1.3. UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNANCE

1.3.1. UT Board of Trustees (link: Board of Trustees website)

The governing body of The University of Tennessee is the Board of Trustees (the “Board”). The Board exercises general control and oversight of The University of Tennessee System and its institutions, delegating to the President the executive management and administrative authority necessary and appropriate for the efficient administration of the system or to carry out the mission of the system; and delegating to each Chancellor the executive management and administrative authority necessary and appropriate for the efficient administration of each institution and its programs, subject to the general supervision of the President.

The Board reserves to itself, among other matters, the authority to approve the scope of educational opportunities to be offered by the University, provided that the planning and development of curricula shall be the function of the faculties; policies and procedures governing the granting and removal of tenure for faculty members; granting tenure to eligible members of the faculty upon the positive recommendation of the President; and general admission, progression, retention, and graduation requirements.

The Board, through its Academic Affairs and Student Success Committee, oversees matters related to the University’s educational mission of teaching, research, and service; and considers the needs and interests of the faculty, administrative staff, and students in creating and sustaining the University’s academic environment, including in the creation, evaluation, continuation, and termination of academic programs.

For a more complete description of the organization, duties, and powers of the Board, please consult the Charter of The University of Tennessee and the Board Bylaws.

1.3.2. UT System Administration

The UT System Administration, headed by the President, enunciates the general mission of The University of Tennessee System, and coordinates comprehensive, long- range plans, growth, and development of the campuses and system operating divisions. For more information regarding the organization, duties, and functions of the UT System Administration, please consult the Office of President website.

1.3.3. UTC Campus Administration

The Chancellor of the UTC campus (the “Chancellor”) has been delegated authority to administer the campus, subject to the supervision of the President and to system-wide administrative policies, and to coordinate campus relations with the officers of the UT System Administration. For the UTC campus, the Chancellor exercises primary authority in control and allocation of all fiscal resources; establishment of the administrative organization; approval of personnel appointments; administration of academic programs and policies; administration of student affairs and services; administration and control of the intercollegiate athletics program; and administration of all campus plans and facilities. As a member of the President’s staff, the Chancellor also participates regularly in matters concerning the state-wide University of Tennessee System. The Chancellor serves at the pleasure of the President.

For more information regarding the organization, duties, and functions of the Office of the Chancellor and the UTC campus administration, please consult the Office of the Chancellor website and Article IV, Section 5(c) of the Board Bylaws.

1.3.4. UTC Academic Administration

1. Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

The Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (the “Provost”) is the chief academic officer of UTC. The Provost reports directly to the Chancellor and is responsible for the supervision of all academic affairs at UTC, including ensuring that UTC’s academic programs and faculty are of the highest quality. The Provost’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, working collaboratively with the deans for the oversight of the colleges and similar major academic units; supervising and evaluating the performance of the deans and Academic Affairs administrators and staff; managing the Academic Affairs budget and fiscal affairs; directing the development and implementation of UTC’s academic plans and policies; working in a collaborative fashion with UTC administrators, the deans, and faculty to advance UTC’s academic programs; and reviewing recommendations for appointment, salary, retention, tenure, and/or promotion of faculty and making recommendations to the Chancellor regarding the same.

The Provost serves at the pleasure of the Chancellor. Information about the UTC Academic Affairs administrative structure can be found at the UTC Academic Affairs webpage.

2. Academic Deans

Academic units at UTC are varied and diverse both in their role and scope and in their model of organization. Each college or major unit (hereafter referred to as “college”) is administered by a dean, who is the chief officer responsible for the success of its programs.

Deans serve as the academic leaders of their colleges, representatives of their colleges to the rest of the UTC community, representatives of the UTC executive leadership to their colleges, managers of the resources of their colleges, and representatives of their colleges and UTC to external bodies. A dean’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, coordinating the development of and implementing the college’s goals in alignment with UTC’s goals and strategic plan; developing a college budget through conversation with department heads and faculty within the college; managing the fiscal affairs of the college; evaluating the performance of department heads and staff within the college; reviewing recommendations for appointment, salary, retention, tenure, and/or promotion of faculty within the college, and making recommendations regarding the same to the Provost; and assessing the performance of academic programs within the college and recommending to the Provost reductions in or the elimination of current programs and the addition of new programs within the college.

The deans serve at the pleasure of the Provost and the Chancellor. An evaluation of the performance of the deans is conducted annually by the Provost.

3. Academic Department Heads

The term “department head” includes administrators with other titles, such as director, who perform the duties of a unit administrator, where the basic administrative units are typically departments, but not always (e.g., schools). In discipline-specific colleges not organized into schools or departments, the dean may serve as both dean and department head.

The department head is the first level of administration and is assigned the special duty of administering the academic department. The department head is appointed by the dean in consultation with the faculty within the unit that the department head will administer.

The department head’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, assuming responsibility for the quality, effectiveness, and progress of the academic programs and activities within the department; implementing University, college, and departmental policies and procedures affecting the department, with due regard for the prerogatives and responsibilities of the faculty; recommending to the dean, after appropriate faculty counsel and consistent with University policies and procedures, appointment, re-appointment, salary adjustments, tenure, dismissal, and other personnel actions relating to members of the faculty and staff within the department; providing, through conversation with the departmental faculty, an annual budget for the department and submitting the annual budget to the dean; coordinating the recruitment of new faculty members within the department, consistent with University policies and procedures; promoting the career development and performing annual performance appraisal reports of faculty and staff within the department; and in consultation with the departmental faculty, assessing departmental academic programs for performance and productivity and recommending to the dean the continuation, reduction, or elimination of programs and the addition of new programs within the department.

In addition, the department head’s responsibility entails care of the apparatus necessary for support of the academic programs through employment and supervision of clerical and support personnel, management of departmental physical facilities, planning for space and equipment needs, and monitoring of all expenditures from the departmental budget.

The department head’s many tasks relating to these duties may be delegated to other members of the department or to specific clerical or support personnel. In almost all departments, a number of standing faculty committees are responsible for collection of data and the formulation of policy recommendations concerning specific matters. In such instances, the departmental faculty reviews recommendations made by committees. The active participation of departmental faculty in the planning, execution and review of its curriculum is vital to the well-being of the department.

The administrative appointment of department heads, like all other administrative offices, does not carry tenure. The department head serves at the pleasure of the dean, Provost, and Chancellor. The dean conducts an annual evaluation of the department head.

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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Faculty Handbook Copyright © 2024 by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. All Rights Reserved.

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