Academic Governance

Procedures for Appointment to Faculty Dean

1. Faculty Deans are appointed by the University Council and by Board.

2. The Faculty Dean, in consultation with the Heads of School/Vice-Dean and the Faculty Committee, will present a proposal to the Provost on the method of appointment of the next Faculty Dean. This should be considered approximately twelve months before the expiry of the term of appointment of the existing Dean so that adequate time is available to the Faculty should it wish to proceed with an open competition.

The Dean may be appointed by
a) Election (see 4 below)
b) Selection by Internal or Open Competition (see 5 below)
c) Combined Nomination and Election (see 6 below)

3. The term of appointment for Deanship is three years, renewable for a further three. In the case of appointment by open competition, the term of appointment will be six years, with review after three. Appointment will normally be taken up on 13 th July of the relevant year.

4. Election of Dean

Electorate and nomination process

4.1 The process of election of the Faculty Dean is supervised by the Faculty Administrative Officer.
4.2 At least three months before the expiry of the term of appointment of the incumbent Dean, the Faculty Administrative Officer will inform the Faculty of the need for an election and of the procedures to be followed, and will invite nominations.

4.3 The electorate shall be
- all full-time members of academic staff in the Faculty on contracts of more than one year duration, including staff on contracts of indefinite duration.
- The agreed number of student representatives in the Schools/Vice-Deanery within the Faculty.
The electorate will be reviewed during 2005-06.
4.4 In accordance with agreed procedures and criteria, each School/Vice-Deanery in the Faculty will forward to the Faculty Administrative Officer a list of their members to be included in the electorate for the Faculty Dean.
4.5 Nominations for Deanship should be received by the Faculty Administrative Officer by the stated deadline. A candidate must be an elector of Senior Lecturer grade or above and must consent to their nomination.
4.6 If no candidate or only one candidate is nominated, the Provost may require that the process as set out in 6. below is followed.
4.7 The Faculty Administrative Officer will advise the Provost of the names proposed and, on receiving the Provost's consent, will conduct an election by secret ballot.

Ballot

4.8 Ballot papers and return envelopes will be forwarded to all electors by the Faculty Office, and a deadline set for return of papers of not more than three weeks.
4.9 The ballot paper will indicate the names of the candidates and must have a faculty stamp to ensure its authenticity at the counting stage. The voting is anonymous.
4.10 All ballot papers must be returned to the Faculty Office in the envelopes provided and by the date and time specified. Any ballot forms not returned in this way and those returned late will not be counted. All envelopes must be date stamped on receipt to ensure that they were received within the timescale.
4.11 All ballot forms are opened at the same time in the presence of an adjudicator. The adjudicator must be from outside the Faculty, and may be a Faculty Administrative Officer from another Faculty. The votes are counted and the candidate with the most votes is nominated to the Provost.

Nomination

4.12 The Provost will present the nomination to Council and Board for approval.
4.13 Once approval has been received, the candidates and Faculty are informed accordingly by the Faculty Administrative Officer.

5. Selection of Faculty Dean by Internal or Open Competition

5.1 The Faculty Dean, in consultation with the Heads of School/Vice-Dean and the Faculty Committee, may propose to the Provost that the Faculty wishes to proceed to select a new Dean by internal competition only, or by open competition 1 .
5.2 In the case of internal competition, this should take place at least three months before the expiry of the term of appointment of the current Dean. In the case of open competition, the process should commence twelve months prior to the expiry of the current Dean's appointment.
5.3 The Heads of School/Vice-Dean will agree the membership of a search committee and will submit this to Council for approval. The membership of the search committee will normally include two or three members from the Schools/Vice-Deanery within the Faculty, two senior members of academic staff – one from within the Faculty and one from without and one of whom is a Provost's nominee, and an external assessor. A senior member of the academic staff from within the Faculty and who is a member of the search committee, will normally act as its chairperson.
5.4 An advertisement and further particulars will be drafted and approved by the search committee and circulated internally and externally as appropriate
5.5 Applications should be submitted to the Staff Office which will liaise with the Chair of the Search Committee.
5.6 Candidates must be on the Senior Lecturer grade (or its equivalent) or above, and meet other requirements as may be determined by the search committee.
5.7 Applicants shortlisted by the search committee will be invited to attend for interview and to make a presentation. All members of the Faculty will be invited to attend the presentations.
5.8 The search committee shall nominate a candidate for appointment and the Chair will forward this nomination to the Provost , who will present the nomination to Council and Board for approval.

6. Combined Nomination and Election of Faculty Dean

6.1 At least three months before the expiry of the term of appointment of the existing Dean, the Heads of School/Vice-Dean in the Faculty will propose the membership of a nominating committee to co-ordinate the process of nomination and election of Faculty Dean.
6.2 The membership of the nominating committee should not normally exceed four. The committee will nominate a chair from within its membership.
6.3 The Chair of the nominating committee will submit its membership to Council for approval.
6.4 Following consultation, the nominating committee will propose up to three candidates, whose names will be forwarded by the Chair to the Provost for approval. A candidate must be an elector and be on the Senior Lecturer grade (or above) and must consent to their nomination.
6.5 The approved shortlist of candidates will proceed to election by secret ballot, in accordance with the procedures set out in 4.3-4.4 and 4.8 – 4.13 above.

1 Within the resources available to the Schools within the Faculty.