Annex 9 - Associate Dean and Head of Department Appointment Procedures

A – Procedure for Appointment of Associate Deans

Selection

  1. The Dean contacts all Academic staff (R & T) in the School asking for applications from anyone within the School who might wish to be considered.
  2. The Dean consults all staff in the School inviting confidential written comments on the suitability of the applicants for the role. Any staff member who prefers to send his/her comments to the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) may choose to do so.
  3. Having considered the comments, the Dean of School and the relevant Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) will short list and interview the candidate(s) who stated their willingness to be considered.
  4. Following interviews, the Dean and relevant PVC will make recommendations to the Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who will make an appointment on behalf of Senate.
  5. The appointment will be reported to Senate.
  6. The Dean of School should notify the School of the outcome of the process.

Period of Appointment

Associate Deans should normally be appointed for a period of three years in the first instance. Appointments may be extended by further periods of office. Each period of office shall be up to three years. At the end of the each three-year period, the full selection procedure should be repeated. 

 

B – Procedure for Appointment of Heads of Department

Selection

  1. The Dean of School contacts all Academic staff (R & T) in the School asking for applications from anyone within the School who might wish to be considered.
  2. The Dean consults all staff in the School inviting confidential written comments on the suitability of the applicants for the role. Any staff member who prefers to send his/her comments to the Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor may choose to do so.
  3. The Dean of School and the Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor will short list and interview the candidate(s) who stated their willingness to be considered.
  4. Following interviews, the Dean and Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor will make recommendations to the Vice-Chancellor, who will make an appointment on behlaf of Senate.
  5. The appointment will be reported to Senate.
  6. The Dean of School should notify the School of the outcome of the process.

Period of Appointment

Heads of Department should normally be appointed for a period of three years in the first instance. Appointments may be extended by further periods of office. Each period of office shall be up to three years. At the end of each three-year period, the full selection procedure should be repeated.  The above parallels the procedure for Associate Deans replacing the relevant PVC with the Provost with final recommendations under 3. going to the Vice-Chancellor rather than the Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Given the Head of Department remit covers research, teaching and enterprise, the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor the most appropriate member of the senior team to be involved in the appointments.