Role of DEOs

Vision, Leadership, and Administration

The DEO provides vision and leadership for the department, working both with the faculty and with the Dean’s Office to promote our teaching and research mission. The successful DEO maintains faculty and staff morale, establishes an atmosphere of fairness and optimism, and ensures that the department focuses its energies and resources on progress toward shared goals and priorities. The DEO must be accountable both to faculty colleagues and to the College in attending to the deadlines of everyday administrative tasks, dealing with individuals who have complaints, and ensuring that faculty and staff cooperate in completing the work of the department.

Managing Resources Creatively

An important aspect of leadership is using available resources well and acquiring new resources to further the department's mission. Ensuring that faculty and staff effort is being used effectively to achieve the departmental mission is a crucial first step, since personnel represents about 90% of the College's budget.

DEOs should work with the College to enhance their departments' general expense budgets through curricular development:

The College also allocates some resources competitively through the following programs:

Guiding Faculty Development

The DEO has principal responsibility for guiding the development of new faculty members and ensuring they receive mentoring from the department. The DEO also promotes and supports the teaching, scholarly or creative work, and service activities of tenured faculty members.

The DEO shares with the Dean good news about faculty accomplishments and honors, for recognition within the College and in our public relations. The DEO also plans each year to nominate his/her faculty for Collegiate and University honors, which are announced through the DEO mailing.

The College expects that every faculty member seek internal and/or external support through extra-departmental, competitive, award processes. The DEO keeps faculty informed of the developmental programs, awards, and grants offered by the College and University as announced through the on-line DEO Mailing and the "Faculty Funding" page of the College’s Research website.)

Directing Faculty Reviews

The DEO ensures that all faculty reviews result in substantive assessment and recommendations, as well as ensuring that departmental and collegiate procedures are observed. See Faculty Review on the College's website.

Early in September, the Dean's Office sends the DEO a letter confirming all faculty reviews due in the next academic year. For deadlines for each type of faculty review, with links to review procedures, click here.

In March or April, the DEO meets with the Dean by appointment to discuss salary recommendations for faculty and P&S staff for the next fiscal year.

Supervising the Delivery of Departmental Courses

The DEO is responsible for seeing that all instructors in all departmental courses--including those offered through the Division of Continuing Education--comply with University and College policy and instructional standards. See Professional Policies & Faculty Responsibilities and Teaching Policies & Resources, with links to information on all aspects of teaching, from the required elements of the syllabus to grading and keeping student records

The DEO ensures that important course policies are observed, including the following:

Developing the Departmental Curriculum

The DEO has important leadership responsibility for development and review of individual departmental courses, the curriculum as a whole, and requirements for the departmental major. It is crucial that the curriculum and course content reflect developments within the discipline, the range of knowledge and skills appropriate to the degree program, and developments in instructional technology.

In addition, the DEO has the following curricular responsibilities:

Administering Personnel Policies

For statements of the principal personnel policies that the DEO implements, the DEO should consult "Professional Policies & Faculty Responsilibities," with links to important policies, including those on

Resources

The "For DEOs" page of the College's website makes the following tools readily available:

The "For Faculty" page of the College's website has links to policy and procedural information on classroom teaching, the curriculum, funding opportunities, faculty review, faculty recruitment, faculty awards, and faculty governance.

DEO Meetings

DEOs must reserve the Mondays, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., for group meetings with the Deans. During the academic year, all DEOs convene once or twice each month to discuss with the Deans questions affecting the College and its departments generally. In addition, DEOs meet irregularly on other Mondays at this time period for meetings on special topics.

Each DEO also meets with the Dean or the appropriate Associate Dean when specific questions concerning the department arise.