The above calendar provides general timelines of important responsibilities and activities of Chairs.
URI is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). This is a nationally recognized organization that provides online career development and mentoring resources. Membership is available to all URI faculty, post-docs and graduate students. To lock your membership, click here, choose University of Rhode Island from the drop-down menu, and select activate membership, using your URI email.
Department chairs professional development
Fall 2021 Department Chairs Workshops
Writing Effective Annual Review Letters
Using IDEA Results – more than just a number
Inclusion Workshop for Department Chairs, Program Directors, & Dean’s Offices
Resources from Prior Chair Workshops
First steps for new chairs – Financials – HRA – Budget
Curriculum Planning
Chairs should be in an going planning cycle facilitating various activities each year to ensure that program curriculum meets the needs of students and stays current and relevant. Please see the Academic Departmental Planning Guide for assistance.
As part of the continuous cycle of program improvement, departments engage in learning outcomes assessment on a two-year cycle and academic program review on a 6-year cycle.
When planning faculty course assignments and needs of students, Chairs should be aware of the data within the Unit Performance Matrix and College Department Student Faculty Ratio to better understand the department’s productivity.
Planning for Summer and Winter J-Term:
Other Enrollment Management Data, Reports, and Information – https://web.uri.edu/provost/enrollment-management/#data
General Education
Consists of 40 credits. Each of the twelve outcomes (A1-D1) must be met by at least 3 credits. A single course may meet more than one outcome, but cannot be double counted towards the 40 credit total. At least one course must be a Grand Challenge (G designation). No more than twelve credits used to meet general education may be from the same course code, with the exception of honors HPR courses, which may have more than 12 credits. General education courses may also be used to meet requirements of the major or minor when appropriate. More information about general education
Faculty
AAUP Contracts
The URI Chapter of the American Association of University Professors represents the 700 full-time faculty and lecturers at the University of Rhode Island. Together they protect academic freedom, bargain collectively with the Board of Governor’s on wages and working conditions, protect their contract through the grievance procedure, and work to protect academic freedom at the University of Rhode Island.
GAU Contract
GAU represents nearly 600 graduate teaching, research, and administrative assistants at the University of Rhode Island. The union has collectively bargained their contract to ensure that their rights are protected.
PTFU Contract
The PTFU continuously works toward their mission and commitment of addressing matters that directly impact both individual and collective areas of concern to URI/Part-Time Faculty. The PTFU goals include giving a voice to URI’s Part-Time Faculty, empowering them as equal members of URI’s teaching community, ensuring that members’ rights and entitlements gained from collective bargaining negotiations are respected and enforced.
Annual Review/Promotion Process
The University has an online system for faculty review. Candidates prepare electronic portfolios that provide an organized and clear summary of their performance accomplishments for a review period. Sakai is used as a platform for peer review.
Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate, subject to the provisions of state and federal law, subject to consistency with the general objectives established by its governing Board, and subject to the referendum power of the General Faculty, has ultimate legislative power on educational policies.
Interdisciplinary Work: Guidelines and Practices
The following guidelines and practices are recommended for advancing interdisciplinary education at URI.
Phased Retirement Option
The purpose of this part-time option is to provide faculty members at the University of Rhode Island with the opportunity to reduce their commitments and responsibilities to part-time during the academic year for a limited number of years prior to their desired retirement.
Sabbatical Leave
Information and application forms for faculty sabbaticals
Summer Recontracting
As part of an ongoing effort to streamline administrative procedures, the Office of the Provost introduced in FY 2010 a new summer compensation process for academic year faculty only.
University Manual
The University Manual is a compilation of statutes, policies, procedures, and descriptions that guide the University of Rhode Island in support of its mission. The Manual is created through the framework of shared governance between the university faculty and administration under the Rhode Island Board of Education. It is a source of information regarding the structure, rights, regulations, and practices that govern university life.
Faculty Development
The Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (ATL) consists of three divisions — Faculty Development, Online Education, and Student Learning, Outcomes Assessment, & Accreditation— all of which promote excellence and innovation in teaching and learning at URI. The Office provides high quality courses, workshops, resources, and support for faculty, instructors, and graduate students. Chairs should encourage new faculty and all faculty to seek the assistance and utilize the resources of the ATL Office.
Faculty Development Fund
Information and forms for applying for funds for travel and other faculty development activities.
IDEA Center’s Student Ratings of Instruction (SRI) system – The IDEA-SRI allows instructors to select the essential and important learning objectives in their courses, and the students provide feedback on their learning progress on these objectives. web.uri.edu/provost/idea/
Mentoring
It is a healthy workplace practice to assign mentors to new employees as they transition into their positions at URI. Employees should feel comfortable asking what the policies and practices are in their area. There is currently a university mentoring policy for faculty, as well as individual college policies.
Student Learning, Outcomes Assessment and Accreditation
Provides outcomes assessment information and resources at URI, as well as nationally and internationally.
Students
Starfish
Starfish allows you to provide course feedback to students. You can “raise a flag” when you observe a pattern of behavior that concerns you, which ensures that the people on campus who can intervene are aware and can reach out to the student. Starfish also allows your students to see your office hours electronically, and even book an appointment with you. Additionally, as department chair, you may also be responsible for assigning Faculty Advisors within your department. For an overview and training, please contact a member of the Starfish team at at starfish@etal.uri.edu
Student Handbook
The University Conduct System at the University of Rhode Island is designed to hold students accountable for maintaining the standards of conduct of the URI community. For more detailed information about specific conduct policies and procedures, please refer to the URI Student Handbook or call the Dean of Students Office.
Day-to-Day
Advising Transfer & Continuing Upperclass Students
Incoming Transfer students are directed to department chairs for advising throughout the admissions cycle. Familiarity with interpreting transcripts, incoming credits, the CCRI Joint Admissions agreement, and URI academic programs (major, general education) are all critical to accurate advising and timely graduation. Upperclassmen without advisor assignments may also come to you for advising assistance. URI has an online Advisor Training program which can help new department chairs and faculty get up to speed. For more information about the Master Advisor Education Program (MAEP) please email Linda Moffat at lindacmoffat@uri.edu.
e-Campus
In order to see rosters of students in your courses and for advising within your department, you will need to have access to e-Campus. Here’s a link to request access from Enrollment Services: https://web.uri.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2054/SecurityAccessRequest.pdf
Instructor Roles
Each individual connected to a class is assigned a role. Multiple individuals may be assigned the same role. Ability to enter grades is independent of the instructor role.
Budget Policies, Procedures, and Processes
It is important for Chairs to know about budget processes, using eCampus financials to manage budgets, signature authorization guidelines and more. Please refer to this webpage for more information: https://web.uri.edu/budget/policies/