Department Chair Handbook

Department Chairs at UND

UND department chairs have responsibilities both as faculty members and academic administrators, leading and managing their department/program in alignment with the university mission and college goals.

Chairs engage in teaching, scholarly and/or creative activity, and service as determined by their workload distribution. For more information, see “Administrative Leadership” and “Administrator Responsibilities” in the UND Faculty Handbook.
Department chairs are appointed and evaluated by the dean and usually serve three-year terms at the discretion of the dean.

Chairs Leadership Institute

Faculty Affairs provides professional and leadership development opportunities for UND department chairs. The Chairs Leadership Institute meets on Zoom each month during the academic year to discuss case studies or hear from panelists across campus on topics such as workload equity, faculty evaluation, and managing conflict.

Faculty Affairs also provides special opportunities for training such as new chair orientation, chairs networking opportunities, the Chronicle of Higher Education chairs workshop, and other skill building opportunities. Contact Randi Tanglen, vice provost for faculty affairs, for more information.

Finance Software Access

Receive access to PeopleSoft Finance, Perceptive Content, TouchNet Marketplace, Campus Connection and HRMS.

UND Procurement & Payment Services

Procurement & Payment Services provides financial contracts, resources, training and information for UND faculty and staff. Department chairs may need to interact with PPS staff for major purchases for the department or grants within the department, travel and expense reimbursement, purchasing card support, and for financial training.

Jaggaer

Jaggaer is UND’s marketplace of approved vendors. You or your department admin may need access to Jaggaer to purchase office supplies, research materials, etc.

Jaggaer Help

Procurement & Payment Services and Jaggaer Contact

UND.pps@UND.edu or 701.777.2771

Shared Service Center (SSC)

The Shared Service Center provides financial services for many of the academic departments. Department chairs may need to work with the SSC for services such as accounts payable and accounts receivable and support for budgeting, faculty and staff hiring, and Alumni fund payments and reconciliations (see webpage for full list of services).

Finance forms

Shared Service Center (SSC) Contact

UND.SharedServiceCenter@UND.edu

People Soft Finance

People Soft Finance is the tool to manage financial transactions such as travel reimbursement.

People Soft Finance Contact

UND.pps@UND.edu or 701.777.2771

Page Up

Page Up is the online resource to create staff position descriptions and post job announcements for faculty and staff vacanies and manage applications. Log-in is available with your NDUS credentials.

People Soft HCM

People Soft is an integrated system to manage a variety of Human Resources Functions. Manager Self-Service and People Soft Finance are the most relevant to department chairs.

Manager Self-Service

Manager Self-Service is where you can complete staff-related management tasks such as approving leave. To access Manager Self-Service, click on “log-ins” and then “Employee Self-Service" on UND’s homepage. You should be able to log-in with your NDUS credentials and password. If not, please contact Becca Bergee or your department admin.

Page Up, People Soft HCM, and Manager Self-Service Contact

Becca Bergee, Director fo Human Resources for Academic Affairs

Power BI

The UND Data Information Hub is an INTERNAL FACULTY AND STAFF site dedicated to UND-specific data, which includes information such as data access and request forms; Power BI Training Materials; Power BI Reports and Dashboards. To access the UND Data Information Hub provided by University Analytics & Planning, use your NDUS identifier followed by “@ndus.edu”. Your password will be the same as other systems on campus (e.g., Campus Connection, Blackboard, and HCM Employee Self-Service).

Power BI Contact

Matthew Berosik, Interim Chief Data Officer

Hiring Staff

The department chair may need to hire administrative support and other non-faculty personnel. The department chair may be responsible for developing a position description and forming a selection committee. The chair should ensure that Human Resources processes and policies are followed throughout the application, review, and interview stages.

Hiring and Onboarding Employees

Managing and Evaluating Staff

Evaluation: State Board of Higher Education policy Sec. 604.3 requires annual evaluation of all employees. Staff positions are evaluated and managed differently than faculty positions. The evaluation format and structure also differs from that of faculty evaluations. Human Resources will send information to all supervisors of staff in January with guidance for staff evaluations and timelines for when staff evaluations are due.

Time Reporting: For non-exempt staff, time spent working over 40 hours and leave must be pre-approved by the supervisor. If a non-exempt staff is less than full-time, if they deviate from their normal schedule, those exceptions must be reported in time and labor within Employee Self-Service.

HR Contact

Becca Bergee, Director fo Human Resources for Academic Affairs

Heather Wages, Director of Policy and Administration

Program Assessment

All academic programs (degrees and certificates) are to have learning goals and outcomes. Annual reporting of these assessment efforts demonstrates how our institution improves the quality of the educational programs based on the assessment of student learning. These assessment reports are due by October 1. Annual program reports may be completed by department chairs, program directors, or another designee, however department chairs will be the main point of contact for programs.

Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

Submitting Annual Assessment Reports

UND uses Watermark’s Planning & Self-Study as the online repository for annual assessment submissions.

Planning & Self-Study Log-In and Support

Program and Assessment Contacts

Shane Schellpfeffer, Director of Institutional Effectiveness

Karina Knutson, Assessment & Accreditation Specialist

Academic Program Review

All academic programs (degrees and certificates) participate in comprehensive program review every 5-8 years. The academic program review (APR) includes a narrative based on a set of prompts, an external review, a review at the college level, deans review, and final review by either the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success (undergraduate programs) or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (graduate programs). The APR narrative is usually completed by the department chair or program director. The initial APR narrative is due November 1,and the full review will be completed by the end of the academic year.

