College of Arts and Sciences: GSLL Governance Policies

The purpose of this document is 1) to set forth procedures by which the chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages (GSLL) discharges certain of these duties and 2) to indicate the manner of faculty consultation appropriate to certain actions.

Unit Policy

Title

College of Arts and Sciences: GSLL Governance Policies

Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this document is 1) to set forth procedures by which the chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages (GSLL) discharges certain of these duties and 2) to indicate the manner of faculty consultation appropriate to certain actions.

Scope

This policy does not apply to courses taught by fixed-term faculty or to courses supported by special non-state funding (e.g., Title VI grants).

Policy

As stipulated in the Faculty Code of University Government, the academic head of the department is the chair. In the College of Arts and Sciences, department chairs consult with appropriate voting members of the department to perform the following duties:

1. To administer the departmental budget;
2. To supervise and evaluate the performance of support staff assigned to the department;
3. To initiate appointments to faculty positions, to initiate recommendations for reappointment and promotion of faculty members, and to recommend adjustments in faculty salaries;
4. To formulate and implement educational policies;
5. To maintain instructional facilities, including library resources; and
6. To report annually to the dean on the work and activities of the department.

1. The Administrative Committee (AC)

In the day-to-day conduct of department business and in particular in the administration of the budget, the chair consults regularly (normally every two to three weeks during term time) with an Administrative Committee composed of the following departmental officers:

• The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)
• The Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)
• The Director of Slavic Studies (DSS)
• The Director of Elementary Language Programs (DELP)
• The GSLL Administrative Manager

The Directors are appointed by the chair for terms of one to three years and have responsibilities as follows:

• The DGS serves as co-director of the Carolina-Duke PhD Program in German Studies and in that capacity is responsible for administration and curriculum affecting all graduate students in German at UNC, including graduate admissions, job placement, and recommendations for graduate-school grants. S/he recommends to the AC the teaching schedule for graduate offerings each semester, advises students to make sure each is making satisfactory progress, and convenes as appropriate a Dissertation Colloquium for advanced doctoral students. The DGS consults as appropriate with the DSS in assigning teaching duties for the MA program in Slavic.
• The DUS oversees all GSLL undergraduate programs but has special responsibility for the two undergraduate tracks of the German major. The DUS also consults as appropriate with the DSS in oversight of the Russian and Slavic majors, and after such consultation proposes to the AC the teaching schedule for undergraduate offerings each semester. S/he collaborates with the DELP and DSS in making individual graduate TA assignments and with the DSS acts in coordinating all Honors Thesis projects in GSLL.
• The DSS serves as the principal departmental administrator advising the chair, through the AC, in all matters pertaining to undergraduate and graduate programs in the Slavic languages and literatures (including Hungarian). S/he consults as appropriate with the DGS and DUS in recommending teaching assignments and setting the course roster for each semester and consults with both the Slavic faculty and with the DELP in making recommendations about language courses in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, Hungarian, Macedonian, Polish, and Russian, consistent with section #2 below. S/he supervises the graduate teaching fellows in Russian, consulting as appropriate with Slavic language-teaching colleagues, the DUS and the DELP in making TA teaching assignments.
• The DELP is responsible primarily for language instruction in German but also consults with the DSS about the language-teaching schedule in the other languages taught be the department. S/he also normally serves as the supervisor of the graduate TAs in German, makes TA teaching assignments in collaboration with the DUS, and consults with the DSS about TAs in Russian.

2. Teaching Loads

The normal teaching load for research-active tenured and tenure-track faculty in GSLL will be two courses per semester.  However,  on those occasions when the department chair, in consultation with the AC, determines that the department should offer an elementary language course that over a period of five to ten years has repeatedly enrolled fewer than ten students per section, faculty assigned to teach such courses will do so in addition to their regular two-course teaching responsibilities.

Only in extraordinary circumstances will traditionally low-enrollment elementary language courses be cancelled on the basis of low enrollment.  Only in extraordinary circumstances will tenured or tenure-track faculty who teach such courses be assigned more than three courses per semester. 

This policy does not apply to courses taught by fixed-term faculty or to courses supported by special non-state funding (e.g., Title VI grants). The teaching load for fixed-term faculty will be set by the chair, in consultation with the College and with the AC, for each fixed-term colleague on an individual basis at the commencement of each new contract period. Instruction in courses supported by special non-state funding will be compensated at a rate sustainable under the conditions of the special funding and negotiated by the chair (in consultation with the AC) on a case-by-case basis with the instructor.

3. Appointments and Promotions

Because we anticipate only one case for promotion and tenure during the academic year 2011-12, that of Assistant Professor Radislav Lapushin, special procedures have been developed and approved by agreement of the Department and the Dean’s office. This case is to be conducted as follows:

• The review will be governed by the standards and procedures of the personnel document presently in force in the current Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.  However, because of the timing of the departmental merger, Lapushin’s case for promotion and tenure will be reviewed by two committees: an ad hoc review committee of four full professors appointed by the Dean from departments other than the current Slavic or German departments; and the tenured faculty of the new Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, to which Lapushin and all other current Slavic department faculty will be appointed as of 1 July 2011.  The letter to the Dean containing the recommendation of the chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures relative to the Lapushin case will report the vote of the ad hoc review committee and the vote of the tenured faculty in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures.  The department chair will report the latter vote by rank and by previous departmental affiliation.  
• Professor Lapushin’s review will be the only promotion or tenure review subject to this special procedure.

After 2011-2012, tenure-track and tenured faculty in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures will be reviewed by the standards of a new departmental personnel document, which will be completed and approved by the Dean no later than 1 January 2012.   

4. Salary adjustments for faculty

When funds are made available for increases in salaries, or when salary cuts are mandated by the state or university administration, the chair will seek the advice of a committee composed of all the GSLL full professors (plus the DSS if that person is an Associate Professor) about the most effective and equitable way to distribute such increases or decreases.

5. Implementation of Educational Policies

All changes in curriculum or other educational policies are to be vetted first with the AC and then brought before the assembled faculty for discussion and vote. No educational policy in GSLL will go into effect without such a vote of the faculty. All tenured and tenure-track faculty and all Senior and Master Lecturers are entitled to vote on these policy matters, as are those full-time Lecturers nominated by the chair and approved by vote of the tenured faculty.

6. Supervision of Support Staff, Maintenance of Facilities, Annual Report, etc.

The chair, who is the direct supervisor of the Administrative Manager, consults as needed with the AC and other colleagues about all matters pertaining to the support and maintenance of the department’s resources. The AC suggests any items it deems relevant to the chair’s contribution to the annual report (now conducted on line).

Related Requirements

External Regulations (if applicable)

• Is this Policy connected to any Policies, Laws (federal, state, local, regulations), and/or Accreditation requirements?
• Are there any related UNC System-wide Policies?
• Is this Policy connected to any UNC-Chapel Hill Policies, Procedures, or Standards?
• Are there any other resources or materials readers of this Policy might likely refer to or need to follow or understand this Policy?

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures (if applicable)

• Is this Policy connected to any other Unit Policies, Procedures, or Standards?

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Office: Dean's Office

Telephone: 919-962-1165

Email: artsandsciences@unc.edu