Department Chair and Program Director Guide

Section Ten - General Information

Insurance – 10:1

Gustavus carries liability, property, and automobile insurance. Accidents should be reported to Curt Kowaleski (curtk@gustavus.edu or 507-933-7499), Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, within 24 hours of the event.

Parking and Traffic Information – 10:2

Parking and traffic information is available through the Office of Campus Safety and is available online at: https://gustavus.edu/safety/policies/traffic.php.

Student Entry into Locked Academic Areas – 10:3

If a faculty or staff member wishes to allow a student access to a room that is considered a limited access area, the student must be issued a gold-colored Permission for Admittance pass. (Limited access may be appropriate for a variety of reasons, including valuable equipment, dangerous materials, etc. or for after-hours access.) Whatever the reason, it is helpful for Campus Safety to follow a standardized procedure in granting student access. Faculty members must complete the permission request form to request this access.

Faculty members may only issue passes for rooms within their own areas of responsibility. Multiple-room access will require multiple passes. Permission passes cannot be issued for computer labs for which Technology Services is responsible. GTS requires a Lab Monitor be present after hours.

Campus Safety officers are instructed to ensure proper access to limited access rooms after hours. If a student does not have a pass they may be asked to leave (even if they have a key or fob or are with a student with a pass). Additionally, officers are instructed to collect incomplete passes, passes that appear to be modified, or that do not allow the student access to the room in question. Confiscated passes will be turned over to the Director of Campus Safety.

Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Campus Safety.

Academic Calendar and the Common Meeting Time – 10:4

Academic Calendar Structure

Revised by faculty action 3/22/2001, 3/20/2002, 10/25/2006, 9/23/2016, 5/17/2019, 10/14/2022, 10/06/2023

Overall Structure
  • Each Fall and Spring term is 15-weeks
  • Drop/Add deadline is the 10th day of classes for 15-week terms, 5th day of classes for 8- and 12-week terms and 3rd day of classes for 4 week terms. Half semester courses have 5 days to add/drop
  • First half and Second half courses are 7 weeks long and finals are the Friday of the 7th week
  • Midterm grades are due the Wednesday after First half finals
  • Start of 2nd half courses is 7 weeks before the end of the term
  • Advising Day will occur prior to priority registration
  • Term priority registration will be the four days immediately after Advising Day
  • Withdraw deadline is the end of the 10th week for 15-week terms. First half and second half withdraw deadline is the end of the 5th week of class. All deadlines are roughly 70% of the term.
  • Final class day each semester is on Tuesday of the 15th week
  • Reading day is Wednesday, the day after the final class day
  • Optional final exams are Thursday and Friday after Reading Day
  • Semester ends on the last day of final exams
  • Grades are due five business days after the semester (also applies to all Summer terms)
  • Must have 8-10 business days between end of Fall and start of Spring for Academic Standing
Fall Specific
  • Orientation is the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Fall classes start
  • Fall classes begin on the Tuesday after Labor Day
  • The Nobel Conference is on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of October
  • Fall Break is one week after the 7th week of the term
  • Thanksgiving break is Wednesday-Friday of Thanksgiving
  • Holiday break begins after December finals and ends before Spring term starts
Spring Specific
  • Spring term starts on the Monday of the 2nd full week of January
  • MLK Day – no classes held
  • Spring Break is one week after the 7th week of the term
  • Semester Break is on Good Friday
  • Honors Day is the first Saturday in May
  • Commencement on Sunday after Spring final exams and before the start of summer terms.
Summer Specific
  • Summer A (4 weeks) begins the Monday after Commencement (generally the 1st week of May)
  • Summer B (4 weeks) begins one week after Summer A ends
  • Summer A and Summer B will each be 19-20 days in length
  • Summer C (MAT–8 weeks) - 1st non-workday 2 days after 4th of July to Friday before Labor Day
  • Summer D will be 8 weeks
  • Summer E will be 12 weeks

Common Meeting Time

During the academic year, each Wednesday 3:30-5:00 p.m. has been set aside as the Common Meeting Time (https://gustavus.edu/committees/FacultyCommittees.php). This time is reserved for scheduling meeting times for faculty committees, and may also be used for scheduling college-wide or faculty colloquia. The common meeting time is set each spring by through consultation by the Provost's Office and the Academic Affairs Coordinating Council (AACC).

