| This document provides an overview
of the basic academic structure at Paradise Valley Community College
and describes the process for modifying current divisional
alignments. The academic structures developed at Paradise Valley
Community College promote high academic standards, provide a
commitment to instructional excellence, stimulate instructional
innovation, and contribute to student learning.
A primary goal of the academic
structures is to facilitate a collegial working environment. It is
understood that within the academic structure, the division and
department chairs are faculty members who represent the full -time
faculty in their respective divisions and departments. The division
and department chairs serve as instructional leaders responsible for
coordinating efforts to make sound academic decisions and to ensure
that the educational and service goals of the college are met.
Chairpersons also have the responsibility of providing the
opportunity for the development of new leadership within the
division as well as ensuring that the unit is encouraged to grow
professionally and support the college’s mission.
I. PVCC Division Structure:
A. Division/Department Chairs:
1. Division/Department chairs are
elected to a three- year term of office. There shall be no
limitations on the number of terms that division/department chairs
may serve; however, they may serve only two terms consecutively
unless no other faculty is willing to serve. Faculty must
self-nominate, in writing, to a Division Chair Selection Committee
appointed by the Faculty Senate. 2. Division/Department chairs receive college reassigned time as
specified in the RFP. The president may approve additional
reassigned time based upon need. Any additional reassigned time
granted by the College President will be reviewed on an annual
basis. The rationale for additional reassigned time shall be made
available to the Faculty Senate upon request of the Senate
President.3. Division/Department chairs attend a monthly Division Chair
Meeting and may hold executive sessions for discussions. No policy
and/or instructional decisions may be made in these executive
sessions. Division/Department chair meetings are open to all
Residential Faculty as non-voting members. Further,
Division/Department chairs may attend, or may appoint a designee to
attend, District Instructional Council meetings.
4. Division/Department chairs provide overall coordination of all
areas assigned to the division/department, and provide instructional
leadership to and representation of all division/department
residential faculty. They supervise all part-time day faculty,
professional support staff, and student and temporary employees
assigned to their division/department. Division/Department chairs
have overall responsibility and authority for the evening program in
their division/department. The chairperson will not receive
additional pay for performing duties specified as chairperson
responsibilities.5. Duties include, but are not limited to, the following (except in
Service Divisions where applicable):
a) Managing division budgetsb) Submitting budget and capital equipment requests based on faculty
input
c) Building all class schedules based on faculty input and student
needd) Ordering textbooks
e) Coordinating development of division/department catalog materialsf) Overseeing the hiring and evaluation of residential faculty,
part-time faculty, and support staff
g) Long-term division/department planning in cooperation with
Residential Faculty in terms of:
(1) New program/course development(2) Program/course modification
(3) Impact and coordination of program and course development and/or
modification on existing and proposed programs and services(4) Faculty evaluation
(5) Internal and external articulation(6) Staffing requirements including
(a) RFP faculty(b) Part-time faculty
(c) Support staff(d) Part-time employees
(e) Administration
(7) Technology(8) Budgeting
(9) Program/course assessment.
h) Resolving student and personnel complaints concerning the
division according to campus and district policyi) Communicating with all division/department faculty the
discussions, and decisions made, during the monthly chair meetings
and communicating to administration and other division chairs the
discussions and decisions made during division/department meetings.
6. Division/Department chairs, working with the Vice President of
Academic Affairs, initiate a spring evaluation. This review includes
the following:
a) A standardized faculty evaluation form (Appendix B) is
distributed to all residential faculty members within the
division/departmentb) This evaluation is anonymous, and the results will be summarized
by the secretary to the Vice President of Academic Affairs
c) A summary of the results is distributed to the
Division/Department Chair and the Vice President of Academic Affairsd) Prior to the first division meeting of the fall semester, each
Division/Department Chair meets with the Vice President of Academic
Affairs for the purpose of discussing and responding to the concerns
identified
e) At the first or second division meeting of the fall semester,
each Division/Department Chair addresses the concerns brought forth
by the spring evaluation as to processes and procedures for
division/department improvementf) In divisions that have support staff, optional evaluations by
staff may be conducted.
B. Evening Supervisors:
1. Evening supervision is a voluntary, self-nominated position. The
evening supervisor is appointed on a yearly basis by the
division/department chair and is responsible to the
division/department chair. The evening supervisor serves at the
discretion of the division/department chair and, if necessary, may
be removed by the division/department chair. The disciplines
supervised by an evening supervisor are determined by the
division/department chair. Division/department chairs may serve as
evening supervisors.2. Evening supervisors may attend monthly division chair meetings as
non-voting participants.
3. Duties of the evening supervisor include, but are not limited to,
the following:
a) Selecting, hiring, and evaluating of evening part-time facultyb) Developing the evening class schedule
c) Assisting with textbook orderingd) Resolving student, staff or community complaints or issues
e) Conducting evening faculty meetings.
4. The division/department chair and evening supervisor(s) are
jointly responsible for making final decisions on any of the above.
If a conflict cannot be mutually resolved, the division/department
chair makes the final decision.
