identify faculty for shared governance service (Faculty Senate – Rules of Procedure Committee)
  • • It’s especially important to encourage senior faculty to serve on the various A&P Committees.

• Fall Semester courses become visible
• March 1 – Evaluation for Lecturer Advancement (review in the Spring) – complete packet due to the Department
• Departmental graduate reviews are due for May grads. The application closes on 3/1. The conferral date is Sunday after the Final Exams

Mid-March:

• Registration opens for fall scheduling (dependent on holiday schedule, may push to end of April)

Late March:

• NTT reappointment packets due to the Dean’s office
• Annual NTT teaching evaluations [DocuSign form] are due at the Dean’s Office.
• First-year department reviews [DocuSign Form] due to the Dean’s Office for all TT and NTT faculty.
  • • Please note that a peer observation of teaching is required for all NTTs during the first year of each contract period. Also required if Lecturer/NTT is requesting promotion to a higher rank

Early April

• Remind your faculty of Commencement date and encourage attendance
• Competitive Leave applications due to the Dean’s office
• Advising sends spreadsheets to Chairs/Directors of potential graduates. Due end of the month.

Mid-April

• Create postings for Lecturer and Co-Ad assignments for the following calendar year [Complete Form for approval].
• Infosilem opens for spring semester scheduling
• April 15 – Evaluation for Lecturer Advancement (review in the Spring) – complete packet due to the Dean’s Office
• Submit a draft of proposed faculty searches and discuss them with the Dean.
  • • Consult Conducting Searches: A Guide for Department Chairs and Search Committees
• By April 30 – Must notify TA/GAs of reappointment for the fall semester

• Send formal solicitation letters to external referees along with promotion packet materials
• Attend Commencement; chairs are usually seated on stage to congratulate graduates. Encourage your faculty to attend Commencement as well.
• Early May- All FALL Lecturer information should be on the Lecturer worksheet
• May 30^th – Provide the Dean’s office with all post-tenure reviews completed during the AY
• Draft a teaching schedule for the following spring semester

End of month

• Spring semester evaluations due for Lecturers [DocuSign Form]. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article XII, unit members shall be evaluated once during each academic year, either during the fall or spring semester. The Dean’s office recommends completing the evaluation in the fall in the event a lecturer does not have a spring assignment.
  • • Review SIRS for each Lecturer; meet with the Lecturer if there are concerns.
    • Peer observations of teaching are required and must be done before the semester evaluation.
    • All Lecturers who are in their first semester teaching as a Lecturer at Rutgers University must receive a class observation
  • Update swipe card access to classrooms and labs (add/remove students in the course (NOTE:  Not all department departments use swipe access entry).

• July 15 – NO FURTHER CHANGES TO THE INSTRUCTOR’S TEACHING ASSIGNMENT.  All Lecturers must be identified for FALL appointments (to ensure all new hire requirements can be met and Faculty Affairs has enough time to notify, assist, and process by the first week of August in time for the first payroll.)

• Last date for chairs to notify Faculty Affairs of any NTT going up for promotion
• Departmental graduate reviews due for August and October grads. – application closes 8/15.  Conferral dates are the end of August and the first week of October
• Schedule department meetings for the semester (or year)
• Schedule meetings of TT faculty to manage T & P cases
• Analyze course schedules for general education designations/enrollments, etc.
• This should include making sure faculty/instructors are meeting the “FASC Teaching Responsibilities Policy” and your department guidelines for teaching evaluation