The UND APR website includes information related to the APR timeline, which programs are up for review, the APR template, link to relevant data sources, link to submit the narrative, and contacts.

Essential Studies

Essential Studies is UND’s general education curriculum. Department chairs work with their departments on developing Essential Studies course offerings. Department chairs help to submit and approve courses for validation within the Essential Studies program. They are also responsible for ensuring revalidation is completed in Essential Studies every four years.

Academic Program Review and Essential Studies Contact

Karyn Plumm, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Student Success

Course Leaf

Course Leaf is UND’s curriculum management system that can be accessed using your NDUS sign-in credentials. Department chairs use Course Leaf to submit and approve course and program proposals. To gain approval access, please contact the Registrar’s Office.

Curriculum Management

Course Leaf Contact

Karyn Plumm, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Student Success

Christina Fargo, Senior Assistant Registrar

Hawk Central

Hawk Central is the online tool for student advising, student degree planning, student course scheduling and registration, student communication, student connections (referrals to support across campus), and providing course-specific mid-semester feedback. Faculty are required to submit midterm reports through Hawk Central during the fall and spring terms in full-term courses. Department chairs have access to Hawk Central that allows them to view all students in the platform.

Hawk Central Contact

Karyn Plumm, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Student Success

Katie Meyer, Hawk Central Specialist

Syllabus Resources

Required syllabus statements regarding federal policy can be found on the VPFA website and as PDF link. TTaDA provides a syllabus template with ideas for statements and language that can be adapted by faculty members. These documents are updated before each semester begins. Simple Syllabus is the software used to automatically populate and create a syllabus template.

Syllabus Resource Contact

Randi Tanglen, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

Code of Student Life

Department Chairs might need to refer to the Code of Student Life to be aware of the academic grievance policy for students, the academic dishonesty policy, classroom disruption policy, and other matters.

Code of Student Life Contact

Alex Pokornowski, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

Hiring Faculty

The department chair works with their Dean to determine the department’s needs for hiring faculty, including a determination of what type of position, tenure track or special appointment, is required. Once a request to recruit it approved, the chair will collaborate with Human Resources and the department search committee to draft the job advertisement and ensure that HR processes and policies are followed throughout the application, review, interview, and hiring stages.

Faculty Annual Evaluations Outside of the Promotion and Tenure Process

State Board of Higher Education policy Sec. 604.3 requires annual evaluation of all employees, including all faculty at any status or rank. This includes probationary faculty, special appointment faculty, and tenured faculty.

Typically the department chair oversees this process by ensuring the formation of the evaluation committee per the department bylaws and by approving and signing each evaluation. Each college/school has their own deadlines for the evaluation process; evaluations should be sent to the deans office and uploaded to faculty personnel files. Confirmation of all annual evaluations is due to the Provost’s Office by March 31.

“Page 2s”

The Page 2 document of the faculty contract records and details a faculty member’s percentage of effort in teaching; research and scholarly/creative activity; service; and, if relevant, administration. This process usually occurs as a collaboration between the faculty member and the department chair, with the department chair providing the leadership and final approval. Considerations include the needs of the department and the faculty member’s professional development plan. Academic Affairs circulates the Page 2 form each spring, and the document is usually around May 1.

Hiring Faculty, Faculty Annual Evaluations Outside of the Promotion and Tenure Process, and "Page 2s" Contacts

Becca Bergee, Director fo Human Resources for Academic Affairs

Heather Wages, Director of Policy and Administration

Promotion & Tenure

Department chairs inform the department of the Provost’s Office promotion and tenure timeline in the spring, solicit external review letters in the spring and summer, communicate with candidates about materials that should be in portfolios, and write a recommendation letter that will be added to a candidate’s file after the department-level review. Faculty Affairs typically offers an informational session each spring on the role of department chairs in the promotion and tenure process.

Promotion, Tenure, and Evaluation Guidelines

The UND Faculty Handbook states that each department must develops its own criteria and procedures for Promotion, Tenure, and Evaluation guidelines. Department Chairs are responsible for ensuring that the guidelines are regularly updated and that new faculty members receive a copy of the most recent guidelines.

Developmental Leave

Department chairs may work with individual faculty members on the process for applying for developmental leave within their college/school. Department chairs may need to hire replacement faculty or reassign teaching and service responsibilities when colleagues are on developmental leave.

Emeritus Status

Each department should have an established process for recommending emeritus status for retired faculty. The department chair completes a Provost’s Office nomination form that is sent to the deans office, Faculty Affairs/VPAA, and the President for approval. Applications are typically submitted right before or within the year after retirement.

Promotion and Tenure, Developmental Leave, and Emeritus Status Contacts

Randi Tanglen, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

Heather Wages, Director of Policy and Administration

Faculty Success

Faculty Success is the Watermark tool used to collect and report information about teaching, research and service accomplishments of faculty in a digital format. Some colleges require faculty to keep their profiles updated annually, usually by October 1, and department chairs pull reports from Faculty Success templates.