About Arts and Sciences
Administration:
Advisory Committees to the Vice President and Dean of the Faculty
Steering Committee of the Departmental Chairs
The Steering Committee of the Departmental Chairs guides the agenda for the monthly meetings and advises the Vice President for Arts and Sciences on matters of interest to departments. It is made up of two chairs from each of the three divisions (Social Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences).
The departmental chairs choose members for the Steering Committee from among their numbers and the Steering Committee elects its own chair. The Steering Committee and the Vice President for the Arts and Sciences serve as the nominating committee to develop a slate of candidates for vacancies on Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (ECFAS).
Academic Review Committee
The Academic Review Committee is comprised of fifteen faculty members. The Vice President for Arts and Sciences and Associate Vice President for Arts and Sciences serve ex officio. There are at least five faculty representatives from each of the three divisions, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. The Department of the Arts and the Department of International and Public Affairs each has one faculty representative on the Committee. The representative from the Department of the Arts is a tenured Professor or a Full Professor of Practice; all other faculty representatives are tenured faculty. Faculty representatives are appointed by the Vice President for Arts and Sciences, following consultation with Deans, the Steering Committee of the Chairs, and the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
The Academic Review Committee is charged with overseeing the periodic review of all departments, centers, and institutes in the Arts and Sciences. The principal functions of the review are to assess program quality and effectiveness, to foster planning and improvement, and to provide guidance for administrative decisions. The process provides an opportunity for critical self-review on a recurring basis and for reevaluating long-range planning assumptions and goals. By providing a means for reaching collective judgment on the strengths and weaknesses of a program, its comparative advantages, and its future opportunities and challenges, the review process contributes to achieving and maintaining the excellence of programs across the Arts and Sciences.
Faculty Budget Group
The Faculty Budget Group is comprised of three members of the Steering Committee along with three members of ECFAS. They meet regularly with the Vice President for Arts and Sciences and his staff in order to review budgets and discuss their implications for the Arts and Sciences. The group serves in an advisory capacity, offering suggestions for the most effective utilization of the Arts and Sciences budget and providing feedback to the Vice President concerning proposed resource allocations and financial policies.
The Faculty Development Committee consists of six tenured faculty members nominated by the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Committee reviews proposals for junior faculty development grants, the dossiers of non-tenured faculty for fifth-year review, practice faculty and lecturers in discipline in accordance with the Arts and Sciences Guidelines for Review and Reappointment and the dossiers of tenured faculty in accordance with the Arts and Sciences Guidelines for promotion to Full Professor and makes recommendations to the Vice President for Arts and Sciences.
Standing Committee on Language Lecturers
The Standing Committee on Language Lecturers consists of four tenured faculty members and two senior lecturers nominated by the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Committee reviews the dossiers of language lecturers in accordance with the Arts and Sciences Guidelines for Review of Full-time Lecturers in Languages and proposals for pedagogical course relief and leave and makes recommendations to the Vice President for Arts and Sciences.