CHS Director Manual

Last Updated: October 30, 2014

Table of Contents

Program Director Responsibilities

Organizational Charts

Budget

Purchasing Process

MWU Catalog

Program Website

Faculty Senate

Academic Assessment Plans

Faculty Development Plan

Promotion in Rank and Tenure

Committees

Accreditation

Performance Evaluations

Hiring Process

Time Keeping

Progressive Discipline Policy (Faculty)

Progressive Discipline Policy (Staff)

Leaves for Students

Leaves for Faculty

Please visit the Faculty Handbook for information regarding leaves for faculty.

Enrollment Certification

Meetings

Events

Links to Key Documents

  • MWU Catalog
  • Student Handbook
  • Faculty Handbook
  • Academic and Rotation Calendars
  • CHS website
  • University Policies:

Program Director Responsibilities

The Program Director shall:

  1. Participate actively in the teaching program and be responsible for the quality of education rendered by all core and adjunct faculty in a variety of educational settings.
  1. Maintain the high quality of the didactic and clinical curriculums and ensure that the curriculum is compliant with the accreditation standards.
  1. Maintain full accreditation status of the program (for those programs to which this applies); direct and organize accreditation activities.
  1. After consultation with faculty, assign faculty members committee assignments, lecture responsibilities and course directorship responsibilities as appropriate based on expertise, overall workload and experience.
  1. Participate in scholarly activity. The College offers Boyer's paradigm for scholarship as an example of modes of scholarship acceptable in its faculty members. Boyer describes four categories of scholarship:
  • Scholarship of Discovery that is aimed at developing new knowledge;
  • Scholarship of Integration that involves the review of knowledge and creative synthesis;
  • Scholarship of Application that uses knowledge in solving problems; and,
  • Scholarship of Teaching that involves critical analysis of knowledge about teaching.

See the Faculty Handbook, CHS Subsection, for additional information.

  1. Mentor faculty on the fulfillment of service, teaching and scholarship responsibilities and allocate program resource as needed to facilitate progress toward rank and tenure.
  1. Oversee recruitment of faculty and staff and, after consultation with the faculty, make recommendations to Dean regarding faculty/staff appointments, promotions, leaves of absence, and terminations.
  1. Recruitment of the number of students consistent with the enrollment target and who meet the identified criteria for admission; monitor the adequacy of the required prerequisites on an annual basis.
  1. Assure the validity and reliability of all student performance assessments.
  1. Provide an annual performance assessment of the faculty and staff based on the faculty development plan or goals.
  1. After consultation with faculty/staff about equipment/supplies, prepare the annual budget according to the designated timeline and monitor the implementation of the approved budget to ensure expenses remain within budgetary limits.
  1. After consultation with faculty, ensure Program policies and procedures effectively guide the implementation of the didactic and clinical education curriculums in compliance with accreditation standards.
  1. Preside at all regularly scheduled meetings of the program and effectively represent the program at external administrative meetings.
  1. Enforce adherence of faculty, staff and students to the bylaws, rules, regulations and policies of Midwestern University.
  1. After consultation with the faculty, annually revise the Program’s strategic plan and make recommendations to the Dean regarding the College strategic plan.
  1. In the Program Director’s short-term absence, designate a faculty member to oversee these responsibilities.

Organizational Chart

Budget

Set up by campus, program and line item

  • Downers Grove campus: 10
  • Glendale campus: 30
  • Restricted, research- or grant-related accounts are 11, 31 or 32

Each program is assigned a budget number.

Three components:

Salary (merit raises are not visible until July 1st)

Any FTE additions first have to be approved by your supervisor and the source of funds to support has to be identified (tuition, enrollment, combination); all new positions included in the budget are officially approved by the Management Team in the spring

Operating Budget

Line of expense accounts used to deliver curriculum; the amount varies between programs

Capital Budget

(equipment items >$1500 and software >$500; capital money set aside and must provide justification when request; may or may not be approved

Budgets for new fiscal year due typically in November; staggered due dates for components

Use correct account number to describe purchase (even if not in budget; list of chart account numbers in Business Office)

If a program goes negative in a particular line item (like contract dollars), it is OK as long as the overall operating budget is not negative. Still apply the amount to the correct line item as it informs budget preparations for the next year.

Dean reviews and approves; then VP/CAO reviews and approves.

Print out your budget once it is approved by Dean and VP/CAO.

Purchasing Process

Purchasing information can be found on the Business Services website at:

The following policies and forms, in addition to others, can be found on the Business Services website. Scroll down the page to Purchasing, Policies, and Forms.

