Journalism Unit Unit Director Election Policy and Process
Approved by Journalism Unit Faculty Vote, August 31, 2018
The Journalism Unit Director election policy and process are formulated in accordance with The Media School Governance Document.
From the Governance Document:
The Unit Director will:
- Be appointed by the School Dean in consultation with the School Associate Dean, after having received a recommendation from the voting faculty of the unit;
- Serve a three-year term, with the possibility of renewal at the discretion of the School Dean and consistent with unit by-law limits;
- Be a tenured and home member of the faculty of the unit or hold the rank of senior lecturer or professor of practice (who passed the first probationary review) in units with no or few tenured or tenure-track faculty;
- A faculty member is eligible to serve as director of the Journalism Unit only if they satisfy all of the following:
a. They have 1.0 FTE in the Media School;
b. The Journalism Unit is their home unit, as defined in the Media School Governance Document;
c. They are a home unit tenured or senior non-tenure track faculty member (who has completed the probationary term) with adherence to the Governance Document’s directive that senior NTT faculty serve as directors for home units “with no or few tenured or tenure-track faculty in the unit.”
2. All tenured, tenure track, and non-tenure-track faculty members of the Journalism Unit shall have voting privileges for selection of the Unit Director.
3. The Journalism Unit’s Advisory Committee, at least eight months before the expiration of the current director's term, will undertake the following procedures in the sequence indicated:
a. Ask the current director if they wish to serve another term.
b. Notify tenured and senior non-tenure track members of the Journalism Unit about the current director’s intentions and let them know that they may request consideration for the position of director.
c. Ask the faculty for nominations of candidates from within the Journalism Unit.
d. Contact nominees to confirm their willingness to run for election.
e. Solicit brief statements (including vision and qualifications for the position) from the final list of nominees for the director position.
4. The Advisory Committee will present the information obtained under paragraph 3 to the full faculty of the Journalism Unit.
5. The director will be selected by a two-thirds majority vote of the permanent faculty. Up to three ballots may be taken to obtain a two-thirds majority of the permanent faculty. If a two-thirds majority of the permanent faculty is not obtained, the results of the faculty vote shall be provided to the Dean of the Media School.
6. In implementing this process of selecting the director, compliance with the College Policy Committee Policy on Appointment, Reappointment, and Dismissal of Unit Chairs or Unit Directors requires that:
a. A faculty meeting must be held for faculty discussion and a secret ballot will be held either at the meeting or via electronic voting following the meeting. Nominees for the position will not be present during faculty discussion, but can participate in the voting. Proxy votes will not be allowed.
b. The process must provide an opportunity for individual statements regarding the basis for support of individual candidates and these statements must be conveyed to the Dean.