Resources for Faculty

Resources for Faculty
Department Chairs/Program Directors

Department Chairs/Program Directors Compensation Plan

The College has a plan for compensating academic department chairs. Below is a description of the plan and a link to the form that we need you to complete as soon as possible indicating which type of compensation you prefer.

The introduction of chair compensation was a recognitition of the significant responsibilities of chairs. I have included here a summary of these responsibilities, originally prepared by past chairs in collaboration with Chuck Beitz and modified several times since. You should find it useful in understanding the College's expectations regarding your new role.

Please be in touch with me or Jeanne Bamforth if you have any questions. I would be grateful if you would fill out the compensation form and return it to my office as soon as possible.

A Description of the Compensation Plan

Department Chair/Program Director Election Compensation Form in PDF format.

If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, you will need to download it in order to open the PDF files.

The compensation plan for department chairs allows a choice from among three options: (1) accelerated sabbatical leave, (2) extended sabbatical leave (in the form of a partial salary supplement to support extension of a one-term sabbatical to a full year's leave), or (3) an annual stipend.

All three of these options contain incentives for individuals to serve terms of at least three years. In all cases the assumption is that a term of service consists of consecutive years as chair, not interrupted by sabbatical or professional leaves. Compensation for individuals who serve for only one term of the academic year will be prorated.

Option 1. Accelerated sabbatical. Faculty members become eligible for sabbatic leave on the basis of the number of semesters of full-time teaching completed since the previous leave. For tenured members, twelve semesters (six years) of full-time teaching are required to become eligible for a one-semester, fully-paid leave.

Under this option, a department chair may be credited with one additional semester of teaching "credit" for each of the first two years in a term of service as chair, and two additional semesters for each additional consecutive year of service as chair.

The provisions in the Faculty Handbook requiring application and approval of sabbatic leave and establishing minimum periods of teaching between leaves will apply. To ensure that due consideration can be given to the impact of a leave on the continuity of a department's curriculum, no accelerated leave will be approved prior to the academic year preceding that in which the leave is intended to be taken.

In order to avoid excessive disruption of the teaching program, this option will not normally be available to chairs of departments with fewer than three tenured members.

Option 2. Extended leave. A department chair may earn credit toward a supplemental sabbatical salary for each year served as chair. The supplement is intended to enable an individual to extend a one-semester sabbatical leave to a full year. Chairs will be credited with 10% of annual salary for each of the first two years served as chair, and 15% for each subsequent consecutive year.

The supplemental salary represents salary paid in addition to an individual's regular sabbatical salary (normally 50% of the full-time annual rate) during a full-year sabbatical leave. The dollar value of the supplement will be determined by applying the total credit earned (calculated as a percentage of full-time-equivalent base salary) to the individual's base salary in the year the sabbatical is taken.

The maximum supplemental salary that can be applied to a full-year sabbatical leave will be the lesser of (a) 50% of annual base salary or (b) that amount which, when added to any other sources of sabbatical salary (including that derived from external fellowships and grants), would yield 100% of the individual's annual base salary. Unused supplemental salary credit can be "saved" and applied to a subsequent full-year sabbatical leave.

Once again, the provisions in the Faculty Handbook requiring application and approval of sabbatic leave and establishing minimum periods of teaching between leaves will apply. To ensure that due consideration can be given to the impact of a leave on the continuity of a department's curriculum, no accelerated leave will be approved prior to the academic year preceding that in which the leave is intended to be taken.

Option 3. Stipend. Chairs may be paid a stipend of $3,000 per year for the first two years of service as chair and $5,000 each subsequent consecutive year. The stipend would be a non-recurring supplement to the individual's regular faculty salary.