The Convener, who must be a member of the convening group, is chosen by the members of the convening group from among the full-time faculty and is approved by the Dean. The Convener must be from the school which offers the major, minor, or program. When a major is offered in more than one school, the Convener may come from any of the offering schools. If members of such a convening group cannot settle on a Convener, the convenership will rotate among schools every three years, as longas more than 10% of the majors are enrolled in that school.

The Convener serves for a term of three years. A second three-year term is possible upon consultation with the convening group and approval by the Dean. In special circumstances, additional terms are possible. Compensation is in the form of released time, depending upon the number of majors. Conveners of free-standing minors, core courses, or certificate programs are generally not offered release time.

The Convener's primary duties are:

1 ) To foster and promote effective collaborative decision-making of the convening group, particularly in curricular and personnel matters, through chairing regular convening group meetings, as well as through individual and small group consultations as needed.

2) To administer the curriculum, course reviews and approvals, program reviews, scheduling, and student advising. Because the convening group's primary responsibility is to deliver a curriculum of quality in the faculty's areas of expertise, the Convener is responsible for making sure that the major, minor, or program requirements are clear and coherent, that general education courses as well as those for the majors and minors are regularly reviewed and updated, and that all new courses are closely reviewed and approved by the convening group before being submitted for Unit review and review by the all-College curriculum committee.

The Convener is also responsible for supervising the program review process. Although various members of the convening group collect data and prepare parts of the program review document, the Convener assures that a coherent program perspective emerges. The Convener also coordinates the visits of outside evaluators and works with the convening group to prepare a response to the evaluation.

Recognizing that accountability for the final schedule rests with the Dean, the Convener is responsible, using planning data from the Office of the VPM, for preparing a well organized schedule of classes which serves the students well and which allows them to complete their coursework within a reasonable period of time. The Convener also works with Deans and other Conveners to determine whether courses satisfy requirements in other programs and whether resources can be pooled to avoid duplications or under-enrolled courses.

While advising students is a shared responsibility of the entire convening group, the Convener is responsible for supervising the process, keeping the convening group advised of policies and procedures concerning students within the program, and acting as an initial arbitrator in cases where problems or disagreements arise. The Convener is also responsible for overseeing the process of final graduation audits.

The Convener works closely with transfer students, particularly at transfer orientations, to evaluate their transfer courses within the major, minor, or program. The Convener is also responsible for working with the Office of the VPM to review courses offered at community colleges as part of the articulation process.

3) To work with the Dean in establishing search committees for hiring full-time faculty. The hiring, reappointment, and granting of tenure and promotion to faculty, as well as recommending released time and sabbaticals, are all determined at the Unit and all-College level. However, the informal input and recommendation from the appropriate convening group(s), those who are closest to a faculty member's teaching and scholarship, are of great importance for each faculty member. The Convener must insure that timely, fair, and professionally responsible reviews, observations, and evaluations of teaching and recommendations for individual faculty members are submitted to the appropriate Unit and all-College personnel committees. The Convener is also charged with helping to plan faculty development activities specific to the needs of the convening group.

The Convener, with the final approval of the Dean, has a central role in the hiring, scheduling, and supervising of adjunct faculty. The Convener also works closely with the Dean, other convening groups and individuals to coordinate and schedule those faculty who teach in several programs. In certain cases, the Convener also supervises technical or support personnel.

The Convener is responsible for placing book orders and ordering desk copies for all courses taught by adjunct faculty.

To help orient new full-time and adjunct faculty, the Convener will provide them with information packets containing sample syllabi for the course(s) they are teaching and other helpful materials such as sample examinations and student assignments, as well as Unit and College policies.

4) When applicable, to supervise the convening group's equipment and supply budget and to allocate the budget in an orderly and fair manner, in close consultation with the Dean and other unit convening groups

5) To coordinate the convening group's contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the campus and the larger community. The Convener also coordinates the group's contribution to the recruiting and public relations efforts of the college by working closely with the Office of Admissions and the Office of Public Relations.

August, 1996

Revised, April, 1999 ( Associate Dean changed to Dean)