  • Policy for Procurement of Non Capital Expenditure
  • Policy for Procurement of Capital Expenditures
  • Use for Purchasing Card for Online Purchase Request Form
  • Off-Campus Purchasing Approval Form
  • Business Card AZ Form
  • Business Card (Clinic) AZForm

MWU Catalog

  • The MWU Catalog is revised each year; the revisionsare due around February and the new Catalog ispublished in June.
  • Program Directors responsible for reviewing and approving all information in the program’s section of the Catalog; Directors are also required to review the CHS subsection annually.
  • All curricular changes must be included in the Catalog at this time; no mid-year catalog changes are permitted unless dictated by accreditation and/or loss of faculty.
  • For similar programs (PT-AZ & PT-IL for example), all admission requirements (including prerequisites) and graduation requirements must be identical; any changes must be agreed to and approved by both programs.
  • In AZ, an administrative assistant typically inputs the changes into the online systemand prints a hard copy for the Dean to review.
  • Dean reviews and approves; then VP/CAO reviews and approves.
  • Typically, the offices of Financial Aid and Admissions will submit their revisions to the Program Director/Deans by the end of October. Program Director must send their revision to Dean by mid-December. The Catalog goes through many more revisions prior to being published in May.
  • The Catalog Style Guide can be found in Appendix 1.
  • The Catalog User Guide for Authors can be found in Appendix 2.

Program Website

Fast Facts

  • Directors should verify that all data on the Fast Facts section on their program’s website has an identified source. Surveys should include the percent of people responding to the survey as well as frequency and year of survey.
  • For those that use the Bureau of Labor & Statistics as a reference for salary and/or employment data, the University would like a complete reference to be included:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S., Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-2013 Edition, Pharmacists, (accessed 1/29/2013)

  • When career opportunities are listed, make sure at least one recent graduate has elected that career path.

Program websites are updated at the time the Catalogs are updated (the Catalog data feeds into the website).

Programs can add additional information to their website, including academic policies, clinical education information, etc. See the CPG website for an example:

“Extra” information should be coordinated through the Office of Communications.

Faculty Senate

The authority of the faculty of Midwestern University is expressed through the University Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate shall establish, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, the following:

  1. policy relating to the academic matters of the University; and
  2. policy and procedure relating to the welfare of the faculty, as described in the Faculty Handbook.

The Senate shall establish committees, standing and special, as necessary to conduct its authorized business, collect information, promote faculty interest, and express faculty opinion.

Senators:

Documents:

Includes Constitution and Bylaws, University Faculty Handbook, College Handbook Subsections, Committees, and documents related to the Rank and tenure Process

Schedule:

Minutes:

Academic Assessment Plans

University Academic Assessment Committee

Although each program has sufficient latitude todesign its academic assessment program, each is expected to provide evidence to the University thatassessment activities relate to and follow defined learning goals. Since the fall of 2000, each programhas been required to submit an annual written Academic Assessment Plan (AAP) to the University Academic Assessment Committee (UAAC) that outlines the learning goals, and the student learning outcomes, as well as the assessmentmethods and criteria for success, they will use in their assessment activity for that academic year.

A standard template facilitates the preparation of the AAP and can be found on the website.

A handbook that explains the use of the documents and how to fill out the forms can also be found on the website.

The compilation of individual program AAPs constitutes theUniversity Academic Assessment Plan for that academic year. The availability of the AAP on the website facilitates cross-program sharing of ideas related to assessment of student learning.

Faculty Development Plan

  • Prepared each year in July
  • Developed by faculty member with oversight by program director
  • Percentages in the different categories can change if responsibilities change
  • Is the foundation for the performance evaluation – same categories
  • No specific University Form; however, a template has been created that you may use
  • See Appendix 3 for a FDP template for regular faculty
  • See Appendix 4 for a FDP template for faculty with administrative responsibilities

From the CHS Subsection of the Faculty Handbook:

Faculty Professional Development Plan

A. Definition:

The faculty professional development plan is a document, developed jointly by the faculty member and the program director, which outlines the goals and duties of the faculty member for the upcoming year. It serves to foster communication between the director and faculty, to provide a framework for evaluation, and formulate short-term goals directed toward long-term career goals.

B. Process:

All faculty members with a 0.5 FTE or greater will have a faculty development plan developed during an evaluation meeting with the program director by no later than June 30 each year. Faculty development plans for faculty with an appointment of less than 0.5 FTE are encouraged but optional.

C. Content:

Faculty members in the College of Health Sciences at MWU, whether full-time or part-time, should exhibit qualities of excellence in teaching, scholarship, and institutional and public service. In addition, the academician should be a role model for students and health care professionals. The faculty member's development plan shall reflect the functions, duties, assignments, time commitments and all other professional activities. Faculty members in theCollege should exhibit a balance among the three components of an academician: teaching, scholarship, and service. However, it is recognized that the best use of professional talent may sometimes necessitate that a faculty member's contribution in one area may predominate. However, all members of the College faculty should have a minimum of 10% of their faculty time designated for each of the three components of faculty life, teaching, scholarship and service. Examples of elements for inclusion in the faculty professional development plan are listed in the Midwestern University Faculty Handbook.

Promotion in Rank and/or Tenure //

Mentoring

MWU Faculty Handbook:

CHS Subsection of the Handbook:

See both the main handbook and the CHS subsection for details on promotion in rank and/or tenure.

