The successful conduct of the offices of dean and school director are vital to the achievement of the purposes of the university and the professional growth of its faculty. Through the following procedures faculty may play a part in the selection of the dean or school director, and in the review of his or her conduct of the office.

The review of performance described herein will not preclude any administrative review as described elsewhere in the body of academic policy.

I. Procedures to be followed in the selection of a dean or school director.

A. When a vacancy occurs, or is anticipated, in the deanship or directorship of an academic unit, the provost will appoint an acting dean or acting director, or otherwise assign the academic unit’s interim executive functions, until a permanent dean or director is selected.

B. The provost will appoint a search committee reflecting the academic unit’s composition. Additionally, the provost may appoint other deans or directors, graduate and undergraduate students, alumni of the college or school, or other members of the Drexel community, as approppriate. No candidate for the vacant position may serve on the committee.

C. The provost will call the first meeting of the search committee. He or she will give the committee its charge and will preside while the committee chooses its chairperson. The provost will then retire from the committee.

D. In the course of its deliberations, and before reporting to the provost, the committee will hold at least one meeting of the academic unit’s faculty to discuss the candidates being considered. The committee may also make available finalists for the position to the faculty with the concurrence of the provost.

E. The committee will recommend at least two candidates to the provost. If none of these candidates is acceptable to the provost, the president, or members of the board of trustees, the provost will appoint a new committee. The procedure will be repeated until an acceptable candidate is selected.

II. Duration:

The dean or school director serves an indefinite term at the pleasure of the provost.

III. Review of Deans

A. Annual Review of Deans

The provost shall conduct an annual review with each dean or director to cover the progress of the college or school. As part of the review, the provost shall meet with a representative group of senior faculty in the college, including a reasonable number of the full professors, in order that the provost shall have a good understanding of affairs within the college including teaching quality, research quality, professional activities, service to the University and morale.

B. Five-Year Review of Deans

At the start of every fifth year of his or her appointment, a dean shall undergo a ”five-year review.” The provost shall formally notify the dean of the review at least 30 days before it is scheduled to begin. Normally, such reviews will begin on or around October 1st to be completed by December 1st of the same year. In any case, the provost shall have discretion and authority to initiate a five-year review at any time of the year in a dean’s fifth year. The review shall be conducted over a period not exceeding sixty (60) days. Furthermore, the five-year review may be conducted at an earlier time if the provost, by his or her prerogative or in response to faculty petition, directs that it be done.

Simultaneous with notification to the dean of the upcoming review, the provost (or his or her designee) shall oversee the formation of a Five-Year Review Committee (hereafter, “the Committee”). Membership on the Committee shall be as follows:

Two (2) deans selected by the dean under review from a list of three (deans) prepared by the provost;
four (4) tenured faculty members, preferably at the rank of Full Professor, from the dean’s unit;*
two (2) tenured faculty members, preferably at the rank of Full Professor, appointed by Faculty Senate;
two (2) tenured faculty members, preferably at the rank of Full Professor, appointed by the provost;
one (1) undergraduate student to be appointed by the Provost in consultation with the Student Government Association (SGA), and one (1) graduate student, also appointed by the provost but in consultation with the unit’s graduate faculty;
one (1) representative from the unit’s alumni association, such as a past president of the association;
one (1) representative from the unit’s external advisory board.

The provost will call the first meeting of the Committee. He or she will charge the committee and preside while the committee chooses its chairperson. He or she will then withdraw from the committee, but will be available for consultation during its deliberations.

The Review Committee must establish and follow its own formal procedures, though such procedures shall have been reviewed and approved of by the Provost. General orderliness of record is important regarding dates and attendance of meetings, evidence considered, votes taken, manner of voting and outcome. All information associated with the review (thus, materials submitted by the dean or others for review, or generated by the review process) must be kept in strict confidence by persons involved in the review. Once the review process has begun, deans are not permitted to have access to any of the materials (documents, letters, etc.,) that they have themselves submitted for review or that others may have submitted on their behalf. Any exceptions to the requirement of confidentiality can only be authorized by the University’s General Counsel.

The Committee ought, at a minimum, return a report to the Provost that includes detailed and supported answers to the following questions:

1. Has the Dean set clear goals and objectives for the unit? Are these appropriate to the unit?

2. To what extent does the Dean facilitate the achievement of these goals?

3. How effectively does the Dean represent the unit to persons outside the unit?

4. How successful has the Dean been in managing the unit in the face of pressures?

5. How is the unit perceived on a campus, system, state, and national level?

6. How effectively has the Dean implemented the University’s policies?

Before preparing its final report, the committee chairperson will review the findings with the dean, taking all necessary safeguards to protect the confidentiality of its sources of information.

At the conclusion of its review, the committee will submit a final written report to the provost, and a copy of the report (omitting any confidential material) to the dean. The report will include a description of the committee's mode of operation and the criteria used in making its evaluation. The dean will have seven (7) working days in which to submit to the provost any written comments on the report. The committee's report, together with the dean’s comments, will be forwarded by the provost to the president.

Since the dean serves at the pleasure of the president, the final decision on the continuation of the appointment will be made by the president.

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* Appropriate representation should be given on the Committee to adjunct and/or auxiliary faculty members in academic units having proportionately large numbers of them. Accordingly, each college or school shall have addressed in its own bylaws or policies this issue of representation and of how best to achieve it for the unit.