Reporting Grades and Attendance – 10:5

Final Grades: Faculty policy requires that mid-term and final grades be reported for all students via the the grading screens in MyGustavus within the published time lines of the academic calendar (https://gustavus.edu/registrar/six_year_calendar/). The options for A-F grading are available for most courses, with Pass/Fail available in select circumstances.

Day 11 Reporting: The course drop/add period of the semester runs for ten business days. On day 11, course rosters and student status are finalized. For the purposes of federal financial aid reporting, we ask that faculty report any student who has not attended class, yet still remains on your official course roster on day 11 of the semester, to the Registrar (dmschloesser@gustavus.edu).

Department Chairs Annual Calendar – 10:6

Please note that this calendar is not intended to be comprehensive or duplicative of information available in the academic calendar (https://gustavus.edu/registrar/six_year_calendar/). Course proposal deadlines are available on the Curriculum Committee website (https://gustavus.edu/committees/curriculum/).

If you have faculty candidates up for tenure, promotion, third year review, or continuing faculty review, please see Section 6. Tenure-track search schedules/timelines are outlined in detail online at: https://gustavus.edu/provost/facultysearches/.

Ongoing
Monitor department budget expenditures
Class visits for probationary faculty
Assessment activities (with PAL)
Hire/mentor new faculty
Collect data for annual report
Schedule and facilitiate regular department meetings
Administrative Assistant supervision/direction
Student worker supervision/direction
Curriculum changes/updates
Management of student and personnel issues
Attend chair development opportunities
Regular meetings and communication with the dean/Provost's Office
Maintain staffing and scheduling
Oversee departmental review processes
Coordinate departmental engagement with Admission events

June
New chair assumes duties
Departmental annual reports are due to the Provost’s Office (led by previous year chair)
Inform the Registrar’s Office of courses from incoming faculty
Close out departmental budget

August
Orientation for new faculty
Opening Faculty Meeting and Retreat

September
Tenure review files close
Continuing Faculty review files close
Budget module/packets are distributed for the following fiscal year
Departmental budget proposals are due to the Finance Office
Third Year Review Committee Chair and Deans meet with TYR candidates and chairs to review the process
Submit finalized Spring and Summer departmental schedules to the Registrar’s Office
Collect course syllabi from department faculty
Course proposals due for new Spring semester and Summer courses

October
Provost’s Office sends out staffing request/planning information for following academic year
Begin planning for pre-tenure and non-tenure-track faculty reviews
Assessment report due to the Assessment Director (department PAL writes the report)
Attend budget manager training
Notification due to Provost’s Office for faculty intending to retire in May (October 1)

November
Second year evaluations of tenure-track faculty due (November 15)
SRIs are administered the first two weeks of November (tenure, third-year review, promotion, CF)
Staffing/course planning information (for following academic year) due to Provost’s Office
Innovation request (for following academic year) due to the Provost’s Office
New chair elections

December
Nominees for spring departmental or program academic assistants are due to the Provost’s Office
Receive notice regarding non-tenure-track staffing for the following academic year (may happen in January)

January
Course proposals due for new fall semester courses
Pre-proposal requests for new or revised majors/minors/programs that require significant institutional resources are due
Receive notice regarding non-tenure-track staffing for the following academic year (may happen in December)
Tenure-track position requests due (January 15)

February
Promotion files close
Nomination letters for promotion candidates due in Provost’s Office
First year evaluations of tenure-track faculty due (February 15)
Third year review files close
Submit Fall and Spring departmental schedules for the next academic year to the Registrar’s Office
Write letters supporting department sabbatical requests to the Faculty Development Committee (due in March)
Non-tenure-track searches are initiated

March
Evaluations of non-tenure-track faculty due (March 1)
SRIs are administered the last two weeks of March (tenure, third-year review, promotion)
Sabbatical leave applications due
Course proposals due for new FTS courses
Department endowed faculty nominations due to the Provost's Office
Receive authorization(s) for tenure-track searches (or early April)

April
Fourth and fifth year evaluations of tenure-track faculty due (April 1)
Nominations for faculty awards (i.e., teaching, service, scholarship) due April 15
Close out NTT searches
Information meeting for department/programs undergoing review in the following year

May
Personnel Committee Chair and Provost meet with tenure candidates and chairs to review the process for the following year
Academic Catalog revisions due to Registrar’s Office
Nominees for fall departmental or program academic assistants due in Provost’s Office
Nominations for endowed and/or annually funded scholarships due to Financial Aid Office
Evaluation of departmental administrative assistants (look for prompts from HR)

