Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation
Chair Selection and Rotation Policy

Part 1 - INTERNAL CHAIR SELECTION PROCESS

The department's Faculty Status Committee (FSC) will receive nominations, including self nominations.  Nominees will be asked to submit a formal application consisting of a CV and a Letter of Interest.  The FSC will try to encourage at least two faculty to submit formal applications. Alternate members to individual FSC members may be selected by the department as a whole to receive nominations, if deemed appropriate to avoid perceived conflicts of interest.

Interviews will be conducted with all the nominees who submit a formal application.  The Interview Committee will consist of the entire department (full-time faculty plus the administrative assistant), minus all of the nominees to be interviewed.

The Interview Committee will submit the nominee applications and a recommendation cover letter to the Dean.   The recommendation letter will assess and compare each of the nominees.

The Dean will select two or three of the candidates for interview.  A meeting of the Dean and the Interview Committee may take place to discuss the candidates, at the Dean's discretion.  The Dean will base the final decision on the Interview Committee's assessment and the Dean's interview.

Part 2 - TIME SCHEDULE AND CHAIR ROTATION

The New Chair Selection Process will occur in the Fall semester in the year prior to when the new chair's tenure will begin.

Each chair will serve an initial two year term. No chair shall serve more than two consecutive two-year terms at a time.

• The two-year term policy is a department preference. As with all NAU administrators, the chair is under contract to serve a one-year term that is renewable at the discretion of the Dean, Provost and President.
• Within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the administrative accomplishments of all chairs are reviewed annually by the faculty and Dean in the Spring semester. This annual review is not directly associated with the chair selection and rotation policies set forth in this document.

By November 1 of the Fall semester of the second year of a chair's term, the chair must expresses an interested in either serving a second two-year term or stepping down after the current two-year term.

• If the chair expresses an interest in serving a second two-year term, then by the end of November the department will vote on whether to (1) recommend to the Dean that the chair continue to a second two-year term, or (2) recommend to the Dean that the department Faculty Status Committee (FSC) be permitted to initiate a New Chair Selection Process at the beginning of in the Spring semester (preferrably by early February).
  
• If the chair expresses an interest in not serving a second two-year term, or if the Dean rejects continuation of the chair in a second two-year term, then the FSC shall initiate a New Chair Selection Process at the start of the Spring semester, with a preferred decision date no later than mid-February.

If the chair is recommended to continue into a second two-year term and the Dean concurs, then the New Chair Selection Process must be initiated in the Fall semester of the chair's fourth consecutive academic year.  The current chair is not elegible for re-nomination until after another person has served at least one year as chair.

Once a new chair is selected in the Fall or early Spring semester, the new chair will accompany the current chair to all of the SBS chairs meetings in the Spring semester, and the current chair will assist the new chair in transitioning to the position.  The new chair will begin the position at the start of the Fiscal Year (July 1), unless other arrangements are made.

Part 3 - HIRING OF A CHAIR FROM OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT

The policies outlined above will be temporarily suspended should the university decide to search to hire a chair from outside of the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation.  An outside chair's term would be at the discretion of the Dean, with input from the department faculty.

Appendix: Chair's Compensation Proposal Report (MS Word)