Responsibilities of the Academic Supervisor (Program Director) for

Faculty Promotion and Tenure Assessment

The academic supervisor will review the dossier in light of the recommended guidelines for promotion and/or tenure outlined in the Midwestern Faculty Handbook and the subsection related to rank and tenure in the handbook of the specific college. If the candidate’s record of academic accomplishment outlined in the dossier meets the qualifications, the academic supervisor will write a letter in support of the promotion and/or tenure. This letter and the dossier are then submitted to the Dean of the college by February 15. The dossier is to remain in the office of the Dean until April 4 when the dossier is transferred to the University President.

If the academic supervisor determines that the candidate is ineligible for promotion and/or tenure or that documentation is insufficient, the academic supervisor must notify the candidate of the specific deficiencies by February 8. Notification of the candidate requires a signed return receipt. A copy of all correspondence on this matter shall be forwarded to the college Dean.

If the Dean of the college determines that the dossier should not be reviewed by the Committee onRank and Tenure because the documentation is insufficient and/or the candidate is ineligible for promotion, the candidate must be notified of this decision by Feb 27. This notification requires a signed return receipt. The dossier and related documents will be available for review by the college Committee on Rank and Tenure March 1 of the year in which promotion is sought.

Overview of the Rank and Tenure Application Process:

Rank and Tenure Application Checklist:

Committees

Description of Committees:

Committee Assignments:

The four types of standing committees for each CHS program are:

  • Accreditation Self-Study and Assessment Committee
  • Admissions Committee
  • Academic Review Committee
  • Education Committee

See the documents above for the charge of the committees, membership, and other descriptions.

Minutes from each of these meetings should be sent to the Dean and Assistant Dean.

Appendix 5 contains a timeline for the Academic Review process, which must be followed.

Accreditation

Midwestern University continues its Mission of dedicating "the institution and its resources to the highest standards of academic excellence," and most of the University's academic programs have sought professional accreditation in pursuit of that goal. Each program receives its accreditation on a cyclical basis. Some programs have as few as four years between renewals, while others have as many as 10. When any program is scheduled for renewal, it must undertake a self-study process in which the University's program is comprehensively measured against the published accreditation criteria from the governing agency.

Several guidelines are provided to aid in the process of preparing theself-study report:

  • The Midwestern University Style Guide is designed to help prepare copy in a manner consistent with the Midwestern University style. The guide is instrumental in ensuring that the final report is stylistically uniform in format, grammar, and usage.
  • The Tips and Guidelines for Writing an Evaluative Report is a reference for writing an evaluative report.
  • The Site Visit Check List is a helpful tool when coordinating tasks necessary forthe actual site visit.

Programs must notify the CHS Dean’s office of all accreditation-related notices or reports that are due. For annual reports and self-studies, the Dean’s Office will create a timeline for the program to ensure that the report is completed on time for review. Prior to submittal, and after the program director has approved, each accreditation report is reviewed by the CHS Assistant Dean, the Dean, the VP/CAO, and the CEO. Self-studies are also reviewed by Marian O’Brien, the University’s accreditation expert. Full self-studies typically must be completed three months prior to the due date to accommodate all of the reviews.

Performance Evaluations

To locate the Performance Evaluations forms, go to

  • Faculty: use the Faculty Review form
  • Faculty with Administrative Responsibilities: use the Faculty Administrator Review form
  • Program Director: use the Chair/Program Director Review form
  • Staff (annual): use the Staff Review form
  • Staff also have the option of submitting a self-assessment to their direct supervisor. Use the Staff Self-Assessment Form for this.
  • Staff (90-day review): use the 90 Day New Staff Feedback form

For faculty:

  • Three categories: teaching, service, scholarship (and administrative if relevant). These items are detailed in the Faculty Handbook, found at:
  • Based on accomplishments listed in Faculty Development Plan (FDP) that are prepared the previous July: the percentages identified in FDP are the percentages used to calculate evaluation score in faculty performance evaluation.
  • Should include data to back up comments (student evaluations; peer review, publications, etc).
  • Use to document scholarship each year; important for rank and tenure; if not producing scholarship mention contributing factors in evaluation (presentation of or participation in continuing education conference or lecture not considered a person’s scholarly agenda)
  • Recommend development of a rubric for evaluation of faculty.

Hiring Process

Recruitment policies:

Resources for Managers:

Temporary - Staff:

Adjunct:

New Hire Onboarding:

Time Keeping

The University keeps track of time worked, vacation, etc, through Ceridian. The following presentation for exempt, salaried employees will show you how to enter your time through this system.

The Ceridian Time Pro Reference Guide can be found in Appendix 6.
The Ceridian Top 10 Questions can be found in Appendix 7.

You are also responsible for signing your faculty and staff online timecards and overseeing the time off your employees take. If you would like your faculty and staff to submit a form to you when they want to take vacation time or other time off, you may use the following form or create your own.