C. Addition of New Prefixes:
1. As new prefixes are added to the course offerings at PVCC, the
Vice President of Academic Affairs shall consult with the
Division/Department Chairs for assignment of the new prefixes to the
appropriate division/department.
II. Process for Modifying the Academic StructuresShould an existing academic division at Paradise Valley Community
College desire to make changes to its current structure, the
information below describes the process to be followed. The
information that follows details the procedures for modifying the
current division structure to convert into more than one division or
to convert into divisions with departments.
A. Transition Status
1. A division that plans to reorganize shall write a specific plan
consistent with this Academic Structures Policy and describe the
structures and procedures for the reorganization in terms of:
a) Division chair responsibility for curriculum, personnel, budget,
and general administrative tasksb) Department chair responsibility for curriculum, personnel,
budget, and general administrative tasks
c) Evening supervisor responsibility for curriculum, personnel,
budget, and general administrative tasksd) Procedures for resolution of conflicts between division chair and
department chair(s), and/or conflicts between departments within the
division
e) Procedures for elections and removal from office of division
chair, and department chair(s) compatible with PVCC Faculty Senate
procedures on these topicsf) Selection and removal of evening supervisors consistent with this
Academic Structures Policy.
(1) A division shall be designated a "transition division" during
the time that it is reorganizing. A division shall become a
transition division when a motion is passed in a division meeting by
the residential faculty members with a 3/5 majority vote. Once the
motion passes, the division chair shall deliver the motion to the
Vice President of Academic Affairs who shall forward a copy of the
motion with her/his recommendation to the College President. A copy
of the motion will also be sent to the Faculty Senate President. The
motion shall specify how the division wishes to reorganize. The
reorganization shall become effective when the proposed structure
has been approved by the division faculty and the College President.
2. While in transition status, the division shall establish that it
is feasible and beneficial for the division to reorganize by
demonstrating to the College President that the division meets the
following criteria:
a) Sufficient number of full time faculty in each of the proposed
departments or separate divisions ("sufficient number" is based on
justification by the division, not a specific, predetermined number)b) Similarity of issues or other common interests to ensure the
ability for a specified grouping of faculty and teaching disciplines
to operate as departments, or as separate division
c) Documentation of the budget impact of the proposed reorganizationd) An acceptable plan to distribute existing division budget,
classroom, secretarial and other resources so that each of the newly
created divisions, or departments within divisions, will be able to
operate effectively
e) Justification that the restructuring is to the overall advantage
of the division, the college, and the studentsf) Specification of an implementation date.
B. Approval Process
1. Approval of the reorganization plan shall be by majority vote of
the full time faculty members of the division/department. Faculty
who are qualified to vote in division chair elections are qualified
to vote for the reorganization plan. The reorganization plan must be
approved by the College President.
III. General Structure of the Divisions or Divisions with
Departments
A. Self determination of division structure:1. Each division shall have flexibility to determine the details of
its own division/department structure, and this structure may be
different from that of the other divisions.
B. Organization overview:
1. The specific plan for divisions with departments shall include
details consistent with the Academic Structures policy.2. Reassigned time and salary for division/department chairs shall
be consistent with the RFP and will be reviewed by the College
President on an annual basis.
3. The revised structure shall specify the distribution of
disciplines into departments.4. Full time faculty will be considered to be in the department in
which they teach a majority of their load during the academic year.
C. Revisions to the division/department structure:
1. By 3/5 vote of the entire division, or by 2/3 vote of a single
department, the division/department structure shall be subject to
review and revisions2. Revisions must be approved by 3/5 vote of the full time faculty
in the division and approved by the College President
3. Such review and revision shall not occur more than once every two
academic years.
D. Responsibilities of the chairs:
1. Each division with departments shall include in its specific
division model the duties of the division chair, the department
chair(s), and the evening supervisor(s).2. Two guiding principles shall apply:
a) The distribution of duties and work load shall be consistent with
the distribution of supervision pay and reassigned time.b) Provision shall be made for resolution of conflicts between the
division chair, the department chair(s), and the evening
supervisor(s).
E. Election and removal from office procedures:
1. Division chair and department chair(s) shall be elected. The
terms of office and the details of the election procedures shall be
specified in the division/department model consistent with Faculty
Senate procedures.2. The specific division/department model shall specify procedures
to remove division chairs, department chairs, and evening
supervisors from office, consistent with PVCC Faculty Senate
guidelines.
IV. AmendmentsThis document should be reviewed on a regular basis and amended as
needed to ensure that it addresses the changing needs of the
institution.
Amendment Procedures:
1. Proposed amendments to this document may be brought before the
Faculty Senate at any general or special PVCC Faculty Senate
meeting.2. After discussion of the proposed amendments by the Senate, a
simple majority of the votes cast by PVCC appointive and provisional
faculty members will constitute a recommendation for approval of the
proposed amendments.
3. The approved recommendations will be presented to the College
President via the Vice President of Academic Affairs for final
approval.4. If changes are made by the College President, the revised
amendments will come back to the Senate for ratification.
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