Academic Seniority – 10:7

Tenure-line faculty listed by year of hire:

1985 Steven Mellema
1986 Paul Estenson
1988 Lisa Heldke, Daniel Mollner
1989 Thomas Huber
1990 Mark Braun (1990-2007, 2011-), Phillip Voight
1991 Christopher Gilbert, Paschal Kyoore
1993 Paul Saulnier
1994 Toshiyuki Sakuragi
1995 Jennifer Ackil
1996 Richard Leitch, Margaret O'Connor
1997 John Cha
1998 Scott Moore, Marie Walker, Suzanne Wilson
1999 Pamela Kittelson
2000 Rebecca Fremo, Jillian Locke (on leave 2007-08, 2024-25), Thomas LoFaro, Michelle Twait
2001 Patricia English, Loramy Gerstbauer, Jon Grinnell
2002 Aaron Banks, Jeffrey Dahlseid, Casey Elledge, Anna Hulseberg (2002-2007, 2008-), Jeffrey Jeremiason, Brenda Kelly, Matthew Panciera (on leave 2015-16, 2021-22)
2003 Margaret Bloch Qazi, Priscilla Briggs, Scott Bur, Mary Gaebler
2004 Yumiko Oshima-Ryan, Bonnie Reimann
2005 Thia Cooper (on leave fall 2021), Katherine Knutson, Martin Lang, Karl Larson, Brandy Russell
2006 Julie Gilbert, Maria Isabel Kalbermatten, Amanda Nienow (January 2007), Jeffrey Owen, Matthew Rasmussen (2006-2010, 2011-)
2007 Ana Adams, Seán Easton, Yurie Hong, Jeffery Jenson, Kristen Lowe, Henry MacCarthy, Mary McHugh (2004-05, 2007-), Heidi Meyer (February 2008), Daniel Moos, Melissa Rolnick, Sarah Ruble, Laura Triplett
2008 Kyle Chambers, Baili Chen, Sean Cobb, Katrina Imison, David Obermiller, Stephanie Otto, So Young Park, Lianying Shan, Dwight Stoll, Mary Westby, Anna Versluis
2009 Julie Bartley, Blake Couey, Robert Kendrick (on leave 2024-25), Justin Knoepfel, Glenn Kranking, Sun Hee Lee, Amy Vizenor (2001-2003, 2009-)
2010 Angelique Dwyer, Lauren Hecht, Kjerstin Moody, Valerie Walker
2011 Betsy Byers, Pamela Conners, Brandon Dean, Kathleen Keller, Karrin Meffert-Nelson, Sheng-Ping Yang
2012 Joshua Brown, Kathy Lund Dean, Sarah Wolter (2005-2009, 2012-)
2013 Marcia Bunge (1995-1997, 2013-), Yuta Kawarasaki, Ursula Lindqvist, Carlos Mejía Suárez, Jessica Stadick, Joaquín Villanueva, Louis Yu
2014 Lisa Dembouski, Jeff La Frenierre, James Patrick Miller (2008-09, 2014-), Marta Podemska-Mikluch, Darío Sánchez-González, David Stamps
2015 Laura Burrack, Maddalena Marinari, Jacob Siehler
2016 Lucie Holmgreen (January 2017), Hayley Russell, Shu-Ling Wang
2017 Vita Faychuk (on leave 2021-22)
2018 Sharon Marquart (2015-16, 2018-)
2019 Jillian Downey, Tiffany Grobelski, Patrick Heath, Elizabeth Kubek, Angelika Loefgren
2020 Jon Gill, Laura Hildreth, Katherine Leehy, Lisa Ortmann, Colleen Stockmann
2021 Katelyn Aguilar, Hagar Attia, Séverine Bates (2013-14, Spring 2021), Ella Burnham, Jane Frandsen, Martha Ndakalako-Bannikov
2022 Sarah Lahasky, Romina Peña-Pincheira, Lai Sze Tso, Claire Woebke
2023 Jaren Crist, Dongji Feng, Rachel Flynn (2018-2020, 2023-), Brittany Otto, Samuel Piccolo, Guarionex Salivia
2024 Kelle Nett, Naomi Rushing

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Last modified: August 20, 2024, by Shanon Nowell